Ben Casnocha
entrepreneur and author
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Ben Casnocha is an award-winning entrepreneur and author from Silicon Valley. He is co-author, with LinkedIn founder and chairman Reid Hoffman, of the #1 New York Times best-selling book The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career. They are also authors of The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, a highly anticipated book based on his article in Harvard Business Review entitled Tours of Duty: The New Employer-Employee Compact. Casnocha has himself written for Newsweek, the American Enterprise Institute, NPR’s “Marketplace” and the US State Department.

In addition to his writing, Casnocha is a technology entrepreneur. He founded Comcate, Inc., a leading e-government software company, at age 14. He wrote a book about his experience titled My Start-Up Life. PoliticsOnline named him one of the “25 most influential people in the world of Internet and politics.” He also incubates and advises Internet entrepreneurs at Wasabi Ventures. BusinessWeek named him among “one of America’s top young entrepreneurs,” and dozens of outlets have covered his work, including CNN, The Economist and CNBC.

Ben Casnocha is an accomplished world traveler and speaker. He has spoken to tens of thousands of people around the world. He’s traversed alleyways in Morocco, deserts in northern Chile and busy streets in China. He has experience leading inspiring global conversations about entrepreneurship, careers and the future of work.
 

 

SESSIONS:
Frans Johansson
Founder and CEO
The Medici Group
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An author, entrepreneur, and acclaimed international keynote speaker, Frans Johansson has addressed audiences around the world. His debut book, The Medici Effect, available in 18 languages, was named one of the “Best Books on
Innovation” by BusinessWeek and one of the top 10 best business books of the year by Amazon.com. His follow up book, The Click Moment, rewrites the rules for success.
 
Johansson has advised executive leadership from the world's largest companies, including BAE Systems, Caterpillar, MetLife and Nike; as well as startups, venture capital firms, government agencies, and universities around the world. He
sits on the diversity and inclusion board of Novartis, and has been featured on CNN, ABC and CNBC among others.
 
Raised in Sweden by his African-American/Cherokee mother and Swedish father, Johansson has lived all his life at the intersection. He has founded a software company, an international healthcare firm, and a hedge fund. He has written
articles on healthcare, information technology and the science of sport fishing. Frans holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. He is currently the founder and CEO of The Medici Group.

 

SESSIONS:
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - 10:15am to 12:00pm
Judy A. Smith
Founder and President
Smith & Company
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Founder and President of Smith & Co., a leading strategic and crisis communications firm, Smith honed her skills through her experiences handling a number of sensational events, including the Iran Contra investigation, the 1991 Gulf War, the Los Angeles riots, the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas, and the United Nations Foundation and World Health Organization response to the SARS epidemic.

 

SESSIONS:
Monday, October 28, 2013 - 9:30am to 10:30am
Lisa Bodell
Founder & CEO
futurethink
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Innovation Expert, Founder and CEO of futurethink and Author, Kill the Company.

As a globally recognized futurist and expert on innovation, Lisa Bodell ignites new thinking at every event with high energy, humor, and audience engagement. Bodell is an award-winning author and CEO of futurethink, an innovation-training firm that helps businesses embrace change and become world-class innovators. As a globally recognized futurist and expert on the topic of driving change, her mission is to provoke fresh thinking around what’s possible, and help people better solve problems with intentionally simple, easy-to-use tools. She has helped thousands of senior leaders ignite innovation at the New York Stock Exchange, Pfizer, Google, Lockheed Martin and many others.

Bodell is an inspired speaker who has brought her message to over 30 countries and nearly 100,000 people each year, and she was recently awarded the “Top 5 Speaker Award” by Speaking.com. She is also the author of the best-selling book Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution, which won the 2014 Axiom “Best Business Book Award” and was voted “Best Business Book” by USA Book News and Booz & Co. A respected thought-leader on innovation, Bodell has appeared on NPR, FOX News, and in publications such as Fast Company, The New York Times, and WIRED. She is a monthly columnist for strategy + business, and frequent contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review.

Bodell serves as a member of the Global Agenda Council for the World Economic Forum; an adviser on the boards of the Association of Professional Futurists; and Novartis’ Diversity and Inclusion Board in Basel, Switzerland. Among her many academic activities, Bodell has taught innovation and creativity at both American and Fordham Universities.

 

 

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 - 9:00am to 10:30am

2013 Diversity Conference Session Planner

Our popular Diversity & Inclusion Conference & Exposition will be held for the first time in San Francisco, a city well-known for its cultural dynamism, global impact and celebration of diversity. We invite you to join other D&I practitioners October 28-30, in one of the most remarkable cities in the world, for professional and personal development, networking and learning that will inspire you to drive diversity where you live, work and play.

 

Judy A. Smith
Founder and President
Smith & Company
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Founder and President of Smith & Co., a leading strategic and crisis communications firm, Smith honed her skills through her experiences handling a number of sensational events, including the Iran Contra investigation, the 1991 Gulf War, the Los Angeles riots, the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas, and the United Nations Foundation and World Health Organization response to the SARS epidemic.

 

SESSIONS: