TLG Conference Keynote Speakers
Neal Peirce
Political Journalist
10:30 a.m. to Noon, Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Neal Peirce is a pulse-taker of change in how America governs itself.
His column has repeatedly broken fresh ground in identifying vital
new trends state and local governments and the dynamics of federal/state/local relations. Time magazine called Peirce "the only national chronicler of grass-roots America." His weekly column, syndicated through The Washington Post Writers Group since 1978, appears in over 50 newspapers.
Peirce is a founder of the
National Journal, and former political editor (1960-69) of
Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of 12 books including
The Book of America: Inside Fifty States Today (W.W. Norton & Co., 1983; Warner Books, 1984). His latest book is
Citistates: How Urban America Can Prosper in a Competitive World (Seven Locks Press, 1993).
"I'm trying," Peirce says, "to report the best - and worst - of what's happening in our states and communities, to cross-fertilize ideas, to show the amazing new forces at work at the local level, even as the federal government retrenches. Reporting and commentary from the grass roots are needed to give focus, and a national perspective, to what's happening."
He is chairman of the Citistates Group, a network of journalists and speakers who believe that successful metropolitan regions are today's key to economic competitiveness and sustainable communities.
Since 1987, twenty-four "Peirce Reports" on the compelling issues for the future of their individual metropolitan regions have been sponsored by and appeared in such newspapers as
The Arizona Republic, Seattle Times, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Raleigh News & Observer and
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A 2005-2006 series covered the entire New England states region.
Peter Block
Author and Consultant
Noon to 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Peter Block is an author, consultant and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community.
Peter is the author of several best selling books. Among the most widely known are
Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1st edition 1980);
Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993) and
The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work (1987).
He has also authored
The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters (Berrett Koehler 2002) which won the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Award for Business Breakthrough Book of the Year. His latest book,
Community: The Structure of Belonging
(Berrett Koehler) will be in bookstores in May 2008.
The books are about ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all. His work is to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness rather than through mandate and force.
As a citizen of Cincinnati, he is currently involved in projects focusing on people on the margin and supports the Urban Opportunities Alliance, a cooperative group of six efforts to value the possibility of youth and families in Cincinnati. With other volunteers Peter began A Small Group, whose work is to bring into conversation other groups not in relationship with each other, through the powerful tools of civic engagement.
You can visit his websites at
www.peterblock.com,
www.designedlearning.com, and
www.asmallgroup.net. He welcomes being contacted at
pbi@att.net.
Alex Steffen
Executive Editor of World Changing
9:15 to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, June 5, 2008
Photo by Doug Dubois for the NY Times Magazine
The ideas found on
Worldchanging.com
range from the small and clever to the huge and inspiring—and all are proof that the tools and models to build a better future already exist.
As Executive Editor of the site, Steffen shows us how we can live prosperously now without harming future generations, why saving the planet and doing business are not mutually exclusive, and where to find the tools we need to achieve the world we want.
Steffen is also the author of the seminal collection,
Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century, a bestseller that was named by
Business Week
as one of the Best Design and Innovation Books of the Year. The book touches on new and vital topics such as Buying Better Food, Biomimicry, Citizen Engagement, Social Entrepreneurship, The Bright Green City, Education and Literacy, Urban Transportation, Leapfrogging, The Green Economy, and Climate Foresight.
As Al Gore writes in his foreword to the book, "Taken together, these solutions present a picture of a future that is not dark or catastrophic, but one that is full of hope and within our grasp."
Alex Steffen has been the subject of a CNN documentary, and was chosen by
The New York Times Magazine as one of six leading innovators in its "Ecotecture" issue.
He has worked as an environmental journalist on four continents, has provided strategic consultation to over 50 environmental groups, and has served on the boards or steering committees for numerous other NGOs and campaigns. He is also a much sought-after keynote who has spoken for companies such as Nike, Ideo, and Yahoo!, and at conferences such as PopTech and TED Talks.
Rafe Esquith
Award-Winning Teacher and Inspiring Speaker
11:15 am to 12:30 pm, Friday, June 6, 2008
There are no shortcuts. In a world hell bent on quick fixes, this may be a hard
lesson to learn. How many times have we heard that? But few people actually put
that idea into action in a way that changes lives. But Rafe Esquith, is one of those
people.
An award-winning grade school teacher, Rafe Esquith is living proof that
patience, understanding, love and imagination can work miracles.
By any measure,
Rafe Esquith's students have been wildly successful. They have opened for the Royal
Shakespeare Company, been hired by Sir Peter Hall to perform
A Midsummer Night's
Dream at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles and have appeared at the Globe Theater in London.
Amazingly, his students are just 10 years old, and many are learning English as
their second language. His student actors live in the inner city, and are mostly
from immigrant families. But Esquith doesn’t just teach his students Shakespeare.
Through hard work and dedication he also helps them to achieve academic success
right across the board. Many of Esquith’s students have gone on to Ivy League colleges.
Rafe recounts this incredible story in a wonderful book,
There Are No Shortcuts:
Changing the World One Kid at a Time. Esquith's teaching awards include the
Walt
Disney American Teacher Award for National Teacher of the Year and Oprah Winfrey's
Use Your Life Award. In an inspiring presentation, Esquith is joined on stage by
a group of his student performers, demonstrating to even the toughest of audiences
that one individual really can make a difference.