The NextGen™ Speaker Series

Brings together business and community professionals to encourage Leadership, Mentorship, Empowerment and Philanthropy. Connect with business leaders in the community and hear inspirational stories of achievement from world-renowned entrepreneurs and CEOs.

About the NextGen^TM Speaker Series

The prestigious NextGen™ Speaker Series is a gathering of America’s most distinguished business leaders, right here in Naples, Florida. Keynote speakers are world-renowned entrepreneurs and CEOs who share their extraordinary life journeys with an exclusive invitation-only audience.

The NextGen^TM Speaker Series started with a simple question. Michael Benson, CEO of Benson Blackburn, asked industry leaders to visit his office for a mentorship session with his team. His team was so inspired by what they heard, they decided this information and these life journeys should be shared with the community. This led to the establishment of the NextGen™ Speaker Series, held multiple times per year at a private venue by invitation only.

To date, Benson Blackburn has hosted 25 NextGen™ Speaker Series events, with over 4,500 attendees. The speaker series was established to encourage Leadership, Mentorship, Empowerment and Philanthropy.

As part of a community outreach and mentorship process, the NextGen™ Speaker Series partners with the Greater Naples Chamber Leadership Collier Foundation and Community Foundation of Collier County along with Florida Gulf Coast University to encourage promising community businesspersons along with deans and students to attend and learn from these industry leaders.

Each session, Benson Blackburn nominates a “focused charitable organization” in honor of the featured speaker. Focused charities have included The Shelter for Abused Women and Children, The First Tee of Naples, The Immokalee Foundation, American Cancer Society, NCH Healthcare System, the Naples Children & Education Foundation and Leadership Collier Foundation.

Upcoming Speaker Series Events

SAVE THE DATES

Please look for information on our upcoming Speaker Series and mark the following dates on your calendar for our upcoming events.

January 27, 2023 – Michael Feuer, Founder of OfficeMax

February 24, 2023 – Tom Monaghan, Founder of Domino’s Pizza

March 24, 2023 – Angie Bastian, Co-Founder of Boom Chicka Pop

MICHAEL FEUER | January 27, 2023

MICHAEL FEUER

OfficeMax Founder

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
8:00 AM – 10:30 AM EST

Registration Opens at 8:00 AM. Event Begins at 9:00 AM

Michael Feuer has over 35 years experience as a corporate executive/CEO, entrepreneur, management consultant, venture capitalist, national awarding-winning syndicated columnist, speaker, and author.

Mr. Feuer co-founded and for 16 years was Chairman and CEO of the publicly held office products superstore chain OfficeMax. OfficeMax opened its first store in suburban Cleveland in the summer of 1988 with $20,000 of Mr. Feuer’s own money, combined with investments by an initial partner and a small group of other investors. During the ensuing years under his very hands-on leadership, OfficeMax grew to an international retail powerhouse with revenues of approximately $5 billion, almost 1,000 locations, a major internet/catalog business unit, and direct sales force throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico, and in Asia and South America.

Prior to founding OfficeMax, Mr. Feuer spent 15 years at Jo-Ann Fabrics, a publicly held, New York Stock Exchange listed company with almost 1,000 stores throughout the country. When he left Jo-Ann to create OfficeMax, he was the craft and fabric retailer’s Senior Vice President and a member of its Executive Management Committee.

Mr. Feuer has received numerous awards for his business achievements during his career, including, while at OfficeMax, being named Discount Store News Specialty Discounter of the Year, recognizing Mr. Feuer for leading OfficeMax to become one of only four companies in the United States ever to reach $3 billion in sales in less than nine years.

By invitation only. Email admin_ngn@nextgennaples.com or click the button below to request tickets.

Event Ended

TOM MONAGHAN | February 24, 2023

TOM MONAGHAN

Founder, Domino’s Pizza

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2023
8:00 AM – 10:30 AM

Tom was born in Ann Arbor in 1937. His father died four years later, ushering in a childhood spent largely in an orphanage and a succession of foster homes. After graduating from Ann Arbor’s St. Thomas High School in 1955, and enrolling at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI, Monaghan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956. Honorably discharged three years later, he returned to Ann Arbor to pursue a degree in architecture.

While still a student, Monaghan founded Domino’s Pizza. He and his brother, James, borrowed $900 to buy a small pizza store called DomiNick’s in Ypsilanti. He later bought his brother’s share of the business, and opened additional stores in Ann Arbor and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. By 1998, Domino’s had 6,250 stores, and ranked as the world’s largest pizza delivery chain, pioneering a number of industry innovations inspired by Monaghan. He sold Domino’s Pizza in 1998 to Bain Capital, Inc., leaving behind its day-to-day operations, which he had overseen for 38 years.

Monaghan has received honorary degrees from thirteen universities around the country, and in March of 2000, he was named an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College within Britain’s University of Cambridge.

Although best known as the founder of Domino’s Pizza and former owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball franchise, Thomas S. Monaghan is currently devoting his attention full time to non-profit endeavors, specifically focused on supporting Catholic higher education. This work primarily flows through the Ave Maria Foundation, which he founded in 1983 and for which he serves as chairman of the board.

By invitation only. Email admin_ngn@nextgennaples.com or click the button below to request tickets.

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ANGIE BASTIAN | Friday March 24

ANGIE BASTIAN

Co-Founder of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP

FRIDAY MARCH 24, 2023
8:00 AM – 10:30 AM EST

Angie Bastian, Co-Founder of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, took a kernel of an idea and popped it into one of the fastest growing brands of natural popcorn. What began with one kettle in the Bastian’s garage has grown into a beloved, empowered, and spirited brand sold internationally.

The accomplishments of delivering extraordinary products and growth, respecting partnerships, and celebrating consumers, attracted private equity investments and the sale to Conagra Brands in 2017. She currently serves on several corporate and non-profit boards. She advises, invests and is a national corporate speaker with Leading Authorities Inc.

Angie was awarded Pioneer in Food, United Nations Women’s Entrepreneurship Day #WEDO2017 as well as the subject of a children’s educational book series, Female Foodies, entitled “Boomchickapop Boss.” She is an inductee to the MN Women’s Business Hall of Fame, honored by the Girl Scouts as a Pioneering Trailblazer and shares Connect Business Magazine’s 2012 Person of the Year with her husband Dan.

She was featured in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, quoted in Forbes Magazine and appeared on the Martha Stewart Show. She and Dan were guests on Guy Raz’s live NPR Podcast,
“How I Built This” and Tony Robbin’s Business Mastery. Their products have been recognized and awarded by national publications and media.

Angie (Miller) Bastian graduated from Goshen College with a BSN and from Emory University with a Master’s in Nursing. She worked in her profession for 28 years until she retired as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner in 2011 to immerse herself into full-time entrepreneurship.

By invitation only. Email admin_ngn@nextgennaples.com or click the button below to request tickets.

Request Admission