General Session

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies — how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies.  Having invested nearly a quarter of a century of research into the topic, Jim has authored or co-authored six books that have sold in total more than ten million copies worldwide.  They include: the classic BUILT TO LAST, a fixture on the Business Week best seller list for more than six years; the international bestseller GOOD TO GREAT, translated into 35 languages; and HOW THE MIGHTY FALL, a New York Times bestseller that examines how great companies can self-destruct. 

His most recent book is GREAT BY CHOICE: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, coauthored with Morten Hansen.  Based on nine years of research, it answers the question: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?  Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Jim’s prior books by its focus not just on performance, but also on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he now conducts research and consults with executives from the corporate and social sectors.  He holds degrees in business administration and mathematical sciences from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. 

Jim has worked with senior executives and CEOs at over a hundred corporations.  He has also worked with social sector organizations across the spectrum, from education and the arts to religious organizations, local and federal government, healthcare, and cause-driven non-profits.  In 2005, he published a monograph, Good to Great and the Social Sectors. 

Jim holds a two-year appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He travels from his lab in Boulder to engage with cadets and West Point faculty on the topic of building great leaders. 

Jim is an avid rock climber and has made one-day ascents of the North Face of Half Dome and the three-thousand foot Nose route of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.  

Ray Suarez joined the “PBS NewsHour” in October 1999 as a Washington-based senior correspondent. Suarez has more than 30 years of varied experience in the news business. He came to “The NewsHour” from National Public Radio, where he had been host of the nationwide call-in news program “Talk of the Nation” since 1993. Prior to that, he spent seven years covering local, national and international stories for the NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He is the author most recently of a book examining the tightening relationship between religion and politics in America, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America. A Life Member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Suarez was a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Blake Mycoskie is the Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS, and the person behind the idea of One for One®, a business model that helps a person in need with every product purchased.

A simple idea has grown into a global movement: TOMS Shoes has provided over 60 million pairs of shoes to children since 2006, TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to over 400,000 since 2011 and TOMS Roasting Company has helped provide over 335,000 weeks of safe water since launching in 2014. In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection was founded with the mission to help provide training for skilled birth attendants and distribute birth kits containing items that help a woman safely deliver her baby. As of 2016, TOMS has supported safe birth services for over 25,000 mothers.

TOMS humble beginnings happened unintentionally. While traveling in Argentina in 2006, Blake witnessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes. His solution to the problem was simple, yet revolutionary: to create a for-profit business that was sustainable and not reliant on donations. Blake’s vision soon turned into the simple business idea that provided the powerful foundation for TOMS. Over the course of its first five years, TOMS was successful enough in providing shoes for children in need. But Blake, having recognized other vital needs during his travels around the world, realized that One for One® could be applied to more than shoes. He developed the idea for TOMS Eyewear in which for every pair of eyewear purchased, TOMS would help give sight to a person in need. One for One®. In the fall of 2011, Blake released his first book, Start Something That Matters, offering his own amazing story of inspiration, and the power of incorporating giving in business. He references other companies and individuals who have been motivated and inspired to integrate philanthropy into their profession as well as their personal lives. The book became a New York Times best-seller. More importantly, it is Blake’s hope that Start Something That Matters inspires others to turn their passion and dreams into a reality.

From shoes to eyewear and now a book, Blake’s unique approach to business has awarded him with numerous accolades. In 2009, Blake and TOMS received the Secretary of State’s 2009 Award of Corporate Excellence (ACE). At the Clinton Global Initiative University plenary session, former President Clinton introduced Blake to the audience as “one of the most interesting entrepreneurs (I’ve) ever met.” People Magazine featured Blake in its “Heroes Among Us” section, and TOMS Shoes was featured in the Bill Gates Time Magazine article “How to Fix Capitalism.” In 2011, Blake was named on Fortune Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list, recognizing him as one of the top young businessmen in the world.

Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez serves as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is also a member of the New Democrats Coalition. Currently a Senior Democratic Whip, Congressman Gonzalez has served as a Texas Regional Whip for the Democratic Caucus and as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Civil Rights Task Force since 1999. In the 112th Congress, Congressman Gonzalez serves on the House Committees on Energy and Commerce and House Administration. Congressman Gonzalez is also a Member of several Congressional Task Forces and Caucuses including: Education, Financial Services, Business and Economic Development, and Telecommunications; and the 21st Century Health Care Caucus, the Homeland Security Caucus, the Port Security Caucus, the Air Force Caucus, the Infrastructure and Transportation Caucus, and the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus.

