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How social wealth can transform your career
Nisaini Rexach reveals why sending 150 resumes gets you nowhere—and what actually works. As Microsoft's Community Engagement Lead, she shares her radical approach to career advancement through "social wealth": intentional relationship-building that compounds over time. From Chicago's government housing to rooms with Fortune 500 CEOs, Rexach never submitted a resume for any role. She introduces powerful frameworks including the "shareholder" concept, demonstrates how every encounter is an interview, and explains why your network underwrites your next opportunity. Through compelling personal stories and her mentee Paige's transformation, Rexach provides actionable strategies for building connections that create career opportunities traditional networking never could.
Building trust across America's divides
In this powerful talk, Meg Whitty shares lessons from childhood campaign trails in rural Iowa that shaped her career building coalitions for sustainable aviation fuel. Drawing from experience across agriculture, energy, and aviation sectors, she reveals how authentic trust unlocks solutions to seemingly impossible challenges. Whitty demonstrates how the same communities devastated by hospital closures and economic decline can lead the clean energy transition, creating jobs while solving aviation's 3% contribution to global emissions. The presentation examines specific techniques for bringing together competing interests around shared goals, challenging false choices between economy and environment. Her message resonates particularly with leaders seeking to bridge political and geographic divides.
The Art of Noticing
What happens when a doctor trades his stethoscope for a camera? Photodocumentarian Tony Menias reveals how slowing down transforms the way we see ourselves and each other. From medical missions to National Geographic, his decade-long journey captures life's hidden rhythms and our shared humanity. Through stunning imagery and raw reflection, Tony shows how everyday moments become visual poetry when we pause to truly notice. This talk invites you to witness the divine connections that surround us daily—teaching that when we see with our hearts, not just our eyes, strangers become family and chaos becomes peace.
How our stories hold the power to transform healthcare
When architect Abbie Clary experienced the heartbreaking loss of her father within a fragmented healthcare system, it forever transformed her approach to healthcare design.
How you react in 3 minutes can change your life
Three minutes can change your life. When young people are faced with a challenge, one wrong decision can affect their future. Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. and Brightpoint started Choose to Change™, a program providing Chicago youth with a neighborhood-based Advocate and trauma informed cognitive behavioral therapy, and it is producing positive results.
How sports can tackle the loneliness crisis
At a time when we’re at our most divided, maybe the surprising answer to bringing us all together can be found through sports. In the midst of a loneliness epidemic, AJ Maestas, the Founder of Navigate, explores his own relationship with sports and how it made him a part of something greater than he could have expected when he left Fairbanks, Alaska at age 18. Whether you love football (in the American or global sense), baseball, Taylor Swift, or even if you don’t consider yourself a sports or entertainment fan at all, this talk offers an emotional and engaging look at why the fans in your life act the way they do. Our fundamental need for belonging drives us to find community and shared passion for sports, music, or the many other reasons we gather.
How everyday interactions shape your future
A few words can change the course of a life; they have the power to shrink, expand or transform someone's identity -- even your own. Social psychologist Mesmin Destin explores how everyday interactions and experiences play a powerful part in who we become, sharing the key moments and messages that can inspire us to grow into our best selves.
Places and Spaces and the Behavior They Create
Can architecture bring people together and create community? Can it truly help people reach their full potential? Damaris Hollingsworth champions approachable and memorable spaces that are culturally relevant, accessible to all and committed to maximize human well being.
The Human Need for Belonging
Child welfare veteran Amelia Franck Meyer describes the human need to belong and to be claimed. When we are disconnected from our tribe, and we feel as though we must make it on our own, it can have devastating life-long impacts. Listen to Amelia share the profound power of human connection.