Taking Care of Business Conference

2025 Mainstage Speakers

Michael Happe

Michael Happe joined Winnebago Industries in January of 2016 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for the overall vision and strategic direction of the company, and especially accountable for nurturing and strengthening a culture that cares deeply for its employees and customers. Under his leadership, the organization has transformed into an outdoor lifestyle company with the strategic addition of Grand Design RV, Chris-Craft, Newmar, Barletta Boats and Lithionics, joining the legacy Winnebago brand business to create a portfolio of premium outdoor products.

Prior to joining Winnebago Industries, he served as an Executive Officer and Group Vice President at The Toro Company. During his 19 years at Toro, he held a series of senior leadership positions across a variety of The Toro Company's domestic and international divisions.

In 2023, Mr. Happe was recognized as the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year — national overall winner, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Executive of the year for his professional accomplishments, community involvement and industry contributions. He is active in several community, academic, and industry initiatives and serves on several boards of directors including Winnebago Industries, the executive committee of the National Association of Manufacturers, HB Fuller, the University of Kansas Alumni Association and Carlson School of Management.

Mr. Happe resides in the Twin Cities with his wife Shannon and their family. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the William Allen White School at the University of Kansas and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Shannon Huffman Polson

Shannon Huffman Polson is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience and Leadership in the Most Male Dominated Organization in the World, as well as the memoir North of Hope. She is the founder of The Grit Institute, a leadership institute committed to whole leader development, and host of The Grit Factor podcast. Polson also teaches on the faculty of the Tuck School's Leadership and Strategic Initiative Executive Education Program. As one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter in the U.S. Army, leading line units on three continents, Polson combines her passion and firsthand experience in and study of leadership, grit, purpose and story to address the needs of her clients in the face of challenge and change with world-class keynotes and executive education. After serving for a decade in the armed services, Polson earned her MBA at the Tuck School at Dartmouth, and later her MFA. She went on to lead outstanding teams in the corporate world in the medical device industry and at Microsoft. As a community leader, Polson successfully envisioned, founded and led the completion of a $6.5M new library and civic center. Polson has a decade of experience speaking to companies and organizations around the world, and is consistently the highest rated speaker at her events. Polson lives with her husband and two children in Washington State.

Carolyn Lee

Carolyn Lee is the president and executive director of the Manufacturing Institute, the 501(c)3 nonprofit workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Ms. Lee leads the MI in its goal of building a resilient manufacturing workforce prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future. She was named to the leadership role at the MI in 2017, and during her leadership tenure, the MI has grown significantly, evolving for scaled impact nationwide across the manufacturing industry. She led the MI as it developed new programs, initiatives and events, including taking stewardship from Toyota of the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education in 2019 and growing its reach; inaugurating the annual MI Workforce Summit; launching the 35x30 mentorship initiative for women and young girls; expanding the MI's Heroes MAKE America initiative; working with the NAM to develop Creators Wanted—the manufacturing industry's largest national workforce development and education campaign; and partnering with organizations such as Stand Together Trust to create the MI's second chance hiring initiative.

Through implementing groundbreaking programs, convening industry leaders and conducting innovative research, the MI furthers individual opportunity, community prosperity and a more competitive manufacturing industry. The MI is a trusted adviser to manufacturers, equipping them with solutions to address the toughest workforce issues. Ms. Lee was raised in a manufacturing family; as the daughter and granddaughter of manufacturers, she saw from a young age the transformative impact manufacturing can have on communities, families and the men and women who build the world around us. Now it's what drives her values as she works to bring manufacturing's powerful potential to more Americans, sharing the many pathways to opportunity and ensuring that the industry and America can compete in the global economy.

Prior to her role leading the MI, Ms. Lee served for many years on the domestic policy team at the NAM. She also worked in leadership positions with the Telecommunications Industry Association and 3M and in the offices of former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and former Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY).