![]() |
Mike Rowe
Host of "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel
Connect Online with this Speaker
|
Mike Rowe has been called the “dirtiest man on TV,” a title he earned while hosting the hit TV series, Dirty Jobs, a show that paid tribute to the many hardworking people who make civilized life possible for the rest of us. On the show, Mike worked as a good-humored apprentice on more than 300 different, unglamorous jobs— from boiler repairman to abandoned mine plugger. On his latest TV series, Somebody’s Gotta Do It, Mike introduces viewers to innovators, do-gooders, entrepreneurs, collectors and fanatics who march to the beat of a different drum. Mike is also well known for narrating documentaries and television shows about everything from lions of the Serengeti to fisherman in the Aleutian Islands.
As CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, Mike spends a significant amount of time speaking about the country’s dysfunctional relationship with work, highlighting the widening skills gap, and challenging the persistent belief that a four-year degree is automatically the best path to take. The mikeroweWORKS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that awards scholarships to qualified individuals in pursuit of a career in the skilled trades. The Foundation has been instrumental in granting more than $3 million in education through its Work Ethic Scholarship Program for trade schools across the country
![]() |
Anna Tavis, Ph.D.
former editor, People + Strategy Journal
professor, NYU
Connect Online with this Speaker
|
![]() |
Ben Sommers
vice president, North American Business Development
Fitbit
Connect Online with this Speaker
|
Ben Sommers is the Vice President, North America Business Development at Fitbit, a company that designs products and experiences to empower and inspire people to live healthier, more active lives. Ben works primarily with employers and organizations of all sizes, including Fitbit’s wellness and health plan partners, to enable organizations to lead more engaging and effective wellness programs with world-class technologies and services. Prior to Fitbit, Ben served as Regional Vice President, Western U.S., for Castlight Health, a healthcare IT company that built the first personalized platform to enable employers to understand and manage their healthcare investments while helping employees make the best possible healthcare decisions. Before joining Castlight, Ben served as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Future Point Systems, a software company focused on business and government analytics. Ben also managed a Western U.S. territory at IBM, working across all of IBM’s solution areas and focusing on healthcare IT and software clients. Previous to IBM, Ben has held key finance and investment positions at Windspeed Ventures, a venture capital firm, and at Robertson Stephens, a technology-focused investment bank. Ben earned his MBA from the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business, and received his BA in Economics from Harvard University.