Cornell Keynotes

Check out the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program at the Brooks School https://publicpolicy.cornell.edu/masters/mpa/empa/ Policy Advocacy Cornell Certificate Program https://tinyurl.com/22cnm5w3 The foundations of American democracy are facing unprecedented threats, with our social, legal, and political institutions being undermined by their sworn defenders. As challenges mount to voting rights and judicial independence, and political polarization deepens, our civil society stands at a critical crossroads. And yet, through informed advocacy and civic engagement, we can chart a path forward. Join Jared Carter and Thomas O'Toole from the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy for a timely conversation examining America's political institutions, constitutional framework, and civil society. They’ll reflect on the historical context of our current situation, assess today's most pressing issues, and explore how this moment of upheaval presents an opportunity to reshape our legal, political, and cultural landscape. What You'll Learn How to identify and understand current threats to American democratic institutions Key historical lessons that can guide our response to today's constitutional challenges Strategies for effective civic advocacy Why a period of political crisis may present opportunities for democratic renewal Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

The Cornell Certificate Program: Innovation Strategy Andrea's company Simplifed Leading successful innovation initiatives comes with a daunting set of challenges. You have to know how to navigate the tension between maintaining operational stability and fostering a culture of experimentation, all while managing stakeholder expectations, handling resource constraints, and making sure your innovation strategies are firmly aligned with organizational goals. That’s a lot. There isn’t an app for that, but there is a playbook that includes proven strategies for driving innovation that you can learn and bring to your organization. If you can leverage your technical smarts with strong people skills, then you can keep teams excited, motivated, and emboldened to make smart decisions with sometimes incomplete information. Join Andrea Ippolito, Cornell Engineering lecturer, entrepreneur, and former Presidential Innovation Fellow, and Suzanna Fowler, AVP of National Operations at AT&T, as they discuss how to overcome challenges to the innovation process and share proven pathways toward successful product development. Whether you’re at a startup or at an established powerhouse like AT&T, you will discover practical frameworks for leading and driving innovation and business success. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Learn more about storytelling online at Cornell: The Media Strategy for Policy and PR Cornell Certificate Program Check out the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program at the Brooks School Mark’s Newsletter “One for the Week” In this Keynote, Mark Bayer, Visiting Lecturer at Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy and former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff, reveals insider strategies for crafting compelling, memorable stories that influence key stakeholders in your professional ecosystem. Drawing from 20 years of experience writing powerful narratives, persuasive speeches, and media pitches at the highest levels of U.S. government, Mark shares proven techniques you can use to elevate your own presentations and achieve high-priority goals. Mark will guide you through the storytelling process, from identifying the most impactful content to mastering narrative sequence and stylistic elements. You will discover what to include, what to leave out, and how to harness both the art and science of storytelling to enhance your influence. Since leaving Capitol Hill, Mark has served as a two-time keynote speaker for Harvard Medical School's orientation, delivered workshops for major scientific societies, and hosts the "When Science Speaks" podcast — ranked among the top 5% most popular podcasts globally by Listen Score, the Nielsen ratings for podcasts. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, The New Yorker, Barron's, Science, Teen Vogue, and other media outlets. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

The Migration and Human Rights Program @Cornell Law School The Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic @Cornell Law School Immigration was a top priority in 2025 for President Trump. The administration has restricted immigration in many ways, ranging from travel bans to mass deportations. The White House has stated that the United States may have negative net migration to the U.S. in 2025 for the first time in over 50 years. In the meantime, employers face labor shortages. The demographics of an aging population and declining birth rates are indisputable. More people worldwide are fleeing the breakdown of civil society, climate change, and persecution than ever before. Over 10 million people in the United States lack immigration status and fear deportation. And our immigration courts face a backlog of over 3 million deportation cases. Join retired Cornell Law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr and a panel of Cornell experts as they discuss how immigration law and policy changed in 2025 and what we might expect in 2026. What You’ll Learn: What changes to the immigration system the Trump administration made in 2025 The impact of those changes on communities, the economy, and immigration law What legal challenges these policies have faced and where those legal challenges stand What immigration changes might occur in 2026 by the Trump administration and/or Congress Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice Draft Report October 2025 Update Please provide feedback on the report Members of our community — whether students, staff, faculty, or alumni — feel deeply about many local, national, and world events, but does that mean that a university should opine on such weighty matters? Or should the university sit back and allow the individual voices of the community rise to the surface? Can it do both? And when the university does speak, who speaks for the university? What principles should govern this decision of when and how often to speak? Last year, Cornell University created the Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice to examine these questions and issue recommendations to the community. A draft report was released to the Cornell community during the fall semester outlining principles and providing suggestions to guide how the president, provost, deans, academic departments, and others should approach this issue. The Task Force was co-chaired by Cornell Law School Dean Jens David Ohlin and Deputy Provost Avery August. In this Keynote, Dean Ohlin and the Professor Nelson Tebbe will discuss the Task Force’s findings. What You’ll Learn: How Cornell University is studying the issue of institutional voice The principles and guidelines recommended by Cornell’s Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice The various approaches that other universities have taken on this issue Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

