leadership conference
Start with Leadership Conference
The Start With Leadership Conference is back on May 7, 2026!
Presented by FOCUS St. Louis and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, this powerful half-day event will tackle timely topics like innovation, accountability, collaboration AI, growth mindset and more.
We're bringing together some of the region's top thought leaders for a dynamic lineup of keynotes, panel discussions and interactive workshops. Get ready to learn, connect and be inspired!
Thursday, May 7 | 1:00-5:00 p.m.
University of Missouri-St. Louis, Touhill Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $125
About the Start With Leadership Conference
The Start With Leadership Conference presents a unique learning opportunity for leaders at all levels. It offers professional development opportunities that allow participants to discover new ideas and grow their ability to lead. Nearly 350 attendees joined us for the inaugural conference in 2025, ranging from high-potential emerging leaders to C-suite executives.
Wherever you are in your leadership journey, Start With Leadership is for you.
Level up your leadership and learn from the best.
This year's program is designed to:
- Inspire and equip St. Louis leaders with a growth mindset to foster personal leadership growth and regional development.
- Encourage cross-sector collaboration and innovative thinking among diverse leaders in our region, as they address regional challenges and opportunities through connection and shared humanity.
- Provide practical strategies and actionable insights for leading with agility, adaptability, and resilience, with an awareness of the personal stories and challenges that shape our region.
Start With Leadership is also a great opportunity to network with fellow leaders, share ideas and be inspired. This is more than just a conference – it’s a call to action. Together, we’ll explore what it means to lead with heart, inspire progress, and shape a brighter future for our region.
Yes! With hundreds of regional leaders in attendance your company will have the opportunity to connect with a highly desirable audience throughout the event while accessing top talent from within and outside of our region, providing an exceptional return on investment.
Sponsorship not only provides visibility and branding for your company, but also allows your employees and clients to attend the Start With Leadership Conference and Networking Reception, fully immersing them in the training, connections, and conversations of the event. This opportunity is a powerful vehicle for engaging and retaining talent, as well as positive community influence.
For more info or to reserve a sponsorship, please contact Dr. Yemi Akande-Bartsch.
Conference Schedule
How do visionary leaders turn uncertainty into opportunity? In this session, author and consultant Matt Herzberg explores the discipline of “principled transformation," leading with clarity of purpose while staying agile amid disruption. He will share lessons from his work on resilience, growth, and the power of a shared vision to unite organizations and communities.
Keynote Speaker: Matt Herzberg, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Principled Transformation
About the Speaker: With decades driving culture innovations as a human resources leader in multiple industries, Matt Herzberg makes authentic change happen by delivering the kind of credible transformations executive teams can implement immediately — and continue well into the future.
As a key member of numerous multi-billion-dollar acquisitions, integrations, and initial public offerings, Matt guided top organizations across industries including Utilities, Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance, High-tech Manufacturing, and Alternative Energy to evolve their cultures from within to meet the challenges of an intense global marketplace. Later he joined Heidrick & Struggles, where he transformed companies into healthy, thriving, high-performance organizations as a partner leading its Culture-Shaping Practice for the Americas.
Matt brings this invaluable CHRO and other executive-level experience to his work consulting for senior leadership teams today, helping them excel amidst rapidly changing regulatory environments, shifting technology platforms, and growing competition.
Matt’s corporate and consulting success is informed by a deep and detailed understanding of principles for organizational health, growth, and high performance: He earned an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D. (ABD) in Organizational Theory from St. Louis University.
