Dr. Michael Ballé is a best-selling author and executive coach with twenty years’ experience in lean research and practice. He is associate researcher at Telecom Paristech where he co-founded the Projet Lean Entreprise and the French Lean Institute. Ballé co-authored the Shingo Prize-winning lean novels The Gold Mine, The Lean Manager, and Lead with Respect. He has a background in systems thinking and cognitive sociology. He lives in Paris, France.

Daniel T. Jones was part of the original MIT research team that discovered and codified the system Toyota used to make automobiles and named it Lean. He is the co-author of the classic groundbreaking works The Machine that Changed the World and Lean Thinking. A bestselling, award-winning author, researcher, advisor to executive teams, and keynote speaker, Jones is co-founder and chairman of the non-profit Lean Enterprise Institute in the US, the Lean Enterprise Academy in the UK, and the Lean Global Network of institutes. He resides in England.

Orest (Orry) J. Fiume was chief financial officer and a Director of The Wiremold Company, the internationally recognized leader in lean business management. He has taught workshops on Lean Accounting at the Lean Enterprise Institute, the TBM Institute, the University of Dayton Center for Competitive Change, and Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs). He serves on the Board of Directors of The Lean Enterprise Institute. Fiume lives in Arlington, VA.

Jacques Chaize is a pioneer in developing lean organizations. He was CEO of Danfoss Water Controls, a leading French/Danish water valve specialist that served as a model of lean practice. Since 2011, he has worked as an entrepreneur and consultant, serving on the boards of companies in Europe and North America. He is the author of two business books and co-founder and president of SOL (Society for Organizational Learning) France. Chaize lives in Paris, France.