The AI in Finance certificate program starts April 13, 2026!AI is reshaping finance, but it's not about replacing people — it's about empowering them to work more effectively. As these tools become part of our everyday roles in financial services, knowing how to successfully partner with AI while leveraging human judgment has become key to success.Join Cornell Professor Victoria Averbukh and Andrew Chin, Chief AI Officer at AllianceBernstein, for a practical look at AI in finance. They'll explore how AI can enhance financial decision making and discuss why human expertise remains essential. Through real-world examples, they'll explain how professionals can confidently work with AI tools to achieve better outcomes as partners in the process.What You'll LearnHow to identify which financial tasks are best suited for AI assistanceTips for balancing AI capabilities with human insightStrategies for confidently integrating AI tools into your business processes Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

BOOK: In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us In In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, authors Frances Lee and Stephen Macedo examine the unprecedented mobilization of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly half the world's population was under quarantine by April 2020. Their eye-opening analysis questions how institutions responded to the crisis, why pre-existing pandemic plans were ignored, and how COVID-19 policies often benefited the "laptop class" while leaving essential workers exposed, revealing how scientific discourse became increasingly politicized as reasonable dissent was marginalized.In this Keynote from Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences, Princeton Professor Frances Lee will speak about her best-selling book, offering a comprehensive — and candid — political assessment of how U.S. institutions fared during this historic global crisis. This timely discussion will explore the successes and failures of America's pandemic response and its implications for future crisis management. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Change remains the only constant in hospitality, but today's accelerated pace brings unprecedented opportunities to innovate and differentiate your brand. Technology and AI are enabling streamlined operations and personalized guest experiences that drive loyalty and revenue.Consumer behavior shifts like mindful drinking trends, for example, present deep challenges but can also open new revenue streams for savvy operators who know how to pivot. In this Keynote from Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, we’ll explore successful adaptation strategies that can strengthen your business model and broaden your appeal.Join industry leader Peter Karpinski from Pyramid Global Hospitality and Cornell Senior Lecturer and industry veteran Douglass Miller as they discuss how to survive and thrive in this rebounding market as well as what it takes to gain competitive advantage. They’ll also share storytelling techniques for reaching today's experience-hungry consumers.Check out Doug’s Beer Essentials Cornell Certificate Program herePyramid Global Hospitality Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Learn more about The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative https://climate.cornell.edu/Cornell College of Engineering https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences https://cals.cornell.edu/As concerns about climate change intensify, researchers are exploring the potential for large-scale human intervention in the Earth’s climate system – a set of strategies collectively known as geoengineering. Some of these strategies, called sunlight reflection methods, involve techniques like adding aerosols to the stratosphere to reflect a small portion of solar radiation back into space. Though still in the early stages of research, sunlight reflection and other geoengineering ideas raise complex scientific, ethical, and political questions.In this Keynote, three experts from Cornell University delve into what geoengineering is and what it isn’t. Clarifying the science, the panel will separate fact from fiction and discuss why a cautious, transparent, and interdisciplinary approach is essential.This conversation is part of The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative, administered by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Watch the video recording of this Keynote here on YouTube.Check out JR Keller's Onboarding and Employee Success Cornell CourseOnboarding has a significant impact on the employee experience, with research showing it can boost new hire productivity by over 60% and decrease turnover likelihood by nearly 50%.In this Cornell Keynote, JR Keller, Associate Professor of Human Resource Studies at Cornell ILR School, and Beth Flynn-Ferry, Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, share insights into how effective onboarding enhances job satisfaction, confidence, organizational commitment, and employee well-being.Drawing on decades of academic research and real-world