Speakers
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September 22, 2011
John Maxwell
Leadership Expert and Best-Selling Author
John C. Maxwell is an internationally respected leadership expert, speaker and author who has sold more than 18 million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a nonprofit organization that has trained more than 5 million leaders in 126 countries worldwide. Each year he speaks to the leaders of diverse organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, the National Football League, the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United Nations. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.
October 14, 2011
Frank Luntz
Pollster and Political Consultant, President and CEO of Luntz Research Companies
Frank Luntz is one of the most honored communication professionals in the United States today. More media outlets have turned to him to understand the hopes and fears of Americans than to any other political pollster. He has written, supervised and conducted more than 2,000 surveys, focus groups, ad tests and dial sessions in more than two dozen countries and four continents over the past decade. In some capacity, he has helped almost 30 Fortune 100 companies navigate the economic climate and connect more closely with consumers.
Luntz is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear, What Americans Really Want ... Really and WIN: The Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary, which hit the New York Times and Wall Street Journal lists in its very first week of release.
November 15, 2011
Horst Schulze
Chairman and CEO, West Paces Hotel Group
Horst Schulze, chairman and CEO of West Paces Hotel Group (parent company of Capella Hotels and Resorts), is a legend and leader in the service world. His vision has helped reshape concepts of customer service throughout the hospitality and service industries.
Schulze served as vice chairman of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company from 2001-2002 after serving as president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Group, starting in 1988. Upon joining Ritz-Carlton as a charter member and vice president of operations in 1983, he created the operating and service standards that have become world famous. He was appointed executive vice president in 1987 and president and COO in 1988.
Prior to his long tenure with Ritz-Carlton, Schulze spent nine years with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, where he was a hotel general manager, regional vice president and corporate vice president. Before his association with Hyatt, he worked for Hilton Hotels.
December 13, 2011
Thomas Donohue
President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Thomas Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region. Since assuming his position in 1997, Donohue has built the Chamber into a lobbying and political force with expanded influence across the globe.
Prior to his current post, Donohue served for 13 years as president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations, the national organization of the trucking industry. He is a member of the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce, as well as the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Born in New York City in 1938, Donohue earned a bachelor's degree from St. John's University and a master's degree in business administration from Adelphi University. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Adelphi, St. John's and Marymount universities. Donohue and his wife Liz live in Potomac, Md. They have three sons.
January 12, 2012
Chesapeake Conference Center
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Freeman A. Hrabowski III has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1992. In 2008, Hrabowski was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009, 2010 and 2011 ranked UMBC the number one "Up and Coming" university in the nation. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of "America's 10 Best College Presidents."
Hrabowski has written numerous articles and co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds, which focus on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally.
A child-leader in the civil rights movement, Hrabowski was prominently featured in a 1997 Spike Lee documentary, Four Little Girls, about the racially motivated bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 1963. He graduated from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics at age 19. He went on to receive his M.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned his Ph.D. at age 24.
February 21, 2012
Gen. Peter Pace
USMC (Ret.), Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (2005-2007)
Gen. Peter Pace retired from active duty in 2007, after more than 40 years of service in the United States Marine Corps. During his distinguished career, Pace held command at virtually every level.
In 2005, Pace was sworn in as 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Prior to becoming Chairman, he served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Pace holds the distinction of being the first Marine to have served in either of those positions. In June, 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor a president can bestow.
Pace currently serves on the board of directors of several corporate entities involved in management consulting, private equity and IT security. He has served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, and is currently on the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board. He also is involved with a number of charities focused on supporting U.S. troops and their families.
March 22, 2012 - Local Mayors Forum
Alan Krasnoff
Mayor of Chesapeake
Alan Krasnoff has served in Chesapeake City Council five consecutive terms since 1990 and was elected mayor in May 2008. He previously served as director of Chesapeake's Citizens Juvenile Advisory Board and is a practicing chiropractor. Krasnoff has been a member of Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Metropolitan Planning Organization and Chesapeake Planning Commission. He also is involved in the Virginia School Counselor Association, Hampton Roads Counselors Association and Virginia Counselors Association.
Paul Fraim
Mayor of Norfolk
Norfolk native Paul Fraim has been a member of Norfolk City Council since 1986 and has served as mayor of Norfolk since July 1994. Fraim began in private practice more than 40 years ago and is president of the law firm Fraim and Fiorella, PC He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association. His leadership extends into many other organizations, including the Hampton Roads Partnership, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) and TowneBank Board of Directors.
Linda T. Johnson
Mayor of Suffolk
Linda Johnson was appointed mayor by her colleagues on Suffolk City Council in 2006. She was sworn in as the city's first directly elected mayor in January 2009 and is also Suffolk's first female mayor. Previously, Johnson served as the public information officer for the State Corporation Commission in Richmond and as an eligibility officer for the Suffolk Department of Social Services. She also serves on the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and the Hampton Roads Mayors and Chair Caucus.
Kenneth Wright
Mayor of Portsmouth
Kenny Wright was elected mayor of Portsmouth on November 2, 2010, and took office just two days later. Born and raised in Portsmouth, Wright is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School and Old Dominion University. He is the president and CEO of Wright's Engineering but began his work career in 1975 as the first paper boy for London Oaks Apartments. Wright has an inspiring history of community involvement and public service, having served with excellence on many local boards and committees.
William Sessoms
Mayor of Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach native William Sessoms began his political career in 1988 as an at-large member of the City Council. In 2008, Sessoms was elected mayor of Virginia Beach. For more than 20 years, Sessoms has been actively involved in community service and has worked with numerous local and regional organizations, including the Life Saving Museum of Virginia, the American Heart Association, the Norfolk State University Foundation and the Tidewater Regional Transit Authority.
April 30, 2012 - Pat Williams
Pat Williams
Pat Williams, Sr. VP of NBA's Orlando Magic
Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic. Also one of America's top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, Pat has addressed employees from many of the Fortune 500 companies. Pat is also the author of over 70 books, his most recent title being Leadership Excellence: The Seven Sides of Leadership for the 21st Century.
Since 1968, Pat has been the general manager with teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Orlando. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history. In 2012, Pat received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle and The Wall Street Journal.