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As the future workforce, today's students must be prepared to seize opportunities, forge new paths, and navigate challenges. True Career Readiness ensures they do not just graduate but are empowered as confident, adaptable, and forward-thinking professionals equipped to make a meaningful impact on the world. Our transformative, world-renowned keynote speakers will share cutting-edge strategies and perspectives to help you and your students conquer the path ahead.
It's time. Register your institution or "Team of 3" for the Spring 2024 session today.
HEATHER E. MCGOWAN
Future of Work Strategist,2017 Global LinkedIn Top Voice for Education
The Future of Work is Learning
Future-of-work strategist Heather E. McGowan helps leaders prepare their people and organizations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Third Industrial Revolution was marked by computerization and automation of physical labor, laying the foundation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which will be notable for the rapid advancement of technology tools into the domain of human knowledge work. In this world, humans must continuously learn and adapt, and with this transition comes information overload. Heather gives lucidity to this topic through her illuminating graphic frameworks and powerful metaphors, all backed by deep research. In 2017, LinkedIn ranked her as its number-one global voice for education. Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT columnist Thomas Friedman frequently quotes Heather in his books and columns and describes her as “the oasis” when it comes to insights into the future of work. Heather’s sessions help employees and leaders alike prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist.
McGowan’s clients range from start-ups to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies, including AMP Financial, Autodesk, Biogen, Citi, Accor Hotels, AARP, The World Bank, and BD Medical. Often quoted in the media, notably in the New York Times, McGowan serves on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York–based culture-focused agency looking to the future for brands. McGowan’s academic work has included roles at Rhode Island School of Design, Becker College, and Jefferson University, where she was the strategic architect of the first undergraduate college focused exclusively on innovation. In 2019 Heather was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre For the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia. Heather advises and gives keynote addresses for organizations all over the world and, with her colleagues, provides bespoke consulting to help organizations adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Her think tank is called Work to Learn because McGowan believes that in the Third Industrial Revolution, we learned (once) in order to work and now, in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will work in order to learn (continuously). McGowan is the co-editor and author of the book Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate and a Forbes contributor. Her latest book on the future of work, The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work was released by Wiley in April 2020.
KEN SHELTON
EDUCATOR - SPEAKER
Design Matters: Rethinking Learning Environments
In today’s age, hybrid and remote working environments are becoming increasingly common along with asynchronous, global team collaborations. The terms learning and classroom (learning space) have therefore taken on a myriad of different and newer meanings. Both regularly occur and are associated with physical and digital environments. Often times the design of these environments can be a determining factor in the desired outcomes and a learner’s career readiness. In both cases, the designs of each can not only influence the learner, but also the breadth and quality of their learning experience. It is this experience that can mean the difference between successful engagement in learning versus disengagement. During this keynote, we will examine ways in which we can leverage the designs of physical and digital space to create a unique learner experience as well as strategies for effective design of equitable and inclusive learning environments. Because Design Matters.
VICTOR SAAD
Founder & CEO, Experience Institute
Gaps, Leaps, & Sabbaticals: How to Design Transitions throughout Education & Careers
The era of cramming all of our learning into four straight years of undergraduate, classroom education has ended. Now, more than ever, people are yearning for more opportunities to explore the world, work on meaningful projects, and discover their next path throughout their lives and work. But our society and institutions haven't adapted to allow for those spaces — leaving such experiences only to the privileged or fortunate. How do we design seasons of experiential learning for ourselves? And how can we foster those opportunities for the students we teach, or the teams we lead?
RACHAEL MANN
Author, Speaker, Top 30 Global Gurus
Metatrends Driving Change and Redefining the Future
Forecasters predict that over the next decade, waves of exponential technology advances will eclipse decades of breakthroughs in both scale and impact. What are the Metatrends that will revolutionize the industries that we are equipping students to enter? Join Rachael Mann for a keynote on how Artificial intelligence (AI), Extended Reality (XR), digitized goods and services, demonetized tech, the smart economy, and more will continue to transform the way we live - and what these trends mean for how we approach learning. Through a thoughtful narrative on where we’ve been and where we are going, participants will discover how to connect the past and the future to best equip students now.
JP MICHEL
Founder @ SparkPath
Flip the model: How looking beyond job titles helps students thrive
Asking ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ is no longer serving students. This question perpetuates the myth that they will be just one thing: one profession or one job title. This is no longer true. What is much more likely is that students will work on several different challenges, problems and opportunities over the course of their lives.
To prepare for the future of work, we need to move students away from job titles, and shift their focus to the challenges that exist in the world. This simple shift helps students broaden their horizons and get excited about their future. Discover the stories of schools that are flipping the model through the Challenge mindset, and how they are transforming their approach to college and careers.
GUEST SPEAKERS
The following speakers join the Catapult Mission with exclusive Keynotes.
Q&A
CHRISTINE CRUZVERGARA
Chief Education Strategy Officer, Handshake
Leading Change and Creating Buy-In
GROUP Q&A SESSION ONLY
Good ideas don't matter if you can't convince those around you to follow. As you accumulate inspiration from the speakers before, don't forget to devise a strategy for how you'll implement these new ideas. Your success and your students' success relies on your ability to effectively lead change. Come learn 5 principles for creating the necessary buy-in across your campus or organization. Using behavioral psychology as a foundation, Christine will leave you with memorable stories and concrete techniques to use with your team, your colleagues, and even your children!