expertise, they will present four actionable tips to improve onboarding programs, equipping leaders to drive engagement, retention, and overall team success.What You'll LearnThe importance of preboarding and how to do it wellThe pivotal role the hiring manager — not HR — plays in onboardingThe importance of assigning an onboarding buddyHow to measure successEffective Interviewing Cornell Course https://tinyurl.com/2brlxtfxThe Center for Advanced HR Studies (CAHRS) https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Watch the video recording of this Keynote here on YouTube.In the space of a single generation (1950 to 1980), the journalist and author William F. Buckley led a small band of little-known conservatives to the peaks of political power and cultural influence.Ten years before his death, Buckley chose journalist and historian Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full story of his life, granting him extensive uncensored interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. The result, “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution,” published in June 2025, has received a great deal of attention and prompted wide and intense debate.In a live on-stage conversation at Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, Peter Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Tanenhaus discuss Buckley and the true meaning of his life and legacy in the Age of Donald Trump. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Watch the video recording of this Keynote here on YouTube.Check out Beta Mannix's Leading Remote Teams certificate program from eCornell.America and the rest of the world are facing unprecedented challenges: deepening political division, vast economic pressures, and staggering technological change as AI and automation reshape industries at a dizzying pace. These forces are straining our institutions, workplaces, and communities.Yet resilience emerges as the key to navigating these turbulent times. More than mere adaptation, resilience means developing the mindset and skills to thrive amid uncertainty. As the World Economic Forum notes, while technical skills like AI proficiency are essential, the most vital capabilities are resilience, agility, and creative thinking.In this Keynote, Professor Elizabeth "Beta" Mannix from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management will discuss the ways in which meaningful achievements — whether in business, family, or personal growth — inherently involve challenge. You’ll discover how resilient individuals embrace this reality, making courageous choices and learning from adversity. By prioritizing meaning over comfort, leaders can help teams stay engaged and motivated despite uncertainty. We can't eliminate stress, but we can transform our relationship with it.What You’ll Learn:How the transformative power of resilience differs from simply coping and unlocks your ability to thrive rather than just survive in today's volatile environmentPractical strategies for building both personal and team resilience, including specific techniques for reframing challenges into opportunities for growthHow to master the leadership approaches that create a resilient organizational culture, including sustainable practices for managing stress and fostering innovation during periods of change Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Artificial intelligence is transforming every sector of the global economy, from healthcare and manufacturing to financial services and telecommunications. We have passed the initial hype stage — AI exists in many organizations as an established business competency and is now being deployed in detail to solve specific business problems.So what current issues should companies be focusing on? What challenges are organizations facing as AI moves past the innovation phase of the technology life cycle and into mainstream adoption?In this Keynote, Professor Dirk Swart of Cornell Engineering is joined by Luke Corbin and Jonathan Huer from AT&T Business to explore these developments. They examine how emerging AI solutions are being deployed across industries and what lessons can be learned from AT&T's experience as an early adopter of AI technologies.This discussion covers practical aspects, such as building AI capabilities, managing data governance, scaling solutions enterprise-wide, and developing AI-ready talent and culture. You’ll gain insight into how AT&T's current AI initiatives compare with industry standards and consider common challenges faced during implementation as well as future possibilities in AI-driven business transformation.Professor Swart’s Technical Product Management Certificate - https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/technology/technical-product-management/AI for Digital Transformation Certificate - https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/technology/ai-for-digital-transformation/Generative AI for Productivity Certificate - https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/technology/generative-ai-for-productivity/ Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

