24 June | 9-10:30 a.m.
"Leadership Is an Act of Extended Storytelling:" A Fireside Chat & Town Hall with Oscar Munoz
In his Wall Street Journal bestselling book Turnaround Time, which recounts the thrilling revival of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz writes that the greatest leaders possess “a talent for convincing the people they lead to believe in a shared story and … to believe in their own individual abilities to make that story the reality.”
That’s exactly what Munoz set out to do in 2015, when he was named CEO of the struggling United Airlines, pledging first to “listen, learn and only then try to lead.” After taking an extensive listening tour, visiting with thousands of employees and customers – a trip interrupted only by a heart attack and transplant weeks later – Oscar developed a Wall Street-defying, employees-first strategy. And it produced one of modern business’ greatest turnarounds.
Ultimately, Munoz inspired his employees to unite and fly as one. Within five years, United was achieving top-tier reliability and profits, winning back customer loyalty and earning the praise of each of its major union leaders.
Through it all, Munoz navigated plenty of crises. Plus, he led a sea change in communications at United Airlines.
Instead of giving his business communicators a mere seat at the table? Munoz put them front and center. Core to the business. Not just a nice-to-have.
Join us for a no-holds-barred dialogue with Munoz: an ardent champion for the role that he believes business communicators must have today.
Bring your questions about leadership, strategy, empowerment, crisis and change to Munoz – known for his trademark visibility, authenticity and candor – and gear up for a substantive discussion. Kick off World Conference 2024 with lessons you can apply to your comms role today – and the role you are working toward next.
Sponsored by Works Design.
Oscar Munoz
Oscar Munoz is the former CEO and chairman of United Airlines and serves on the board of directors of Salesforce, CBRE, TelevisaUnivision, and Archer Aviation, a leading Urban Air Mobility company and developer of all-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft. He serves on the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board, is a trustee of the University of Southern California and the Brookings Institution, as well as an independent trustee for Fidelity.
He is the author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling memoir, Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and its Employees in the Friendly Skies, published by Harper Business in May 2023. He is co-Chair of the 2023 Blue Ribbon Commission for the National Association of Corporate Directors, the authority on best boardroom practices. Since 2022, the Oscar and Cathy Munoz Pave it Forward Foundation has proudly partnered with the American Heart Association to create the AHA’s Social Impact Fund, providing financial grants and low-interest loans for evidence-based, community-driven work to address heart health inequality.
Under his leadership, United Airlines demonstrated rapid improvement, delivering industry-leading operational reliability, and sustained financial success, with stock value increasing 54 percent during that period. Mr. Munoz formally retired as UAL’s Executive Chairman in May 2021.
Previously, Oscar served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the North American rail-based transportation supplier CSX Corp. A decade of excellent financial performance, including a boost in operating income of nearly 600 percent, earned CSX recognition on the list of Most Honored Companies by Institutional Investor magazine.
He has served in various financial leadership positions across diverse industries, including U.S. West, AT&T, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and an MBA from Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School.
Hispanic Business magazine twice named Oscar one of its ‘100 Most Influential Hispanics, honoring his journey as an immigrant who, to this date, remains the only person of Hispanic heritage to run a U.S. airline.
24 June | 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Pain Pushes Until Vision Pulls: The Communicator's Calling
It’s a chaotic time where compounding challenges echo through power struggles, wars, elections, economic shifts, market competition, layoffs and a palpable sense of division. Our social feeds, communities, workplaces and even our homes bear witness to a variety of ways people are experiencing and expressing pain. This is not a time for passive observation; it's a call to navigate uncharted history. As communicators, we hold the key. This keynote empowers communicators to embrace their calling, leveraging their strengths as message makers, narrative creators and storytellers. It's a call to action, inspiring communicators to forge a new relationship with their own power and influence. Pain pushes until vision pulls. We delve deeper into the transformative power of a compelling vision. Explore real-world examples of how visionary communicators have shaped history, turning adversity into opportunities for growth and unity. Prepare to leave this session with a renewed sense of purpose, armed with the tools to not only navigate the chaos but to actively contribute to a world that longs for a vision of hope, healing and positive transformation. The communicator's calling has never been more vital. Let’s harness the unparalleled power of a compelling vision.
Kim Clark
Kim Clark helps communicators learn and apply Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into their work. As a result of helping organizations navigate these socially turbulent times, communicators can engage leaders and employees, help attract and retain talent and strengthen organizational reputations.
She is the co-author of The Conscious Communicator: The fine art of not saying stupid sh*t, an Amazon #1 bestseller that features The DEPTH Model (TM). DEPTH is a strategic and proactive framework to guide organizations on effectively positioning themselves on DEI and social topics and narratives while making room to differentiate between internal and external messaging.
