For 31 years, this Forum has served as a convening hub for those seeking to grow professional leadership and effectiveness skills in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion by engaging people, advancing ideas and igniting change. The Forum on Workplace Inclusion Annual Conference is the nation’s largest – and one of the world’s largest – workplace DEI conferences designed for national and global audiences. The CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. This commitment is driven by a realization that addressing diversity and inclusion is not a competitive issue, but a societal issue. The goal is to rally the business community together to take measurable action in advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
This year’s opening general session features keynote speaker Omar Ishrak, chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. A CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion signatory, Ishrak’s keynote presentation will address one of the four learning pillars of The Forum conference: What must we do to bridge the gap from the inclusion of diverse perspectives and experiences to the integration of diverse perspectives and experiences? “We are more than excited to have Omar Ishrak as our opening general session speaker,” Steve Humerickhouse, The Forum executive director, said. “His commitment to diversity and inclusion through the CEO Action pledge is an action we want to hold up as an example for other leaders to emulate.”
Other main stage general session speakers include:
- John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO, Operation HOPE
- Deeyah Kahn, founder and CEO, Fuuse/films, and award-winning documentary film director
- Kendra Clarke, vice president of data science and product development, sparks & honey, and Elfi Martinez, senior director, Jennifer Brown Consulting
The CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion will also be on display at The Forum’s Marketplace of Ideas – a 4,000-square-foot exhibit hall – with the addition of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion: Check Your Blind Spots Mobile Tour Bus. Created by CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, the tour is designed to give The Forum participants the opportunity to learn about unconscious bias, or blind spots, through a series of interactive elements that explore ways to mitigate this bias in their everyday lives.
For more information and registration, visit ForumWorkplaceInclusion.org.
