DisruptRVA 2026 a SUCCESS! Photos and speaker videos coming soon.

DisruptRVA is proud to partner for the first time with The Well Collective.

The Well Collective is a Richmond nonprofit advancing healing-centered education, restorative leadership, and social engagement. Proceeds beyond event costs will go to The Well Collective in support of their work.

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2026 Sponsors

DisruptRVA 2025 Speakers (2026 speaker videos coming soon)

Thank you to our 2026 

Speaker Coaches!

Suzanne Burns

CEO, Humble Haven Yoga

See Suzanne's Talk here

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Marcelle Fowler

Leadership Coach, InnerWill Leadership Institute

See Marcelle's Talk here

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Amy Kocev

Skills Lead, Manufacturing, The LEGO Group

See Amy's Talk here

Stacy Dunbar

Principle Consultant, Avaap

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James Wasilewski

Executive Director of Leadership Annual Giving, Virginia Commonwealth University

See James' Talk here

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Letitia Cherry

Learning & Development Program Manager, Capital One

See Letitia's Talk here

Katie Taylor

CEO & Founder, Donatello Coaching

See Katie's Talk here

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Sara James Shelton

Coach and HR Executive, PassionFruit

See Sara's Talk here

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Alex DerHovhannessian

COO, Pearl Interactive Network

See Alex's Talk here

DisruptRVA 2025 Speakers (2026 speaker videos coming soon)

Christian Markow | Happy Brain, Better Work.

Todd Waldo | Emcee

Ed Cook & Roxanne Brown | DisruptRVA Champions

Our Speakers

Our hope for Disrupt in RVA is that the inspiration ripple-effect makes work better for people in and around Richmond.

Better for employees and leaders. Better for companies and their customers. Better for their families and friends!

Making work part of a life well-lived.

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Roxanne Brown and Ed Cook

Champions of DisruptRVA

Want to be part of DisruptRVA?

Tell us about your interest!

Metaphorically Peaking | Marcelle Fowler

See Marcelle's Talk!

Meet our Emcee:

Todd Waldo

Todd does it again!! Our perfect emcee for DisruptRVA, Todd creates an atmosphere for everyone that’s uniquely Disrupt. 

Speakers have a big task: Deliver a powerful message inside a challenging format (5 minutes, 20 slides advancing automatically every 20 seconds) and energize, inform and empower the audience. Speakers mess up! Perfection is not the point.

Success is when an audience member takes something away and tries something new the very next day.  

Todd makes sure everyone understands this. He keeps the energy up -- the audience encouraging the speakers, the speakers inspired by the audience. A complete uplift for everyone!

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See Todd's 2017 DisruptRVA Talk

DisruptRVA 2025 (2026 photos coming soon)

See more photos!

Thank you to our 2026 

Event

Volunteers & Promoters!

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Johanna Stamps

Chrissy Keeton

Scott Bodie

Grant Bodie

Erica Virvo

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Bryan Chenault

Alexa Beaver

Alfred Downey

Judy Seibel

Brian Shea

Joe Foster

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Mary Lynn Sacco

Chris Payne

Connie Hom

Debbie Fisher

Christopher Gross

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Hear from our DisruptRVA 2026 Sponsors!

 
 

What is DisruptRVA?

DisruptRVA is the Richmond chapter of Disrupt, an international speaker series challenging conventional thinking about work. By showcasing forward-thinking ideas in a rapid-fire format (5-minute presentations with 20 auto-advancing slides), DisruptRVA inspires professionals to build a better future for work.

History:

DisruptRVA first came to Richmond in 2017 and was held at In Your Ear Studios, then in 2018 at The Frontier Project, and in 2019 at Dominion Payroll. The event was on hiatus due to COVID in 2020-22 (to achieve the spirit and mission of the event, Disrupt requires events to be held in person). DisruptRVA returned in 2023. In 2023 and 2024, the events were held at the VCU School of Business.

DisruptRVA is produced by volunteers who are passionate about DisruptRVA's mission. Roxanne Brown and Ed Cook are the current license holders for the local chapter and the drivers of the event. In 2023-25, a partnership was formed with VCU to bring student voices and ideas into the conversation. During those years, proceeds beyond event costs were donated to VCU's Institute for Transformative Leadership.

In 2026, DisruptRVA is proud to partner for the first time with The Well Collective, a Richmond nonprofit advancing healing-centered education, restorative leadership, and social engagement. Proceeds beyond event costs will go to The Well Collective in support of their work.

DisruptRVA is for anyone who’s curious about what work could be. The call-to-action for the event is for participants to walk away with at least one small thing they’ll try because they’ve been inspired by a speaker or a conversation.

 

Clear is Kind | Chris Ilias

See Chris' Talk!

What is Disrupt?

Disrupt is an international speaker series challenging conventional thinking about work.

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Learn about Disrupt

What is Disrupt?

Disrupt is an international speaker series challenging conventional thinking about work.

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Learn about Disrupt

2026 DisruptRVA Organizers

Ed Cook, PhD

President
The Change Decision

 

Roxanne Brown

CEO
The Change Decision

 

David Blanchard

Vice President - Employee Benefits and Organizational Risk
Lockton Companies

Stacy Dunbar

Organizational Change Management People Manager
Avaap

 

April Palmer

Head of Sales
Duckbill

 

Mark Brown

Founder
Lost Office Collaborative

 

Alexis Spain

Director of Operations
Lost Office Collaborative

 

Christian Markow

Founder
Lost Office Collaborative

 

What happened in 2024?

See DisruptRVA's 12 inspiring and energizing speakers of 2024.

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See DisruptRVA 2024

What happened in 2024?

See DisruptRVA's 12 inspiring and energizing speakers of 2024.

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See DisruptRVA 2024

What happened in 2023?

See DisruptRVA's 11 inspiring and energizing speakers of 2023.

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See DisruptRVA 2023
Get Involved!