25 June | 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Communicating Your ESG & Sustainability Efforts for Maximum Impact
Despite the increased public debate about ESG and Corporate Responsibility, no company is immune from developing a sustainability strategy. Faced by pressure from customers, consumers, regulators, employees, and investors a comprehensive sustainability program has become table stakes for companies worldwide. Communicating and contextualizing a company’s sustainability efforts has never been more important than it is today. Ensuring that your stakeholders have the right information, and the right narrative will deliver opportunities for your organization in the form of new customers, markets and investors while helping you retain and attract the best talent. This session will help you and your company or client companies:
- Understand an increasingly rigorous global regulatory environment for ESG and sustainable business activities.
- Deliver best practices for sustainability reporting and communications.
- Help tailor your communications to different stakeholder groups.
Panelists
Annie Agle
In her role as Vice President of Sustainability and Impact at Cotopaxi, Annie steers giving, corporate responsibility, and sustainability. She oversees Cotopaxi's reporting and certifications (SBT, GRI, B Corp, 1% for the Planet) as well as its ESG strategy. Alongside her team of lion-hearted llamas, Annie aims to ensure that every aspect of Cotopaxi’s brand is leveraged to generate a positive benefit to society and the communities the company touches. She is a graduate of Columbia University and holds a Master's of Science in Sustainability from Cambridge University. In her spare time, Annie spends as much time as possible outside and traveling.
Allison R. Binns, Ph.D
Allison Binns is an organizational behavior and sustainable finance expert, and founder of the investment consultancy Peregrine Strategy LLC. She Co-Chairs the Sustainability Advisory Board for Persefoni AI, a carbon accounting platform, and and also serves as an advisor to Notava, an ESG data platform, and Danu Venture Group, an early-stage venture capital investor. Previously, Allison served as Global Head of ESG & Sustainable Investing Strategy for Angelo Gordon, a private credit and real estate-focused alternative asset manager. Prior to joining Angelo Gordon, Allison was Head of ESG Research for Fixed Income at Morgan Stanley, and led sell-side corporate governance research for both equities and fixed income. Previously, Allison worked for Chevron where she held a number of senior advisory roles in ESG and geopolitical risk. Prior to Chevron, Allison worked for the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the Boston Red Sox, where she focused on salary arbitration and international baseball concerns. She serves on the boards of the Morgan Library & Museum, the Poetry Society of America, the FDR Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship. Allison received her A.B. in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Princeton University and holds an A.M. and PhD. from Harvard University.
Fritz Bratschie
Fritz brings over a decade of experience dedicated to developing and spearheading sustainability and climate strategies, primarily focused on the Mountain Resort industry. His passion lies in creating impactful solutions that address sustainability challenges while driving positive change within organizations and communities.
At Vail Resorts, Fritz has played a pivotal role in initiatives spanning the spectrum of sustainability. From executing large-scale renewable electricity deals to implementing innovative measures for enhancing operational efficiency and waste reduction, he has consistently demonstrated a commitment to advancing sustainable practices across diverse stakeholder groups.
Driven by a deep-rooted belief in the importance of sustainability, Fritz continues to seek out new opportunities to make a meaningful impact on the planet and future generations.
Katy Motiey
Katy Motiey is the chief legal, administrative and sustainability officer at Extreme Networks. In addition to leading the Legal, Facilities and Real Estate and Sustainability organizations at Extreme, Katy is also the Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors.
In her role as Chief Sustainability Officer, Katy is responsible for ensuring Extreme addresses the material sustainability issues on behalf of the company with a cross-functional team of experts to address customer requests, regulatory risks and ESG reporting. This includes overseeing Extreme’s annual carbon emissions inventory, customer surveys, philanthropic efforts and employee engagement efforts. As a global leader in network equipment solutions, Extreme works to integrate sustainable business practices across the organization that lead to increased customer satisfaction, employee retention and operational efficiencies.
With over 30 years of expertise in corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, debt restructuring, human resources management, commercial contract negotiation and licensing, patent and trademark portfolio management, IP litigation, as well as IPO process guidance, her expertise has guided Extreme through five strategically transformative and profitable acquisitions.
Prior to joining Extreme Katy held similar roles at a number of technology companies. She began her career as a law clerk to Judge Manuel Real, who was then the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, followed by four years as an associate at Skadden, Arps, a New York-based law firm. Katy holds Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from Georgetown University. She is currently a member of the Georgetown University Law Center Board of Visitors and formerly the chairperson of the Law Alumni Board of the Georgetown University Law Center.
Katy is the 2019 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and the San Francisco Business Times.
