CWA 2024 will take place April 10-12 with three full days of panels focused on a variety of topics from business, arts, science, technology, pop culture, international affairs, politics, media, and more! 

This year we are also focusing on three exciting themes: 

The Next 100 Years
With this theme, CWA will bring thought leaders, innovators, educators, and professionals from around the world to explore the confluence of technological advances and sociocultural imperatives that will shape the next century. We will encourage a dynamic dialogue on the challenges and prospects facing Gen Z and future generations. We will address the growing impact of Artificial Intelligence on society, with the opportunities, risks, and ethical questions it presents. Our discussions may span from groundbreaking fields like quantum computing to the new horizons of space and aerospace research and impacts on health and culture.

Global Equity

The idea for this theme was born of discussions regarding the ideas of “Equity” vs “Equality.In addition to a historical perspective, and addressing topics of “where to from here,” we will address forward looking concepts such as whether or not developing technologies level the playing field in terms of Global Equity.In addition to specific attention to issues of the Global South, panels developed under this theme would address issues that affect north and south, such whether the old view is still accurate that the steady advance of democracy will accompany development.Finally, we will include discussions of the importance of systemic change, and the associated challenges in this era of social platforms that encourage quick reactions/quick fixes rather than long-term thinking and solutions.

Leadership

The University of Colorado (CU) believes and invests in the leadership potential of all students.  Part of that cultivation incudes learning from leaders of character who meet the needs of humanity in many different ways.  In 2024, CWA will provide students, faculty and the community the opportunity to engage with and learn from a diverse set of leaders across the political, business, social, academic, athletic and arts sectors.  We believe that everyone can be a leader, and these speakers will provide lessons from their own experiences, examining the characteristics that come together in leadership, the role of failures in successes, what to look for in a team,  who to listen to… or ignore, and what is different about the next generation of leaders.

Whether you are a first-time attendee or a long-time participant, we invite you to join us for the 2024 Conference on World Affairs! For more information or questions please reach out to us via email at cwa@colorado.edu. 

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The Center for Leadership and the Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series are pleased to welcome David Gergen to campus. 

The time has come for a new generation of leaders and innovators to bring fresh perspectives to the world’s toughest issues. Join us on October 2, 2023 at 7:30pm in Macky Auditorium for a talk by White House adviser and political commentator David Gergen, author of Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders are Made, as he offers wisdom and inspiration for students on becoming leaders, overcoming setbacks and building coalitions to make meaningful change. Drawing from insights gathered as adviser to four presidents and as founding director of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, Gergen presents a practical guide for all who seek a life of purpose and impact.

  Ask David Gergen a Question

For more information on the event, please email centerforleadership@colorado.edu. 

More about David Gergen:

David Gergen is a professor of public service and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, positions he has held for over a decade. In addition, he serves as a senior political analyst for CNN and works actively with a rising generation of new leaders. In the past, he has served as a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents of both parties: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. He wrote about those experiences in his New York Times best seller, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton (Simon & Schuster, 2001). His newest book, Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders are Made, calls to younger generations to pursue lives of service and public leadership — along with a practical playbook on how they can succeed.

In the 1980s, he began a career in journalism. Starting with The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour in 1984, he has been a regular commentator on public affairs for some 30 years. Twice he has been a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards, and he has contributed to two Emmy award-winning political analysis teams. In the late 1980s, he was chief editor of U.S. News & World Report, working with publisher Mort Zuckerman to achieve record gains in circulation and advertising.

Over the years, he has been active on many non-profit boards, serving in the past on the boards of bothYale and Duke Universities. Among his current boards are Teach for America, The Mission Continues, The Trilateral Commission, and Elon University’s School of Law.Gergen’s work as co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School has enabled him to work closely with a rising generation of younger leaders, especially social entrepreneurs, military veterans and Young Global Leaders chosen by the World Economic Forum. Through the generosity of outside donors, the Center helps to provide scholarships to over 100 students a year, preparing them to serve as leaders for the common good. The Center also promotes scholarship at the frontiers of leadership studies.

