Save the Date for the 2025 University of Akron HR Advisory Board Conference
OCTOBER 25, 2025
John S. Knight Center
77 E Mill St
Akron, Ohio
The key to better business performance isn’t just strategy, it’s understanding how neuroscience impacts leadership, coaching and performance. Join us for the 11th annual University of Akron HR Advisory Board Conference, where we’ll explore how neuroscience-backed leadership strategies can drive revenue, improve employee retention, and boost workplace performance. This year, we’re excited to welcome Dan Docherty, PhD, Chief Coaching Officer of Braintrust, a leadership development firm that applies cutting-edge neuroscience to improve workplace culture and productivity.
Dan will deliver an eye-opening, science-driven keynote on two essential leadership topics:
- Mental Health in the Workplace – How understanding the brain’s response to compassion and stress can help organizations prioritize employee well-being, leading to higher engagement, increased retention, and better performance.
- Critical Conversations – Equipping managers with brain-based tools to navigate tough discussions effectively, leading to stronger teams, better communication, and improved business outcomes.
This isn’t just another leadership conference; this is a deep dive experience into the neuroscience of leadership, coaching, and performance. Braintrust’s approach has been proven to help organizations increase engagement, retain top talent, and create thriving workplace cultures. Attendees will leave with science-backed strategies to create a more productive, engaged, and high-performing workforce. If you want to lead with purpose, confidence, and brain-based insights, this is the must-attend event of 2025.
Tentative agenda
- 7:30 AM Breakfast
- 8:00 AM Program starts
- 12:00 PM Networking
HR Advisory Board Mission
- Serve The University of Akron College of Business as a strategic partner and ambassador.
- Support business student success by providing scholarships and sharing of knowledge and experience.
- Promote The University of Akron College of Business as a thought leader, particularly in the areas of human resources and leadership.
- Additionally, provide educational forums to the local business community on timely and meaningful topics.
Speakers
Dan Docherty
Dan Docherty, PhD, Chief Coaching Officer of Braintrust, has found a true passion for creating world-class communicators that make a positive difference in the world around them. In his 25 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical litigation, Dan has led sales, marketing, key opinion leader, and operational teams. Dan’s passion for coaching led him to a PhD degree in Management at Case Western Reserve University. It was there his research was focused on the neuroscience of coaching, engagement, and performance in the leader-team member relationship. His goal was to create a sustainable system for leadership-coaching. All of this led to the co-creation of NeuroCoaching®.Dr. Dan, as he is known to colleagues and students, has coached thousands of leaders in management positions around the world, all while continuing to pour into the lives and futures of students at Miami University in Oxford, OH. He is the Assistant Director of the Isaac & Oxley Center for Business Leadership within the Farmer School of Business and teaches leadership within the MBA program. From the world-renowned mentors of his doctorate program to the wisdom shared by his small-town high school music teacher, Dan knows firsthand just how formative good leadership-coaching is to the individual, thus leading to stronger organizations, communities, and families.