World affairs have been a constant presence in Mika Brzezinski’s life. The daughter of former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, she is the co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. As the Democrat to her partner Joe Scarborough’s Republican, Brzezinski spends each weekday morning debating the headlines of the day with a roundtable of political insiders, journalists, and newsmakers.

 TIME magazine has called Morning Joe “revolutionary.” The New York Times ranked it as the top news show in 2008, and a 2010 follow-up praised Brzezinski and Scarborough’s natural repartee and off the cuff commentary. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, her presentations give audiences a smart, savvy, and insightful perspective on the news of the day and an inside look behind the scenes of a hit morning show. 

 Repeat Best-Selling Author. Mika Brzezinski is a best-selling author. Her fourth and most recent best-selling book, Grow Your Value: Living and Working to Your Full Potential, is a follow-up to her second, New York Times best-seller Knowing Your Value. Grow Your Value gives women the tools necessary to advocate for themselves and grow their financial futures – both professionally and personally. Knowing Your Value discusses perceptions of value and how successful women today have achieved their deserved recognition and financial worth in the workplace. Her third best-selling book, Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction–and My Own, details her struggles with food and her role in the war against obesity. Her first book, All Things At Once, was also a New York Times best-seller. In it, she discusses the challenges of career, family, and the news business with the style and grace that have made her one of the rising stars of morning news.

 Long-Standing Journalism Career. Brzezinski began her journalism career in 1990 at ABC’s World News This Morning. A year later, she moved to Tribune-owned Fox affiliate WTIC-TV/WTIC-DT in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she progressed from an assignment and features editor to a general assignments reporter. In 1992, Brzezinski moved to a CBS affiliate, becoming its weekday morning anchor in 1995. In 1997, she left that role to join the CBS network news, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the overnight Up to the Minute news program. In 2000, Brzezinski took a short hiatus to co-host MSNBC’s weekday afternoon program Homepage, and in September 2001, she returned to CBS to become their principal “Ground Zero” reporter for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Brzezinski was broadcasting live from the scene when the south tower collapsed.

 Prior to rejoining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. After returning to MSNBC, Brzezinski anchored the Up to the Minute news and primetime newsbreaks during the week, filling in on MSNBC Live weekdays and on the weekends. In 2007, Brzezinski joined Morning Joe.

 A native of New York City, she attended Williams College and received a degree in English. 

Anne Pachciarek helps companies establish and operate their employee benefit plans, such as medical plans, 401(k) plans, pension plans and executive compensation programs.

With more than 20 years of experience, Anne works with public companies and closely held businesses to find solutions to a wide range of ERISA compliance, fiduciary responsibility and plan administration problems. She advises on welfare plans, pension and profit sharing plans, cafeteria plans and deferred compensation programs, as well as on the handling of benefit plans in mergers and acquisitions.

Anne has been a member of the Hiring Committee and the Chair of the summer program for the Chicago office.

Joseph Cabral is the Chief Human Resources Officer for Cleveland Clinic.  The organization has an annual operating budget of more than $7 billion and a workforce comprised of more than 42,000 employees.  The Cleveland Clinic health system is a global health organization with its latest addition in Abu Dhabi. Patients come for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals.

With more than 19 years of experience developing and executing strategies that enhance cultural and organizational change, Mr. Cabral has spent more than a decade driving business objectives, vision and values forward in all aspects of Talent Management and Human Resources in order to achieve the organization’s goals.  

Prior to going to Cleveland Clinic, Mr. Cabral served as the CHRO for North Shore LIJ Health System, which received the SHRM/SIOP Award.   Previously he held other key HR leadership roles at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and has been cited by Time Magazine, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes and other industry publications for his expertise in Human Resources “Best Practices”.  He holds an M.S. in Quality Systems Management, has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts and has also served as a Baldrige Examiner as well as a trustee for one of the largest Taft-Hartley Pension Plans in the country.  Between 2010-2014, Mr. Cabral was appointed by the Governor of New York to serve on the Regional Economic Development Council.  Additionally, in 2014 he received the CHRO of the Year Award from HRO Today.

Stephen Tucker is the Director of Industry Partnerships with Partners for a Competitive Workforce in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Tucker leads Industry Partnerships in Construction and Advanced Manufacturing engaging key stakeholders including employers, educators, community based organizations and the workforce investment system to address the skills gap of the local labor pool and to provide businesses with a qualified workforce. His main objectives are aligning education with industry, developing industry career pathways and utilizing industry intelligence to develop talent supply chains. 

Mr. Tucker is leading a multi generation design project to uncover ways to increase the number of women participating in advanced manufacturing careers while simultaneously engaging their children in STEM activities. He is also a member of the national Dream It Do It manufacturing marketing campaign and serves on numerous regional and local boards and committees.  

Mr. Tucker has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Wilberforce University. He is a 2008 graduate of the Urban League’s African American Leadership Development Program, the 2009 recipient of the State of Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Economic Opportunity, a 2010 YMCA Black & Latino Achiever, and a graduate of National Urban League’s Emerging Leaders Program. Mr. Tucker is a Certified Global Career Development Facilitator Instructor and a Murano Fellow as graduate of Aspen Institute’s Sector Skills Academy.

Brad Boyson personifies a 21st century global HR practitioner. A Canadian national who has spent more time working outside of Canada than within. Currently he is the Executive Director for SHRM’s Dubai office. Prior to joining SHRM he spent 15 yrs holding senior HR positions in globally diverse organizations including Mitsubishi Corporation, Royal Caribbean International and Hamptons/Emaar. Over the past 10 years he has been involved with numerous international HR projects including: ANSI/ISO HR standards, SHRM’s BoCK Development, SME for SHRM Learning System, item writer for GPHR and SHRM Global Special Expertise Panel lead. In short, inclusion and diversity in a truly global sense is hardwired into his passion for the profession.  

Graduate in business administration, with specialization in business management, has over 26 years of experience in the HR area in segments such as metallurgy,  automation and power technology, telecommunications, automotive, consumer goods and petrochemical. He has already  implemented  organizational and HR transformation programs , cultural change , leadership development programs, build and implement HR strategy,  and internationalization of HR policies and practices. Has developed his career within some global companies such as ABB, Unilever, Fiat Chrysler Automotive and Braskem.