Past Notable Speakers

Alan Beaulieu
President, ITR Economics

Alec Ross
Author, The Industries of the Future

Alex Gorsky
Chairman, Johnson & Johnson

Amity Millhiser
Vice Chair & Chief Client’s Officer, PwC

Anja Manuel
Co-Founder & Partner, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC

Ann McLaughlin
Secty. of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Labor

Ari Weinzweig
Co-Founding Partner, Zingermans

Arthur C. Brooks
President, American Enterprise Institute

Bo Burlingham
Author, Small Giants

Dr. Bob Arnot
Special Foreign Correspondent, NBC

Bob Beckel
“Common Ground” Column, USA Today

Bob Woodward
Pulitzer Prize-winning Author & Columnist

Brian Sheth
Vista Partners

Cal Thomas
“Common Ground” Column, USA Today

Calvin Johnson, Jr.
Retired, Detroit Lions

Catherine Crier
Legal Journalist, Court TV Anchor

Charles Krauthammer
Pulitzer Prize Columnist & Pol. Commentator

Chris Illitch
Illitich Holdings

Chris Wallace
Host, Fox News Sunday

Christie Todd Whitman
Administrator, U.S. Environ. Protection Agency

Cokie Roberts
ABC News Analyst, Co-Anchor & Author

Daniel Pink
Author, Thought Leader

David Broder
Political Analyst

David Brooks
New York Times

David Wessel
Economics Editor, Wall Street Journal

Debbie Dingell
House of Representatives, Michigan 12th District

Debbie Stabenow
U.S. Senator

Dick Cheney
Former Vice President, United States

The Honorable Dick Thornburgh
U.S. Attorney General

Major Dan Rooney,
Retired, USAF, Founder, Folds of Honor

Donald Miller
CEO, StoryBrand

Edsel Ford
Board Director, Ford Motor Co.

Eugene Robinson
Pulitzer Prize-winning Columnist

Frank Abagnale
Author, Catch Me If You Can

Frank Luntz
Pollster, American Political Consultant

Frank Popoff
Chairman, Dow Chemical

Fred Upton
House of Representatives, Michigan 6th District

Frederik G.H. Meijer
Chairman of the Board, Meijer

Gail Buckner
Vice President, Putnam Investment

Gretchen Carlson
Journalist, Author & News Anchor

Gretchen Whitmer,
Governor, State of Michigan

Indra Nooyi
CEO, PepsiCo

Jacques Panis
President, Shinola

James Bradley
Author “Flags of our Fathers” & “Fly Boys

James P. Hackett
President & CEO, Ford Motor Co.

Jane Bryant Quinn
Financial Author, Columnist

Jane Garvey
Federal Aviation Administration

Jerry Greenfield
Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry’s

JJ Ramberg
Host, MSNBC’s Your Business

John Hockenberry
Correspondent, Dateline NBC

Josh Linkner
ePrize Founder & Best-selling Author

Juan Enriquez
Author, Chairman & CEO, Biotechonomy

Juan Williams
Political Analyist, Fox News

Karl Rove
Political Strategist

Karl Zinsmeister
VP The Philanthropy Roundtable

Katherine Gehl
Author, The Political Industry

Kirk Gibson,
Retired, MLB Player

La June Montgomery Tabron
Former Secretary of Labor

Lynn Martin
Former Secretary of Labor

Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr.
President & CEO, Forbes, Inc.

Mark Halperin
Co-Host, With All Due Respect

Dr. Mark S. Schlissel
President, The University of Michigan

Marsha Evans
President & CEO, American Red Cross

Martha Seger, Governor
Federal Reserve System

Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland

Matt Stinchcomb
Co-founder, Etsy.com

Michael Fertik
Founder, Reputation.com

Michael Norton
Author, Happy Money

Michael Smerconish
Radio Host & Newspaper Columnist

Milind Pant
CEO, Amway

Mitch Albom
Best-selling Author

Neil Pasricha,
Best-selling Author, The Book of Awesome

Patrick Kennedy
Founder, One Mind 4 Research

Patti Poppe,
President & CEO, Consumers Energy

Paul H. O’Neill
Secretary of the Treasury

Paul Hense, CPA
Founder, Money Talks

Peter, Diamandis
Founder, XPRIZE

Platon
World Renowned Photographer

Quentin L. Messer, Jr.
CEO, MEDC and President & Chair, Michigan Strategic Fund

Rana Foroohar
Time Columnist, The Curious Capitalist

Richard Barton
Founder, Expedia and Zillow

Rolf Benirschk
Co-Founder Legacy Health Strategies

Ron Insana
CNBC Analyst

Mayor Rosalynn Bliss
City of Grand Rapids

Shawn Achor
Author, The Happiness Advantage

Sheryl Sandberg
COO, Facebook

Stephen Dubner
Co-Author Freakonomics Series

Dr. Steven Levitt 
Economist, Co-Author, Freakonomics

Teresa Weatherall Neal
Superintendent, Grand Rapids Public Schools

Tom Izzo
Head Coach, MSU Basketball

Tom Ricketts
Chairman, The Chicago Cubs

Tommy Lasorda
Sr. V.P., Dodger Organization

Tony Hsieh
CEO, Zappos

Tucker Carlson
Journalist, Political Commentator

Verne Harnish,
Best-selling Author, Rockefeller Habits

Vincent Stanley,
Executive, Patagonia

William H. Gray, III
President, UNCF

William U. Parfet
President, The Upjohn Company

William Taylor
Founding Editor, Fast Company