COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced Ken Carter and Leslie Koch as the two presenters for its Emerging Leaders conference, which takes place July 19-21 in Austin, Texas.

Carter, of the 2005 film, "Coach Carter," will provide attendees with advice about accountability, integrity, teamwork, and leadership to succeed. Carter turned heads when he locked his undefeated basketball team out of the school gym after they failed to uphold academic and behavioral contracts they signed at the beginning of the season. By holding his team to high standards, he – in two years – turned around the school virtually single-handedly, improving students’ academic performance and ridding it of graffiti and drug dealers. Ultimately, the students he influenced rose above basketball, attaining college educations and futures they might never have achieved.

As a leadership trainer, Koch has helped countless professionals through leadership development initiatives in corporate and retails environments. Koch will lead a hands-on session that incorporates proven leadership behaviors and theories to improve leadership skills and teach immediate strategies for transforming and strengthening their teams. Attendees will be given opportunities to practice these behaviors and make them habits. Koch’s background includes running a corporate development university, a new leader program, and creating a company leadership model.

HARDI’s Emerging Leaders program is open to any employee of a HARDI distributor or supplier who has been recognized as having the talent and potential to advance to the executive level of the organization. HARDI members can visit hardinet.org/emerging-leaders for more information about the conference and the Emerging Leaders program.