A native of North Carolina, Gergen is a member of the D.C. Bar, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the U.S. executive committee for the TrilateralCommission. He is an honors graduate of Yale and the Harvard Law School. He has been awarded 27 honorary degrees.

Gergen has been married since 1967 to Anne Elizabeth Gergen of England, a family therapist. They have two children and five grand-children. Son Christopher is a social entrepreneur in North Carolina as well as an author and member of the Duke faculty. Daughter Katherine is a family doctor, working with the underserved population at the Boston Medical Center.

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Please join us for the Fall Leadership Summit that will take place on September 20 in UMC 235 from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. There will be an opportunity to hear from our new director, Stefanie Johnson, followed by a panel discussion from faculty here at CU Boulder on the leading edge of research. Lite refreshments provided.

Please contact Jessi Follett with any questions!

  Register Here

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The Conference on World Affairs, in partnership with the Center for Leadership, presents the Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series with Rose Marcario.

April 13, 2023 at 5:30pm in Macky Auditorium.

Rose Marcario, former Patagonia CEO, will join Chancellor Philip DiStefano to discuss the global impact large corporations have on the planet.

More about Rose Marcario

Rose is the former CEO and President of Patagonia Inc., one of the most admired companies in America. In her twelve year tenure, under her leadership, she deepened Patagonia’s commitment to advocacy, environmental activism, and responsible business. She created the company’s first in-house venture fund, and oversaw the development and creation of Patagonia Provisions, an organic regenerative food company, and developed Patagonia Action Works an online platform that connects customers with environmental causes. She has been recognized for her work as a champion of the Benefit Corporation movement. She is now a founding partner with ReGen Ventures and board member and advisor to environmental impact companies. She is Chair of Rivian’s Forever Foundation for nature.

For more information, please email centerforleadership@colorado.edu.

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The Center for Leadership and the Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series are pleased to welcome Molly Bloom to campus. 

Join us on February 27, 2023 at 7:30pm in Macky Auditorium for a talk by the CU Boulder alumna. Molly Bloom, bestselling author of Molly’s Game, which was adapted into an award-winning film, and a former member of the United States Ski Team, shares her advice to students confronted with pivotal choices, her challenges as a woman in a male-dominated environment and tips on maintaining personal values in a competitive world.

For more information on the event, please email centerforleadership@colorado.edu. 

More about Molly Bloom:

Molly Bloom is an inspirational speaker, entrepreneur and bestselling author. Her memoir, Molly’s Game, was adapted into an award-winning film by Aaron Sorkin. Bloom’s memoir chronicles her journey from college student to LA waitress to building and operating a notorious private poker game.

Bloom began her career as a world-class skier. While training as a pre-teen she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and had to undergo surgery that the doctors said would end her athletic career. A year later, fully recovered, she was back on the slopes. She joined the U.S. Ski Team and at 21 was ranked No. 3 in North America in moguls, but her Olympic dreams would go unrealized as she left the team to pursue other projects. This led her to what she thought would be a one-year sabbatical in LA.

Bloom had finished her political science degree at the �������� and was applying to top law schools when her job as an assistant turned her into an accidental entrepreneur running an exclusive, high-stakes underground poker game, earning as much as $6 million a year.

Today, Molly is focusing her energy on uplifting and mentoring other women after being mentored by accomplished, dynamic women herself. In 2020, she launched the One World Group to support women facing various challenges, especially those exacerbated by the global pandemic.

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The Center for Leadership and the Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series are pleased to welcome General Stanley McChrystal to campus.

Join us on February 28, 2022 at 7:30pm in Macky Auditorium on CU Boulder's campus for a talk by the retired four-star general.

For more information on the event, please email emily.allen-1@colorado.edu.

Leadership in Times of Uncertainty

We may not be able to see the future, but control can teach us how to improve our resistance and build a strong defense against what we know -- and what we don't.