The ability to gain major media attention can significantly impact the success of an initiative, yet some organizations consistently achieve better coverage than others. Understanding how journalists and producers at leading U.S. news networks select stories for broadcast is crucial for anyone seeking media coverage. Often, small adjustments in the approach can determine whether a media pitch hits the target or misses the mark.In this special conversation with two senior media and policy insiders who operated at the highest levels of U.S. politics, you'll discover the mindset and specific mechanisms for significantly increasing your chances of gaining major media coverage of your initiatives and priorities.MaryAlice Parks, former ABC News White House Correspondent, and Mark Bayer, former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff and faculty author of eCornell's “Media Strategy for Policy and PR” certificate program, will share proven insider approaches for earning major media coverage.What You'll Learn:What network news producers look for when deciding which stories to coverHow to package your pitch for network news coverage so it stands out from the crowdCommon mistakes to avoid if you want to earn national media coverage of your issue or priorityInsight into pitches that succeeded in earning network TV coverage----Turn powerful communication into decisive leadership. The 18-month, mostly online Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) equips working professionals to lead across sectors with clarity and confidence. Get EMPA details here https://publicpolicy.cornell.edu/masters/mpa/empa/📍Communication is step one. Our 2-year residential MPA builds on it with data fluency, interdisciplinary tools, and real-world experience to launch your path to public service leadership. Request MPA info here https://hubs.li/Q03z2XdG0Mark Bayer’s Media Strategy for Policy and PR Cornell Certificate Program: https://tinyurl.com/27t49ejlMark’s free newsletter “One for the Week” https://OneForTheWeek.com Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

The coming years are likely to see substantial changes in the nature of work and in how people find jobs. Over the last two decades, much of the job search and recruitment activity has moved online.In this Keynote, Professors Michèle Belot and Jason Sockin will discuss ongoing research on how digital technologies can be used to improve the process of matching jobs to people. Professor Belot, who leads the Cornell Job Search Lab, develops and evaluates digital tools aimed at forming better matches and navigating structural changes, while Professor Sockin brings expertise in labor economics and the shifting dynamics of work.This session will explore how technology can drive better job matches and address the challenges of a transforming labor market.What You'll Learn:The digital tools currently developed to match workers to jobsA look at the potential challenges with using AI in recommendation systemsHow you can participate in ongoing research to evaluate novel digital toolsThe Cornell ILR Job Search Lab Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

AI is transforming industries worldwide, with banking at the forefront of this revolution. The fintech sector offers unprecedented opportunities to modernize financial services and make them more accessible to everyone.Join us for an insightful discussion with two industry leaders: Lutz Finger from Cornell University and Colin Walsh, Founder and Board Director of Varo Bank — the first fintech company to receive a U.S. national banking license.Our panel will explore how AI is revolutionizing banking, ways to expand financial access through technology, opportunities for disruption in fintech, and why successful implementation matters more than the technology itself.Don't miss this opportunity to learn how AI is shaping the future of financial services. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Cornell Keynotes brings together Keith Cowing, executive coach and lecturer in Cornell’s MBA program, and Dan Van Tran, CTO of Collectors Holdings, to consider questions with huge consequences: What is AI doing to teams, talent, and labor? How can you leverage AI today to improve your product, your company, yourself, and your team? What happens if you don’t and your competitors do?In a fast-moving conversation, Keith and Dan share how today’s sharpest leaders are adopting AI-native workflows, collapsing the talent stack, stripping out middle management, and rewarding leaders and team members with multiple specialties.You’ll come away with a concrete playbook to sharpen uniquely human skills, pair them with AI superpowers, and deliver the kind of exponential impact today’s market demands.What You'll LearnHow AI is reshaping organizations, particularly in reducing middle management layers and favoring multi-skilled professionals who can work with AI toolsThe strategic importance of adopting AI-native workflows and the potential competitive disadvantages of delayed AI implementationHow to combine uniquely human capabilities with AI capabilities to dramatically increase productivity and create exceptional value Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X. 

Unlock the transformative potential of emotional intelligence (EI) and its role in shaping personal and professional success. How does developing EI help us build stronger relationships, improve decision making, and become more effective leaders in today’s interconnected world?Join Nicola Fabrizio from Cornell’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy as he explores the five fundamental components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and motivation. This session will highlight how mastering these interconnected skills can empower individuals to understand and manage emotions effectively, fostering resilience and collaboration in both personal and professional spheres.Discover how practices like mindfulness, active listening, and seeking feedback can serve as powerful tools to enhance emotional intelligence and create lasting impacts in your relationships, career, and community. This engaging discussion will equip you with actionable insights to navigate challenges, build meaningful connections, and succeed in your journey while positively influencing those around you.What You’ll Learn:How the five components of emotional intelligence can positively influence or transform your approach to leadershipPractical techniques to stay composed and remain effective during tough challengesHow to better understand interpersonal dynamics and build stronger professional relationships within your team and throughout your organizationStrategies to get better at communication and become more influential in your position Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.