Accelerent - Baltimore

Patrick Houlahan is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Leadership Consultants LLC. Founded in 2019, Strategic Leadership Consultants’ mission is to Build Inspired, Compassionate, Mission-Driven Leaders. Since 2019, Patrick has conducted Keynotes, led Workshops, and Consulted with numerous organizations such as State Farm, Technology Marketing Toolkit, Association of Inside Sale Professionals, and Mission Produce. Patrick has had a distinguished career in both the military and business world.

Patrick graduated from The Citadel in 1992 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in San Diego, CA. serving as a fighter pilot flying the F/A-18 Hornet and deployed twice to the Western Pacific. Patrick graduated from the United States Navy Post Graduate Fighter Weapons School, “Top Gun,” and served as an instructor pilot. In 2003, Patrick was selected as the Instructor Pilot of the Year.

After leaving active duty in 2004, Patrick flew the A-10 Warthog with the United States Air Force Reserves and joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2006. After returning to the Marine Corps, he established the first Reserve Training Unit and continued to serve as an Instructor Pilot. As a reservist, Patrick deployed to Al Assad, Iraq and again to the Western Pacific.

Patrick has trained over 500 replacement aircrew, accumulated over 2800 hours of flight time, and rose to the rank of Colonel. He is a graduate of the United States Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and earned his Master of Strategic Studies as a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Army War College. Patrick has served in a variety of roles in the Marine Corps including as a Supply Officer, Maintenance Officer, Operations Officer, and Unit Officer in Charge.

In 2004, after Patrick left active duty and joined Afterburner Inc.. Patrick quickly rose to become an Executive Consultant and Director of Seminars. In 2006 was selected as the San Diego’s MPI (Meeting Professionals International) Speaker of the Year. During his 13-year career at Afterburner, Patrick led over 450 keynotes, workshops, and consulting engagements with today's leading corporations such as Verizon, ExxonMobil, Medtronic, DOW, VMware and H&R Block to name a few.

Patrick has also worked as the account manager for Southern California for Kratos Public Safety and Security, as the Director of Business Development for Citadel Defense Company, and as the Organizational Development Executive (ODE) for Brooks International. As an ODE, Patrick worked with numerous executive leadership teams and was responsible for gaining consensus and alignment in support of the CEO’s imperative.

Throughout his career, Patrick recognized that the organizations that succeeded in any endeavor possessed great leaders. Those that did not, failed. Recognizing the need for leadership training, Patrick founded Strategic Leadership Consultants in 2019 to help organizations Build Inspired, Compassionate, Mission-Driven Leaders.

As an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, a seven-time New York Times Best-selling author and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career that spans several decades. He has worked with audiences as diverse as Fortune 500 companies and cancer survivor groups, where he shares his personal story. He is primarily sought-out for his lessons on achieving greatness, learned from first-hand experiences with some of the greatest sports legends in the world. Additionally, Don has been engaged as a media coach to countless high-profile athletes, business leaders and elected officials. Throughout his writing career, Don has developed a reputation as one of America’s most provocative journalists and has been invited as a guest to every major talk show – from Oprah to Nightline, from CNN to Good Morning America.    

Gian Paul Gonzalez is widely recognized for inspiring the New York Giants to their 2012 Super Bowl victory with the phrase “All In.”

Gian Paul Gonzalez is widely recognized for inspiring the New York Giants to their 2012 Super Bowl victory with the phrase “All In.”Gonzalez, a high school teacher in Union City, N.J., was asked to lead a chapel service for members of the New York Giants team the night before the team’s Christmas Eve 2011 game against the New York Jets. To illustrate the concept of commitment, Gonzalez handed each football player a poker chip. Instructing the players to write their number on one side of the chip and write what they wanted to be committed to on the other side. He then shared with the team the meaning behind the poker phrase “All In”. Gian Paul inspired them to be committed and put all their “chips” on the table. He went on to urge players to fully commit to anything they take on, whether as a father, husband, son or even, a football player. The team went on to win every game, up to and including Super Bowl XLVI, where they beat the New England Patriots 21-17.

Gian Paul Gonzalez is himself an inspiration. He was a former NCAA First Team All-American forward from Montclair State University scoring nearly 1,400 points in his 3 year career. Played in the NBA Summer League in 2007 and was offered a few professional basketball contracts, yet he turned them down in order to continue his work with at-risk youth. He is a gifted motivational speaker and is the founder of Hope + Future. This organization is dedicated to using athletics & physical fitness to share a message of hope and striving for excellence in inner-city public schools and juvenile jails.

The Hope + Future Foundation provides opportunities for youth to proactively become empowered members of their community. Hope + Future uses extracurricular activities, events and programming to provide health, and wellness education while bridging the gaps between individual growth and improving families. This unifies communities around a common core belief that there is a hope for each child personally, academically, socially, and economically.

“ALL IN’ is not a slogan, it’s a LIFEstyle.

He has been featured on ESPN as well as had notable appearances on Fox News and CNN. His inspirational talks have made him an internationally renowned speaker for NBA, NFL, English Premiere League & Fortune 500 organizations.