{"id":454,"date":"2019-10-14T16:02:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T16:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2020\/?page_id=454"},"modified":"2025-09-17T13:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:26:00","slug":"featured-speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/featured-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Featured Speakers<\/span><\/h1>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”||94px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|auto||400px||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” module_id=”ross” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.8em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” min_height=”560px” custom_margin=”||17px|||” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Smiley Poswolsky<\/h2>\n

Sunday, October 5 | 5:00-6:15 p.m.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>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\u2019t feel a sense of connection to their coworkers, 40 percent don\u2019t trust their coworkers and 20 percent don\u2019t even have one friend at work. In light of these grim stats, workplace belonging expert Smiley Poswolsky<\/strong> 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/em>, Friendship in the <\/em>Age of Loneliness<\/em>, and The Workplace Belonging Toolkit<\/em>. 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<\/em>, The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, Fast Company<\/em>, The New York Times<\/em>, The New Yorker <\/em>and the World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by \"\"<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

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Amy Blankson<\/span><\/h2>\n

Monday, October 6 | 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The future of work in higher education isn<\/text>\u2019<\/text>t just about adapting to new technology <\/text>\u2014 <\/text>it<\/text>\u2019<\/text>s about <\/text>choosing how we show up in the face of change. As digital tools and AI reshape campus life, HR <\/text>leaders have a powerful opportunity to lead with both courage and compassion. In this energizing <\/text>and deeply human presentation, digital wellness expert Amy <\/strong><\/text>Blankson<\/text><\/strong> will help us rethink what it means to thrive in a hyperconnected world. With insights from positive psychology, the Global <\/text>Flourishing Study and real stories from campuses navigating transformation, Amy will offer practical <\/text>tools to help us foste<\/text>r well<\/text>–<\/text>being, belonging and resilience in the face of digital overwhelm.\u00a0<\/text><\/p>\n

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<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by\u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

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Shola Richards<\/span><\/h2>\n

Tuesday, October 7 | 2:30-3:45 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In our closing keynote, Shola Richards<\/strong> 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

About Shola Richards:
Shola Richards, CEO and founder of Go Together Global\u00ae and author of the bestselling book Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives and Our World<\/em>, 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 \u201cBrother Teresa.\u201d 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 \u201ckindness extremist\u201d who will not rest until bullying and incivility is extinct from the American workplace.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by\u00a0 \"\" <\/em><\/p>\n

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Featured SpeakersSmiley Poswolsky Sunday, October 5 | 5:00-6:15 p.m.\u00a0 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\u2019t feel a sense of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

Dr. Michael J. Sorrell<\/a><\/h2>\r\nSunday, October 20 | 5:00-6:15 p.m.\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nDr. Michael J. Sorrell\u00a0<\/b>is the longest-serving president in the 146-year history of Paul Quinn College. During his 11 years of leadership, Paul Quinn College has become a small, private, minority-serving institution that, by focusing on the most persistent, prevalent and pressing problems of our society, is remaking higher education and becoming a movement.\r\n\r\nDuring President Sorrell\u2019s tenure, Paul Quinn College has won the HBCU of the Year, the HBCU Student Government Association of the Year and the HBCU Business Program of the Year. Additional achievements include the college being recognized as a member of the President\u2019s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the creation of the New Urban College Model, achievement of full-accreditation\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

Whitney Johnson<\/a><\/h2>\r\nMonday, October 21 | 8:30-10:15 a.m.\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\"\"Whitney Johnson<\/strong>, CEO of WLJ Advisors, is an innovation and disruption theorist, best-selling author, sought-after executive and performance coach, and management consultant. She is recognized as one of the world\u2019s most influential management thinkers by\u00a0Thinkers50<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Fortune<\/em>. Johnson specializes in helping leaders grow their awareness, building the skills needed to achieve maximum success in their organizations. Senior executives seek out Johnson\u2019s coaching and consulting expertise because she understands that productive workplace cultures begin with the leader. She excels at helping leaders break through to new levels of personal and organizational effectiveness. Johnson\u2019s services utilize her exclusive proprietary tools, such as her S-Curve coaching framework and team disruption diagnostics, which were first developed after co-founding the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School\u2019s Clayton Christensen. At WLJ Advisors, she has mastered her formula for helping executives and organizations harness the unpredictability of change so they can thrive in today\u2019s volatile business environment.\r\n\r\nJohnson\u2019s best-selling book,\u00a0Build An A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve,\u00a0<\/em>is being used by leaders globally to build the culture and attract the talent they need to reach their big goals. This follow-up to her critically acclaimed\u00a0Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work (2015),\u00a0<\/em>outlines the key strategy to having an engaged, productive and innovative workforce, which is having a plan for developing all employees \u2014 no matter where they are on their personal learning curves. Using her book\u2019s frameworks, Johnson works with leaders to shape how their organizations embrace and manage disruption by leading individuals and teams up the S-curve of change.\r\n\r\nPrior to WLJ Advisors, Johnson was an award-winning Wall Street analyst. She is one of Marshall Goldsmith\u2019s original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for the Harvard Business School\u2019s Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, a LinkedIn influencer and hosts the Disrupt Yourself Podcast.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

Michele Norris<\/a><\/h2>\r\nTuesday, October 22 | 8:00-10:15 a.m.<\/strong>\r\n

\"\"<\/h2>\r\nMichele Norris<\/strong>\u00a0is a Peabody Award-winning journalist, founder of The Race Card Project and executive director of The Bridge, The Aspen Institute\u2019s new program on race, identity, connectivity and inclusion.\r\n\r\nFor more than a decade Norris served as a host of NPR\u2019s\u00a0All Things Considered\u00a0<\/em>where she interviewed world leaders, American presidents, Nobel laureates, leading thinkers and groundbreaking artists. She has also produced in-depth profiles, interviews and series for NPR News programs as well as special reports for\u00a0National Geographic<\/em>,\u00a0Time Magazine,\u00a0<\/em>ABC News and Lifetime Television. Norris created The Race Card Project, an initiative to foster a wider conversation about race in America, after the publication of her family memoir,\u00a0The Grace of Silence<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBefore joining NPR in 2002, Norris spent almost 10 years as a reporter for ABC News in the Washington Bureau. She has also worked as a staff writer for\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>,\u00a0Chicago Tribune\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Los Angeles Times<\/em>. In 2014, Norris earned a Peabody award and the Distinguished Dialogue Award for her work on the Race Card Project.\r\n\r\nIn 2009, she was named \u201cJournalist of the Year\u201d by the National Association of Black Journalists. The NABJ recognized Norris for her coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign \u2014 when she co-hosted NPR\u2019s Democratic presidential candidates\u2019 debate, covered both conventions, anchored multi-hour election and inauguration live broadcasts and moderated a series of candid conversations with voters on the intersection of race and politics. That series earned Norris and\u00a0Morning Edition\u00a0<\/em>Host Steve Inskeep an Alfred I. DuPont -Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcasting.\r\n\r\nNorris was honored with NABJ\u2019s Salute to Excellence Award, for her cove","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-454","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":102,"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5401,"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions\/5401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conferences.cupahr.org\/annual2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}