Retired four-star general and author Stan McChrystal has lived a life associated with the deadly risks of combat; he has seen how individuals and organizations, too often and to great cost, fail to mitigate risk. Why? Because they focus on the probability of something happening instead of the interface by which it can be managed. McChrystal will address this and other groundbreaking ideas (Team of Teams, Myth & Reality) around leadership in the sixth Leo Hill Leadership Series. Other speakers in the series have included columnist and bestselling author David Brooks, former Secretary of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency Director Robert Gates and the first woman of color in space, astronaut Mae Jemison. The speaker series is brought to campus by the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, a position now held by Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.
 

More about General McChrystal:

As a U.S. Army general, business leader and author, retired Gen. Stan McChrystal has practiced and established effective leadership throughout his career. In July 2010, he retired from the Army as a four-star general, with his last assignment as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He had previously served as the director of the Joint Staff and as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. The author of My Share of the Task, Team of Teams and Leaders, he is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and the co-founder of the McChrystal Group, a leadership consulting firm.

His latest book, Risk: A User’s Guide, offers timely leadership advice that reminds us that we are often our own greatest risk factor. Rather than focus on outward threats we can't predict, we must look to our own weaknesses that stand in the way of responding to risks efficiently and effectively. Following up on the New York Times bestseller Team of Teams and Leaders: Myth and Reality, Risk: A User's Guide helps us improve organizational resilience and build a strong defense against what we know—and what we don’t.

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  Register Here

What: Leadership in Law Panel Discussion
When: Friday, November 5, 2021 from 9:00a-10:30a
Where: Wittemyer Courtroom in the Wolf Law Building
Who: Students, Faculty, and Staff at CU Boulder

Join us for a panel discussion on Leadership in Law Enforcement to discuss the importance of strong leadership in all components of community safety and security as well as justice. Panelists will include , , and . The panel will be moderated by CU Alumnus from the Class of 2006, Charles Gilford III. Charles currently works as a Special Advisor to Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver and serves as a member of the Center for Leadership Board of Advisors.

Although the event is free to attend, registration is required for this event. Please click here to register.

  Register Here

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Center for Leadership Adventure Weekend
October 22-24

Join us for an Adventure Weekend just outside of Nederland, CO at Stapp Lake. The theme of this weekend is Emotional Quotient. Participants will challenge themselves to step outside of their comfort zone while learning critical leadership lessons in the outdoors.

There will be two options for this weekend:

Option 1: Will begin at 2p on October 22 and finish around 1p on October 23. THIS SESSION IS FULL.
Option 2: Will begin at 2p on October 23 and finish around 1p on October 24. THIS SESSION IS FULL.

The event is free of charge for all students enrolled in Center for Leadership affiliate programs! This includes food and lodging. However, students are responsible for their transportation to Stapp Lake. CFL staff will help to arrange carpools for students who do not have access to a vehicle.

If you would like to be placed on the waitlist or learn more about this opportunity, please email centerforleadership@colorado.edu.

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Join us for the Boulder-CU Leadership Program Kickoff Event at the Museum of Boulder (2205 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302) on September 29, 2021 at 6pm. This event is for any mentors/mentees participating in the September to April iteration of BCLP.

Food and refreshments will be served! All mentors and mentees are required to attend as pairings will be completed based on this event. If you have a scheduling conflict, please let Emily know as soon as possible.

Many thanks to t/aco for sponsoring the food and drink, the Downtown Boulder Partnership for sponsoring associated costs, and the Museum of Boulder for providing the space and their hospitality.

  Please RSVP by completing this form.

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This quarterly meeting of the Center for Leadership Affiliates and any interested campus parties. 

Agenda will include but is not limited to:

• Center Updates
• Affiliate Funding
• Research Seed Grants
• Student Opportunities
• Upcoming Events

Please email emily.allen-1@colorado.edu for the meeting passcode.

Topic: CFL Leadership Summit
Time: Sep 16, 2021 07:30 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 999 3113 5958
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