General Session

Rogers, CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, LLC, has earned a reputation as one of America’s most successful businesswomen. With a Harvard Business School degree and stellar business experience, Rogers has redefined every leadership position that she has held, while playing a major philanthropic role in the communities in which she has lived. In 2008, President Barack Obama named Rogers as Social Secretary, the first African-American to hold that position.

World affairs have been a constant presence in Mika Brzezinski’s life. The daughter of former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, she is the co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. As the Democrat to her partner Joe Scarborough’s Republican, Brzezinski spends each weekday morning debating the headlines of the day with a roundtable of political insiders, journalists, and newsmakers.

 TIME magazine has called Morning Joe “revolutionary.” The New York Times ranked it as the top news show in 2008, and a 2010 follow-up praised Brzezinski and Scarborough’s natural repartee and off the cuff commentary. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, her presentations give audiences a smart, savvy, and insightful perspective on the news of the day and an inside look behind the scenes of a hit morning show. 

 Repeat Best-Selling Author. Mika Brzezinski is a best-selling author. Her fourth and most recent best-selling book, Grow Your Value: Living and Working to Your Full Potential, is a follow-up to her second, New York Times best-seller Knowing Your Value. Grow Your Value gives women the tools necessary to advocate for themselves and grow their financial futures – both professionally and personally. Knowing Your Value discusses perceptions of value and how successful women today have achieved their deserved recognition and financial worth in the workplace. Her third best-selling book, Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction–and My Own, details her struggles with food and her role in the war against obesity. Her first book, All Things At Once, was also a New York Times best-seller. In it, she discusses the challenges of career, family, and the news business with the style and grace that have made her one of the rising stars of morning news.

 Long-Standing Journalism Career. Brzezinski began her journalism career in 1990 at ABC’s World News This Morning. A year later, she moved to Tribune-owned Fox affiliate WTIC-TV/WTIC-DT in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she progressed from an assignment and features editor to a general assignments reporter. In 1992, Brzezinski moved to a CBS affiliate, becoming its weekday morning anchor in 1995. In 1997, she left that role to join the CBS network news, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the overnight Up to the Minute news program. In 2000, Brzezinski took a short hiatus to co-host MSNBC’s weekday afternoon program Homepage, and in September 2001, she returned to CBS to become their principal “Ground Zero” reporter for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Brzezinski was broadcasting live from the scene when the south tower collapsed.

 Prior to rejoining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. After returning to MSNBC, Brzezinski anchored the Up to the Minute news and primetime newsbreaks during the week, filling in on MSNBC Live weekdays and on the weekends. In 2007, Brzezinski joined Morning Joe.

 A native of New York City, she attended Williams College and received a degree in English. 

In his role as an author, independent consultant, and speaker, Buckingham has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, USA Today,and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on numerous television programs, including TODAY and The Oprah Winfrey Show, and is routinely lauded by such corporations as Toyota, Coca-Cola, Master Foods, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, and Disney as an invaluable resource in informing, challenging, mentoring, and inspiring people to find their strengths and sustain long-lasting personal success.

Dan Abrams is the currently the co-anchor of Nightline and Chief Legal Affairs Anchor for ABC News.  Prior to 2011, Dan was at NBC News for 15 years as, among other things, a reporter for NBC Nightly News, host on MSNBC, and Chief Legal Correspondent for NBC News. From 2006 to late 2007, Dan served as General Manager of MSNBC, where he presided over a period of unprecedented growth, with ratings and profits each increasing well over 50% during his tenure. During that time Dan was also a member of the NBC Universal President’s Council. He also hosted “The Abrams Report”, a nightly legal affairs program, and the acclaimed “Verdict with Dan Abrams”.

A graduate of Columbia University Law School, Dan is also a recognized writer. He has published articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Yale Law and Policy Review, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and Mediaite.com, among many others. In 2011, he published his first book, "Man Down: Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else,”which made the Washington Post bestseller list. Dan is the founder of seven web properties: Mediaite, a news and media website; Styleite, which covers beauty and fashion; Sportsgrid, a fantasy sports site, Gossip Cop, which monitors false reporting in the celebrity gossip industry; The Maude, devoted to industry news and humor created by women for women; The Mary Sue covering tech and geek culture; and The Braiser, which follows celebrity chefs. Together, the Abrams Media Network serves close to 15 million unique visitors per month.

