Featured Speakers
Jamie Merisotis
Monday, April 12 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
In the opening keynote, Jamie Merisotis will share insights and calls to action from his most recent book, Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines. His vision centers on developing our unique capabilities as humans through a lifetime of learning opportunities that are easy to navigate, deliver fair results and offer a broad range of credentials — from college degrees to occupational certifications. By shifting long-held ideas about how the workforce should function and expanding our concept of work, he argues that we can harness the population’s potential, encourage a deeper sense of community and erase a centuries-long system of inequality.
Due to the pandemic, our nation and others are facing an economic crisis where myriad solutions are being proposed but too few focus on preparing people for the work of the future. If what we do has not changed as a consequence of COVID-19, then certainly how we work has changed — in most cases, dramatically. All of us will need to learn new skills and develop our abilities in new ways, which will mean that work and learning will need to coexist. To help ensure that colleges and universities remain relevant and competitive, higher education HR leaders will need to help other campus leaders focus on development of knowledge, skills and abilities that put human capabilities and values first.
Merisotis is a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, education, human work and talent development, and public policy. He has been Lumina’s president and CEO since 2008. He previously was co-founder and president of the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy and also served as executive director of a bipartisan national commission on college affordability appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. He is the author acclaimed books America Needs Talent and Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines.
Merisotis’ writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Journal, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Washington Monthly, Politico, Roll Call, and other publications. He has extensive global experience as an advisor and consultant in southern Africa, the former Soviet Union, Europe and other parts of the world. A respected analyst and innovator, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sponsored by: 
Nicole Weyer
Wednesday, April 14 | 4:00-5:15 p.m. ET
In the closing keynote, Nicole Weyer, long-time yogi and founder of Root to Rise Coaching, will provide tools and strategies we can use to help us stay rooted and engaged and avoid burnout in these challenging times. She will share how we can bring our best selves to all that we do, both personally and professionally, and how we can care for and honor ourselves while still serving others.
Weyer spent the first 21 years of her career in schools, and this chapter confirmed for her the importance of meeting people where they are. In this role, she helped mentor, support and guide students and colleagues along the path of figuring out who they are, learning from the successes and the struggles, and charting a path toward becoming their best self. Her 17 years of school leadership experience created a first-hand perspective on the power of organizational cultures in fostering wellness or encouraging self-sacrifice, how burnout creeps into our lives, and how we get stuck in a pattern of neglecting ourselves to serve others. She is committed to transforming schools by facilitating a conversation about the connection between employee morale, turnover and school culture by including burnout in this equation.
Using those lesson-filled years in her work as a burnout prevention coach, she partners with educators, staff and school leaders flirting with burnout to help them learn ways to nourish themselves so they can lead within and beyond the classroom and across campus while being the best version of themselves every day.
Sponsored by: 