Moderator: Lee Ballin
Lee brings over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of sustainability, business and finance. He is an expert on reporting, disclosure and sustainability strategy, as well as a thought leader and highly sought after speaker on a wide range of sustainability topics. At FSI, Lee leads the firm’s ESG Advisory Solutions where he crafts and implements sustainability strategies for clients, while helping them navigate the ever-changing ESG regulatory landscape and voluntary disclosure frameworks. As a former practitioner, Lee understands the challenges that companies face from a reporting and program management perspective and takes a pragmatic approach that helps them achieve their sustainability goals and objectives.
Lee began his sustainability career at Bloomberg, where he was a founding member of the Bloomberg Sustainable Business & Finance group. The group was the driving force behind integrating sustainability considerations into the firm’s operations globally and developing strategies to integrate ESG, climate and other sustainability considerations into the Bloomberg Terminal. Lee then transitioned to BloombergNEF providing research and data to help companies, investors and policymakers navigate the shift to a lower carbon economy. Most recently, Lee served as Managing Director at Deloitte providing ESG consulting and ESG reporting services.
He has served in multiple roles as a faculty member at New York University, both as an adjunct professor and advisor to the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Logistics from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.
25 June | 4 p.m.-5 p.m.
There is Science Behind Everything Including Happiness
This talk presents both surprising and not-so-surprising information on the science behind happiness. Are there questions you often ask yourself about your happiness? What role do money, marriage, friends, children, weather, age, and religion play in making us feel happier? Is happiness stable over time? How can happiness be increased? Professor Catherine A. Sanderson will describe cutting-edge research from the field of positive psychology on the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness and provide participants with practical (and relatively easy!) ways to increase their own psychological well-being. You will feel lighter after this session and walk away with a fresh new perspective.
Professor Catherine A. Sanderson
Catherine Sanderson is the Poler Family Professor of Psychology at Amherst College. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a specialization in Health and Development, from Stanford University, and received both masters and doctoral degrees in psychology from Princeton University. Her research has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. Professor Sanderson has published over 25 journal articles and book chapters in addition to four college textbooks, middle school and high school health textbooks, as well as the Introduction to Psychology course for The Great Courses. In 2012, she was named one of the country's top 300 professors by the Princeton Review.
Professor Sanderson has written trade books on parenting as well as how mindset influences happiness, health, and even how long we live (The Positive Shift). Her latest trade book, published in North America as Why We Act: Turning Bystanders Into Moral Rebels (Harvard University Press) and internationally as The Bystander Effect: The Psychology of Courage and Inaction (HarperCollins), examines why good people so often stay silent or do nothing in the face of wrongdoing.
Professor Sanderson speaks regularly for public and corporate audiences on topics such as the science of happiness, the power of emotional intelligence and growth mindset, the art of aging well, and the psychology of courage and inaction. Her work has been featured in numerous mainstream media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Atlantic, CNN, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley.
26 June | 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Listening: The Forgotten Skill
Communication is not only about designing and delivering great content, because sending is only half the equation. The other, equally vital, half is receiving, otherwise known as listening. We don’t teach it schools and we don’t train it at work, but research shows that organisations that listen well enjoy many better outcomes than those that listen poorly. Five-time TED speaker Julian Treasure explores how to pick up and master this underused tool in order to improve relationships, communication, profitability — as well as our personal happiness, effectiveness and well-being.
Julian Treasure
Julian Treasure is a sound and communication expert, author and international keynote speaker. His five TED talks and 11 TEDx talks have been viewed more than 150 million times, and one of them is the sixth-most-viewed TED talk of all time. He has been widely featured in the world's media, including TIME Magazine, The Economist, Vogue, The Times, NBC’s Today Show, BBC TV and radio, and many leading podcasts. He has been honoured with both Toastmasters International’s Golden Gavel Award and the International Listening Associations's Special Recognition award.
Julian's first book, Sound Business, is the seminal work on effective business sound. His audio branding company The Sound Agency works with major brands worldwide, proving that good sound is good business by designing excellent customer experience for the ears.
Julian's second book, How To Be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening, is a practical guide to improving personal communication skills. The audiobook version won both the SOVAS and Audie global awards for best business audiobook of the year. His seven-hour online course How To Speak So That People Want To Listen includes modules on public speaking and wellbeing for presenters.
Before The Sound Agency, Julian founded, grew and sold leading UK contract publisher TPD, during which time he was chairman of the Association of Publishing Agencies, a director of the Periodical Publishers Association, chairman of PPAinteractive and chairman of the UK government’s Digital Content Forum. In 2002, he received the PPA Chairman’s Award for services to the UK magazine publishing industry.
Julian is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a long time musician, remembering with affection his two 1981 BBC John Peel sessions (the bands were Transmitters and Missing Presumed Dead) and scoring Sounds magazine’s single of the week with Fish Turned Human. He lives in Orkney, Scotland with four-time world champion martial artist Jane Majendie and their daughters Holly and Sapphire, and is working on his third book, Sound Affects, to be published in 2025.