Sallie Krawcheck is the owner of Ellevate (formerly known as 85 Broads). Ellevate is the leading professional women's networking organization, which is committed to the economic empowerment of women globally. She has also teamed up with Pax World Management, a fund management company, to offer an index fund called Ellevate Asset Management which focuses on companies where women make up a significant portion of officers and directors. Sallie’s involvement reflects her recognition of the power of diversity in driving economic growth, innovation and financial returns. As the only senior Wall Street executive to reimburse a portion of client losses for poorly performing products during the downturn and with her varied experiences as a senior manager, Chief Financial Officer and research analyst, Sallie Krawcheck's has been called “caps off… the most fascinating 10-year biography during this period of financial tumult” by BusinessWeek. Given her experiences, she provides unique and powerful insider insights into financial services, wealth management, personal financial matters and business management, delivered with her trademark candor. Krawcheck is past President of Bank of America Global Wealth Management, including Merrill Lynch, which at $17 billion in revenue and $2.2 trillion of client asset is the largest wealth management business in the world. At Citi, she ran Smith Barney and the Private Bank and also served as CFO. Prior to that, Krawcheck was a number-one rated research analyst covering Wall Street itself. A perennial on FORTUNE’S “Most Powerful Women” lists, she was one of TIME magazine’s “Global Business Influentials,” CNBC’s “Business Leader of the Future” and Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.”

Fifty years from now, one journalist will be the voice and face of our political era—and that journalist is Chuck Todd. A self-described political junkie, he has earned a reputation as one of the most passionate journalists and sharpest analysts in American media. He is NBC News’ political director and the moderator and managing editor of Meet the Press, the flagship Sunday morning public affairs program and the longest-running broadcast in television history. Upon his appointment to MTP, influencers and competitors praised him as “a tireless reporter” with “an encyclopedic knowledge of politics” and the ability to “break down barriers and get people off of their talking points.” With what Washingtonian calls a “savant-like knowledge of politics,” he has become a fixture in the White House press room, a steady and constant presence on television, and a tireless voice on the campaign trail. His up-to-the-minute poll analysis and insightful commentary have made him one of the most sought-after voices in American political coverage. 

Prior to Meet the Press, Todd served as NBC News chief White House correspondent (2008–2014) as well as the host of MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown (2010–2014). He has held the role of political director since 2007, leading all aspects of the news division’s political coverage and analysis. He is also the editor of First Read, NBC’s must-read guide to political news and trends in and around Washington, DC. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Chuck Todd has the unique ability to deliver an all-consuming passion for politics with razor-sharp analysis. As the political news of today becomes tomorrow’s American history, he offers a comprehensive picture of the current political landscape and serves as the voice of America in the early 21st century.

Mike Aitken has worked at SHRM since 2003 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. Prior to joining SHRM, he served for 14 years as associate director for Governmental and External Relations at the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). Previously, Aitken worked on state public policy issues at Bonner & Associates, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC. Currently, he is based in Alexandria, VA.

Founder and CEO of Tomorrow, a consumer innovation research lab, Mike Walsh advises some of the world's leading brands and corporations on what's coming next in their industry. Author of the best seller FUTURETAINMENT, he is a leading authority on the intersection of emerging technologies, consumer behavior and fast growth markets. Constantly traveling the world for the best ideas, he distils the most relevant insights into tailored keynotes that allow any audience to not only understand, but also start to influence the future direction of their industry. Rather than focusing on the distant future, Walsh focuses on the next five years—scanning the near horizon for disruptive technologies and consumer innovations on the verge of hitting critical mass—then translating these into usable business strategies. Publisher of the Disruptive Future blog read by thousands of professionals in the media and entertainment space, Walsh's unique insights and operating experience in emerging markets regarding breakthrough innovation and business transformation, makes him an expert on the growing influence of consumers in BRIC countries. Walsh’s new book, The Divergence (published 2012), charts the rise of online consumers in these emerging markets and shows that tomorrow's Web will be radically different to conventional Western models requiring entirely new engagement strategies. His views have appeared in a wide range of international publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes and Wallpaper magazine.