Congressman Todd Russell Platts has worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on several major legislative initiatives. Platts was the lead Republican sponsor of legislation (H.R. 2142) signed into law in January 2011 designed to give Congress and the American people the tools to better evaluate the effectiveness of federal government programs. He was the lead Republican sponsor of legislation signed into law in June 2009 to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products for the first time.  In 2007, Congressman Platts was the lead Republican sponsor of the first increase in fuel efficiency standards signed into law in over 30 years—decreasing our reliance on foreign oil and promoting environmental stewardship. In October 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law a bill sponsored by Congressman Platts to increase financial accountability standards at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Congressman Platts is a strong advocate of a more open and efficient government, and has also advocated for legislation to make campaign finance laws more transparent, improving the Freedom of Information Act and providing protections for federal employees who report waste, fraud and abuse.

Neil Newhouse is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, which is a national political and public affairs survey research firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies and major associations.

For its work in the 2002 elections, Public Opinion Strategies won the "Pollster of the Year" Campaign Excellence Award from the American Association of Political Consultants. Neil has worked in the field of public opinion research for more than twenty years, has directed the research for thousands of individual projects, and has experience in every aspect of opinion research, including focus groups, "dial" groups, one-on-one interviews, and quantitative research.

Neil has also worked in the political field for more than twenty-five years, and was described by Democratic Governor Ed Rendell as "one of the most respected pollsters in the country." Neil has helped elect fifteen current members of Congress, four U.S. Senators and five Governors. His most notable clients include Gov. Jeb Bush (FL), Gov. John Rowland (CT), Gov. Mitt Romney (MA), Senator Rick Santorum (PA), Senator Pat Roberts (KS), Rep. Henry Hyde (IL) and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV).

Roll Call, the newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, noted that Neil was one of the "Money 20" - consultants from both parties who "make a difference."

Neil also has extensive international experience, having completed various research projects in Australia, Jamaica, South Africa, Bulgaria, Russia, Venezuela and Kuwait.

Prior to co-founding Public Opinion Strategies, Neil was Executive Vice President of The Wirthlin Group. Neil is originally from Kansas City, graduated from Duke University and attended graduate school at the University of Virginia. He currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and two children.

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.

Why Robert is a Game Changer: Robert L. Johnson is the Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies, an innovative business network that owns or holds interests in businesses operating in hotel real estate investment, private equity, consumer financial services, asset management, insurance services, automobile dealerships, sports and entertainment, and video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming. 

Prior to forming The RLJ Companies, Mr. Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the nation’s first and leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news, sports and public affairs programming for the African American audience.

Johnson will launch a new online destination called OPPSPLACE. The site is the first and only web-based employment and business site that aggregates minority job candidates and minority businesses in one easy-to-use destination.

On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. And on August 26, 2008, when he stood on top of Puncak Jaya, in Papua New Guinea, Weihenmayer completed his 12-year quest to climb the Seven Summits— the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.

He joins only 150 mountaineers who have accomplished this feat. Additionally, he has scaled El Capitan, a 3,300-foot overhanging rock wall in Yosemite; Losar, a 2,600-foot vertical ice waterfall in the Mt. Everest region of the Himalayas; and a difficult and rarely climbed rock face on 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya. He has also completed the most brutal adventure race in the world: Primal Quest, 460 miles in nine days, with no time outs.

Why Erik is a Game Changer:

• Erik is the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.

• Erik, along with his Everest teammates, led a group of soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to the summit of Lobuche, a 20,000- foot peak in Nepal, to give back to America’s heroes and show what is possible despite adversity.

• Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, he has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider and skier who has never let his blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life.

Harris is considered an expert in the field of diversity and holds several leadership positions in many national organizations. She began her career with McDonald’s over 30 years ago as an administrative assistant in the Corporate Legal department. Harris was quickly promoted to several positions within the Human Resources department leading to her current global leadership role.

She has documented her experience with McDonald’s in her book, None of Us Is Good as All of Us: How McDonald’s Prospers by Embracing Inclusion and Diversity.

Why Patricia is a Game Changer:

• She is responsible for the development and implementation of diversity strategies throughout McDonald’s Corporation, including the 31,489 restaurants in 118 countries.

• Harris is a founder and member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, founder and past chair of the MultiCultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, and past President of the Board of Directors for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength (formerly Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization).

• Under her leadership, McDonald’s has been widely recognized for its commitment to inclusion and diversity. This recognition includes Fortune magazine’s “Top 50 Places for Minorities to Work”, Black Enterprise magazine’s “Top 40 Companies for Diversity”, Latina Style magazine’s “Best Companies for Latinas”, Asian Enterprise magazine’s ”Top 25 Companies for Asians,” and the “Disability Diversity Award” by Worklife Matters magazine.