Keynote Speakers

General Session 1 (Wednesday)

Neelay Bhatt
Founder & CEO
Next Practice Partners, LLC

Neelay’s career on five continents includes Disney, The Super Bowl, The Olympics, and years of consulting, public speaking and training.

He champions “Ideas Worth Spreading” as the curator for TEDxIndianapolis and TEDxIndianapolisWomen and his role on the National Recreation and Park Association’s Board served to ensure “no child was left indoors”. He continues to give back by serving in leadership roles for the 2024 NBA All-Star and US Olympic Swimming and Diving Trials in Indianapolis.

As the Founder & CEO of Next Practice Partners, he combines inclusion and innovation to help agencies prepare for “what’s next” through planning, training, and technology solutions.

Over his 25-year journey, he has keynoted worldwide, coached Olympic Gold Medalists, Indy Car Race Drivers, Oxford Physicists and start up CEOs to tell their story and discover their WHY, developed the business plan for the largest sports center in Western Europe (Portugal) and the first internationally certified cricket stadium in the US, and co-created the world’s largest municipal customer service & leadership training initiative for Chicago Park District’s 3000 employees.

His Master and Strategic planning work with Atlanta, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, Dallas, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, San Diego etc. have recommended parks, recreation, and sports facility development and improvements totaling over $2.5 billion, shaping a more inclusive and innovative future for all.

He is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School and #1 ranked Sports Management Program at Ohio University and as a first-generation immigrant raised by three women and a father who always showed up, he hopes to model the same for his two kids. These life experiences are woven into keynotes on Innovation and Next Practices, The Future of a world with AI, the Power of One, and creating Magical Customer Service Cultures, and inspired executives, professionals, startups, and students from Charlotte to China, Pflugerville to Portugal, and Switzerland to New Zealand.

General Session 2 (Thursday)

Sereniah Breland
City Manager
City of Pflugerville

Sereniah Breland is currently appointed as the City Manager of Pflugerville. In her most recent assignments, she served the cities of Alvin, TX, Guthrie, OK, and Goliad, TX as a City Manager. She began her career in local government as an Assistant to the City Manager in Greenville, TX through the Urban Fellowship of the North Central Texas Council of Governments which led her to Denton, TX as a Recycling Coordinator and then Sugar Land, TX as the Support Services Director.

She currently serves as the Vice President of Mountain Plains for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), is past President of the Texas City Management Association (TCMA), is a member of the select Athenian group for ICMA, appointed by the Governor to serve on the Nonprofit Board for the State of Texas, and serves on the Advisory Board for Texas Women’s Leadership Institute, and is the Secretary for the Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce. Breland has served in many other roles for various professional organizations such as City Management Association of Oklahoma, United Way, YMCA, the Oklahoma Municipal League, and is a graduate of the Public Executive Institute.

Prior to entering the field of local government, Breland taught Government and Economics at the high school level in Garland and Mesquite.

Breland received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. During time away from public service, she enjoys car shows, anything on water, giving high fives, live music, the outdoors, and reading.