The best-selling author of nearly 50 sports books, Ross Bernstein is an award-winning peak performance business speaker who’s books have been featured on thousands of television and radio programs over the years.

Ross has spent the better part of the past 25 years studying the DNA of championship teams and his program, "The Champion’s Code: Building Relationships Through Life Lessons of Integrity and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World,” not only illustrates what it takes to become the best of the best, but it also explores the fine line between cheating and gamesmanship in sports as it relates to values and integrity in the workplace.

Joe Jordan, inspirational speaker and behavioral finance expert, is the author of the award-winning book Living a Life of Significance. The first edition has sold over 90,000 copies in five languages. Formerly, Joe ran insurance sales at Paine Webber and more recently was a senior vice president at MetLife. He was responsible for retail product development and started their fee-based financial planning program and behavioral finance department.

Joe is also a founder of the Insured Retirement Institute (formally known as the National Association of Variable Annuities or NAVA) and has been featured on the cover of Life Insurance Selling magazine. For three consecutive years, he has been honored by Irish America magazine as one of the “Top 50 Irish Americans on Wall Street.”

He was inducted into the Fordham Football Hall of Fame and has played rugby for the New York Athletic Club for 30 years. 

Cliff Karthauser spent 35 years of his professional career in Executive Leadership with The Principal Financial Group. During this time, Cliff rose from a Financial Services Executive to the Regional Managing Director of the Mountain Plains Region. At the end of 2014, Cliff stepped down from his duties as Regional Managing Director at Principal.

Cliff now serves as a Leadership Consultant, Executive Coach, and speaker. Cliff is sought after as a speaker for purpose-driven leadership, possibility thinking, motivation, and maximizing performance. He authored and released his first book, Breaking the Tape, a book on purpose-driven leadership in August of 2016. In it, he shares his inspiring message of overcoming obstacles through life lessons and defining moments of his experience.

Paul began his second term as Mayor of Sioux Falls in May 2022. Since first taking office in May 2018, Mayor TenHaken has amassed a list of accomplishments for the city by putting people first and taking strategic steps to ensure the continued success of South Dakota’s largest city.

Through his One Sioux Falls framework, Mayor TenHaken’s focus is on safety, housing, workforce, and engaging people across Sioux Falls, which has been named one of the best run cities in the country for 2021. The city has achieved accolades for fiscal responsibility and its lowest debt per capita in over a decade. Under his leadership, Sioux Falls has expanded its status as an urban center, including record public and private sector investments planned for downtown. In 2021 Sioux Falls achieved a record building year of more than $1.1 billion in permit valuations, demonstrating the strength of the city’s development and long-term trajectory.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Max Shaughnessy, CFP^® has helped advisors and clients across the Upper Midwest with investment strategies and market insights with Thrivent Asset Management for over 4 years. Prior to Thrivent, Max was a financial planner with a Minneapolis-based financial services firm. In his free time, Max enjoys traveling, spending time with family, and playing tennis.

Fast facts – The Thrivent Mutual Funds difference

• Thrivent Mutual Funds are brought to you by Thrivent, a diversified financial services organization providing financial advice, investments, insurance, banking and generosity programs to help people make the most of all they’ve been given.
• Thrivent has been offering mutual funds since 1970. Today there are more than 20 solution-based mutual funds with $25.1 billion in assets (as of 12/31/2022). The funds are actively managed by Thrivent Asset Management, LLC, focused on both accumulation and distribution strategies designed for all risk tolerances.
• Thrivent is a Fortune 500 company with $161 billion in assets under management/advisement (as of 12/31/2022)
• Thrivent has been named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere Institute 11 years strong (2012 - 2022)

Chris Jones is President of one of the largest U.S. offices of Business Brokers and M&A Advisors.  Experience in hundreds of transactions including: Consumer Products, Manufacturing of Industrial Products, Contract Manufacturing, Outdoor Products, Fishing Tackle Industry, E-Commerce, Digital Marketing, Distribution, Business-to-Business (B2B) Services, IT Services/Managed Services, and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Sell-side and Buy-side advisory expertise. Regularly invited to speak at the International Business Broker Association (IBBA) national conferences.  Prior to Sunbelt worked in strategic acquisitions for a Fortune 200 private company.

Mr. Jones lives in the Twin Cities with his family but also enjoys spending time in Florida, mountain biking, hiking the Superior Hiking Trail, camping, RVing and travel.

In his role as Vice President, Government Relations, Scott Sundstrom advocates on behalf of Wellmark before legislators and regulators in Iowa, South Dakota, and the federal government. He works with a variety of stakeholders both within and outside of Wellmark to ensure that Wellmark's public policy initiatives represent the interests of Wellmark's members and align with Wellmark's key strategic business priorities. Scott also serves as the corporate secretary of Wellmark, Inc., Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. and The Wellmark Foundation.

Before joining Wellmark, Scott practiced law in Des Moines, Iowa, Denver, Colorado, and Palo Alto, California. He also served as a judicial clerk to Judge Carlos Lucero of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Scott chairs the Health and Managed Care Committee of the Federation of Iowa Insurers, and serves as Wellmark’s Deputy on the Iowa Business Council.

Scott is a graduate of Carleton College and the New York University School of Law, where he was as an articles editor of the NYU Law Review.