Elissa Sterry retired from ExxonMobil in 2017, following a 37-year career during which she held a number of senior leadership positions at the corporate and business unit levels and was responsible for identifying and developing senior leadership talent and managing highly diverse teams. Through these experiences, Elissa gained a passion for leadership excellence and additionally became a recognized speaker on ExxonMobil’s outlook for energy and energy-related issues. She has traveled around the world to speak with government officials, government agencies, think tanks, NGOs, investors, national oil company executives, and university students on energy-related matters. Elissa holds bachelor of science and master of engineering degrees from Cornell University.

A 30-year armor officer who commanded at the platoon, company, and squadron levels, Col. Gian Gentile is a combat veteran of two tours in Iraq, a former chief of military history and professor at the US Military Academy at West Point, and a visiting fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with an MA in military arts and sciences from the School of Advanced Military Studies and a PhD from Stanford University. With specialized knowledge in the history of airpower in the United States, Gian is also a counterinsurgency expert currently employed by the Rand Corporation.

James Czupil is a former human resources executive at The Hershey Company with 25 years of experience in global executive development, diversity, and compensation. He also worked for Bank of America where he developed executives from across the enterprise. A graduate of Penn State University with a BA in marketing, James also holds an MA from Saint Francis University in industrial relations. At both Hershey and Bank of America, he excelled at facilitating strategy and business development sessions with global teams. His role at Battlefield Leadership is to ensure that our team fully explores clients’ leadership and business challenges and helps them create workable plans to move their companies forward.