Plenary Sessions & Chair Symposia

Plenary Sessions

Sunday Plenary

In higher education, academic leaders are faced with the challenges of leading through unpreferred circumstances while maintaining optimism, fueling resiliency and helping those we lead find their point of impact to give their best and do their part in creating a better workplace and world place.

In this session, Cy Wakeman will awaken leaders to their most impactful role and help them modernize their approach by providing real-time, practical strategies for leading in challenging circumstances. Wakeman will offer her “No Ego” approach to “Making the Call to Greatness” so that leaders can quickly “love people up” and “call people up” to co-create a more ideal future. Modern leaders no longer manage just the work of their team members; they manage the energy of their teams, transcending learned helplessness and disillusionment to connect current realities to brighter futures.

Monday Plenary

For many years the name Henrietta Lacks was unknown. But thanks to Rebecca Skloot’s phenomenal and enduring bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a growing number of people—from medical researchers to book groups to high school students—are eager to learn more about her.

Henrietta’s descendants speak candidly and poignantly about the Lacks family’s experiences and the matriarch whose cancerous cell tissue has become, since her death in 1951, one of the most important medical research tools ever discovered. The Lackses’ thoughtful and personal connection to the bestselling book emphasizes how proud they are of Henrietta’s contribution to science.

Their story, as told in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, has sold nearly 3 million copies around the world, and has been selected as a common read by more than 250 schools, libraries and community institutions. Family members have spoken to audiences at libraries, universities, colleges, secondary schools and various professional associations, including the National Congress of Black Women, the Morehouse School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, the Virginia General Assembly, the University of Maryland Medical Center, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and Novartis Pharmaceutical.

Tuesday Plenary

Prepared teams with the right tools can do more than survive a crisis—they can thrive in uncertainty. But without a strong crisis leadership strategy, even the best teams may falter. In a poll of 2,000+ executives, many couldn’t identify their biggest crisis preparedness gap, and half were unsure if their teams could even respond effectively. The cost of unpreparedness? Lost revenue, market share, employee trust and more. Anton Gunn understands this firsthand.

Over two decades ago, in a time of national crisis and personal challenge, he chose to lead forward despite the uncertainty. That choice propelled him to advising a U.S. president and transforming organizations nationwide. Today, with 20+ years of leadership development experience, Mr. Gunn equips organizations with the skills to navigate crises, strengthen culture and lead with confidence. He teaches that any team can excel in adversity by applying the core principles of high-impact leadership.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and describe disruptive environments,
• Recognize and employ the right mindset during uncertain times,
• Build resilient teams that are prepared for adversity and
• Respond to the impact of the crisis (i.e., do not react to the circumstances).

Chair of the Board Symposia Sessions