Keynotes
Colleen Barrett
Ms. Colleen C. Barrett has been President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines Co. since July 2008. Ms. Barrett served as President of Southwest Airlines Co. from June 19, 2001 to July 15, 2008, Chief Operating Officer from June 19, 2001 to August 5, 2004, Executive Vice President of Customers from 1990 to 2001, Vice President of Administration from 1986 to 1990 and Secretary from March 1978 to 2008. She served in positions of increasing importance at Southwest Airlines since 1978. She was a driving force behind Southwest Airline’s renowned customer-focused culture. She has been a Director of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. since January 1, 2004. She served as a Director of Southwest Airlines Co. from June 19, 2001 to May 21, 2008. In 2003, she was named one of the country’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune magazine. She is a highest honors graduate of Becker Junior College in Worcester, Mass.
Darrell “Coach D” Andrews
Darrell “Coach D” Andrews, America’s Passion Coach, is a nationally acclaimed education consultant, motivational speaker, career-life coach and author of the books, “How To Find Your Passion and Make A Living At It” and “The Purpose Living Teen-A Teen’s Guide To Living Your Dreams.” He is the developer of the H.Y.P.E. (Helping Youth Pursue Excellence) Career, Soft Skills and Workforce Development Program. HYPE was one of the top rated contracted youth programs nationally under the WIA (Workforce Investment Act) Grant. Coach D’s B.A.S.I.C. (Building and Sustaining Internal Change) Training was a successful JTPA Job Readiness training program for dislocated and unemployed job seekers in the state of Pennsylvania. Coach D’s process of Passion Mapping™ has helped thousands of youth at secondary schools, workforce development programs and college campuses throughout the USA, Canada and the Caribbean, connect their personal affinities to college and career goals.
Raised by a single mother on the public welfare system in Syracuse, New York, Coach D became a first-generation college graduate – an amazing feat considering the fact that he showed up on his college campus unregistered, with everything he owned in five garbage bags! Although he did not have money for college, he believed that the risk was worth taking in order to secure a good future for himself. Five years later, he became the first person in his family to receive a bachelor’s degree from college (BS in Business Administration, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania). From this experience, he learned that risk-taking is often the foundation for goal achievement.
