September 16, 2026 – Five-Tool Team Dr. Ricardo Valerdi and Confidence Builder Dr. Cindra Kamphoff

Ricardo Valerdi – Department head, System, & Industrial Engineering of University of Arizona and Author of The Five-Tool Team: Bringing Out the Best in People to Make Better Decisions The best decision makers know that the moment that you take a different perspective, whether it’s the perspective of the opposing team or the perspective of your allies, or the perspective of your competitors, the solution may look totally different. Dr. Ricardo Valerdi is the Department Head of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he also serves as a Distinguished Outreach Professor and the university’s Faculty Athletics Representative. An engineer, researcher, sports scientist, and social entrepreneur, Ricardo works at the intersection of systems engineering, decision making, leadership, and sports analytics. His research has focused on systems engineering, cost estimation, and sports analytics, while his applied work has helped organizations including SpaceX, the U.S. Army, Major League Baseball, and the NCAA approach complex decisions more effectively. Ricardo has built an academic and professional career around understanding how individuals and teams make decisions when the stakes are high and the information is incomplete. He is a Fellow of the International Council on Systems Engineering and a foreign member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering. His international academic experience includes serving as a visiting fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, a visiting professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a Fulbright Scholar at Universidad Carlos III of Madrid in Spain. At the University of Arizona, he also serves as a liaison between the university, the Big 12 Conference, and the NCAA through his role as Faculty Athletics Representative. Ricardo is also the founder of Science of Sport, a nonprofit organization that uses sports to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics more engaging for young people. The organization has reached more than 700,000 students by connecting classroom concepts with the sports they already understand and enjoy. His work in sports education and analytics has given him an unusual perspective on teamwork, performance, and decision making that complements his engineering background. He is the author of the forthcoming The Five-Tool Team: Bringing Out the Best in People to Make Better Decisions, scheduled for publication by Regalo Press in September 2026. The book presents a practical framework for helping teams question assumptions, evaluate consequences, collaborate more effectively, and make better decisions under pressure. Drawing lessons from engineering, business, sports, the military, and his own experiences, Ricardo argues that good decision making should not depend on one brilliant individual. It can be developed as a repeatable team capability. His work ultimately focuses on helping leaders bring out the best thinking in the people around them so their organizations can make clearer, more confident, and more effective decisions. Dr. Cindra Kamphoff – Confidence Researcher, Award-winning Keynote Speaker, Performance Psychology Expert and Author of The Confidence Habit: 7 Core Practices to Transform Self-Doubt to Self-Belief Confidence is built by acting like the person that you want to become. Cindra Kamphoff, Ph.D., CMPC, PCC, CSP, is a confidence researcher, award winning keynote speaker, performance psychology expert, and certified mental performance consultant who helps leaders, athletes, and high performers strengthen their confidence and perform effectively under pressure. She is the Founder of the Mentally Strong Institute, where she leads a team focused on helping people develop the mental skills needed to overcome self doubt, respond to adversity, and perform closer to their potential. Cindra is also a Professor of Sport and Performance Psychology and Director of the Center for Sport and Performance Psychology at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She earned both her master’s degree and Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Cindra has applied performance psychology with some of the world’s highest performing athletes and organizations. She provided mental training to Minnesota Vikings players for four years and has worked with USA Track & Field athletes, including providing individual mental performance support connected with the Tokyo Olympics. Her corporate clients have included organizations such as Target, Verizon, Bobcat, and Mayo Clinic Health System. Her work focuses on practical mental strategies for building confidence, maintaining focus, recovering from mistakes, managing pressure, and developing the resilience required to perform consistently when expectations are high. Cindra also led the 2025 National Research Study on Confidence, conducted with the Center for Generational Kinetics, which examined confidence among working Americans and its impact on workplace performance. The research found that 66 percent of working Americans believe the country is experiencing a confidence crisis, while younger workers reported particularly high levels of self doubt and comparison. Cindra’s research supports one of the central ideas behind her work: confidence is not simply a personality trait that some people possess and others do not. It is a skill that can be intentionally developed through repeated behaviors, supportive environments, preparation, and specific mental practices. Cindra is the author of The Confidence Habit: 7 Core Practices to Transform Self-Doubt to Self-Belief, published by Simon Element and Simon Acumen on September 1, 2026. Drawing from performance psychology, neuroscience, her national confidence research, and nearly two decades of work with athletes and business leaders, the book presents seven core practices and nineteen strategies for turning self doubt into stronger self belief. She is also the author of Beyond Grit: Ten Powerful Practices to Gain the High Performance Edge and Beyond Grit for Business, and she hosts the High Performance Mindset podcast. Through her books, research, speaking, coaching, and the Mentally Strong Institute, Cindra is pursuing a broader mission to help millions of people strengthen their minds, build lasting confidence, and approach their biggest goals with greater courage and belief.