Featured Speakers
Smiley Poswolsky
Sunday, October 5 | 5:00-6:15 p.m.
In a lonely, nonstop, overwhelmed workplace where time spent face to face has been replaced with wall-to-wall Zoom meetings, 24/7 Teams messages and the rapid rise of AI and ChatGPT, workplace connection has withered. Data show that 40 percent of employees don’t feel a sense of connection to their coworkers, 40 percent don’t trust their coworkers and 20 percent don’t even have one friend at work. In light of these grim stats, workplace belonging expert Smiley Poswolsky makes the case that the future of work is human connection. In our opening keynote, Smiley will share how college and university HR leaders can attract and retain top talent across all generations, reignite human connection, and increase team and customer engagement by creating a culture of belonging. He’ll share tools for fostering employee engagement and supporting your people as we all navigate the challenges of the new world of work, including generational differences, hybrid work, well-being and the impact of AI.
About Smiley Poswolsky:
Smiley Poswolsky is an internationally renowned keynote speaker, workplace belonging expert and bestselling author of four books that have been translated into multiple languages, including The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness, and The Workplace Belonging Toolkit. He shares industry-shaping insights and practical tools to attract and retain top talent across generations, create a culture of belonging and engage high-performing teams at world-class organizations like Apple, Google, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, Mayo Clinic and the U.S. Navy. His TED talk has been viewed 2 million times, and he has delivered 650 keynotes in front of 350,000 people in 25 countries. His work has been featured in more than 100 media outlets, including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The New York Times, The New Yorker and the World Economic Forum.
Sponsored by 
Amy Blankson
Monday, October 6 | 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
About Amy Blankson:
Amy Blankson is the co-founder and chief evangelist of the Digital Wellness Institute and the bestselling author of The Future of Happiness. A graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Management, she’s the only person to receive a Point of Light Award from two U.S. presidents. She is also a member of Harvard’s AI for Human Flourishing Council, a former member of the UN Global Happiness Council, a featured professor in Oprah’s happiness e-course and a regular contributor to Forbes. Her current work focuses on how to cultivate happiness and well-being in a hyperconnected world.
Sponsored by 
Shola Richards
Tuesday, October 7 | 2:30-3:45 p.m.
In our closing keynote, Shola Richards will share practical strategies to reverse the rising trend of incivility and unproductive discourse in our workplaces, our homes and every place in between. He’ll help us explore how to expertly navigate challenging and polarizing discussions, how to disagree without disrespect, how to find common ground (even when it’s not clear that any exists), how to protect and even enhance our mental wellness in this current reality, and how to build a foundation of civility in our workplaces, families and communities that will sustain over time.
About Shola Richards:
Shola Richards, CEO and founder of Go Together Global® and author of the bestselling book Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives and Our World, is leading a worldwide movement to change the world based on how we treat each other at work. His work has been featured on the Today Show, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Complete Wellbeing India and Business Insider Australia, and his tireless efforts to make the world a kinder place have earned him the nickname “Brother Teresa.” As a speaker, he has shared his transformative message with Fortune 500 companies, leading healthcare organizations, top universities, the motion picture industry, on the TEDx stage, and in his greatest honor to date, in September 2021, he was invited to testify in front of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill to share his expert recommendations on how to bring more civility to Congress. He is also a father, a husband, an identical twin, and a self-professed “kindness extremist” who will not rest until bullying and incivility is extinct from the American workplace.
Sponsored by 