“As the last passenger off the Miracle on the Hudson I lived, and your team will learn specifically how being resourceful is the key skill to move from being just good in anything to outstanding”
Dave Sanderson is an inspirational survivor, speaker and author. His thoughts on leadership have made him an internationally sought-out speaker. When US Airways Flight 1549, or “The Miracle on the Hudson,” ditched into the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, Dave Sanderson knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
The last passenger off the back of the plane on that fateful day, he was largely responsible for the well-being and safety of others, risking his own life in frigid water to help other passengers off the plane.
Despite the hazards to himself, Sanderson thought only of helping others and emerged from the wreckage with a mission: to encourage others to do the right thing.
Since the Miracle on the Hudson, considered to be the most successful ditching in aviation history, Dave Sanderson has built a career as a motivational speaker, mentor and author. Currently, Sanderson averages over 100 speeches a year for major corporations across the United States as well as overseas.
In his presentations, he shares the 12 resources he and others used not only during the “Miracle on the Hudson but during his 30 years in sales and sales management, his 10 years being on and leading Tony Robbins security team and the precepts that enabled him to become a top producer in some of the largest sales organizations in the world and ultimately enabled him to survive the plane crash.
In addition, Sanderson has appeared at countless fundraisers that have raised over $8.56 million for the American Red Cross. He continues to donate his speaker services to the organization as an expression of gratitude for the care he received from one of the first persons he saw after he was rescued and transferred to land in New Jersey – a Red Cross volunteer with a blanket.
In his recent book, “Moments Matter,” Sanderson discusses lessons learned from the Miracle on the Hudson and how one defining moment in your life can create your lifetime of purpose. A firsthand account of his experience aboard US Airways Flight 1549 appears in the book “Brace for Impact: Miracle on the Hudson Survivors Share Their Stories of Near Death and Hope for New Life” by Dorothy Firman and Kevin Quirk. He has also participated in many documentaries for TruTV, NHK in Tokyo and one produced and directed by Rick Lopez, which will premiere in 2017.
Sanderson was born in Peoria, Illinois, and grew up in Hillsboro, Ohio and Winchester, Virginia. His dreams of playing college football were dashed when he suffered a career-ending knee injury. He attended James Madison University and graduated with a BBA in International Business. He began his professional career in restaurant management, and went on to work as a National Sales Manager for ADP, Sales Manager for PeopleSoft, Sales Manager for KPMG Consulting, Senior Vice President of Sales for Genesis 10; Application Sales Manager for Oracle, and Security Director for Robbins Research International, Inc., An Anthony Robbins Company. He lives with Terri, his wife of 29 years and his four children – Chelsey, Colleen, Courtney and Chance – in Charlotte, North Carolina.