Watch the video recording of this Keynote here on YouTube.

Check out JR Keller's Onboarding and Employee Success Cornell Course

Onboarding 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 Learn

• The importance of preboarding and how to do it well
• The pivotal role the hiring manager — not HR — plays in onboarding
• The importance of assigning an onboarding buddy
• How to measure success

Effective Interviewing Cornell Course https://tinyurl.com/2brlxtfx

The Center for Advanced HR Studies (CAHRS) https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs

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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.

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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 environment
• Practical strategies for building both personal and team resilience, including specific techniques for reframing challenges into opportunities for growth
• How to master the leadership approaches that create a resilient organizational culture, including sustainable practices for managing stress and fostering innovation during periods of change

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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/

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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 cover
• How to package your pitch for network news coverage so it stands out from the crowd
• Common mistakes to avoid if you want to earn national media coverage of your issue or priority
• Insight into pitches that succeeded in earning network TV coverage

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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/Q03z2XdG0

Mark Bayer’s Media Strategy for Policy and PR Cornell Certificate Program: https://tinyurl.com/27t49ejl

Mark’s free newsletter “One for the Week” https://OneForTheWeek.com

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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 jobs
• A look at the potential challenges with using AI in recommendation systems
• How you can participate in ongoing research to evaluate novel digital tools

The Cornell ILR Job Search Lab 

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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.

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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 Learn

• How AI is reshaping organizations, particularly in reducing middle management layers and favoring multi-skilled professionals who can work with AI tools
• The strategic importance of adopting AI-native workflows and the potential competitive disadvantages of delayed AI implementation
• How to combine uniquely human capabilities with AI capabilities to dramatically increase productivity and create exceptional value

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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 leadership
• Practical techniques to stay composed and remain effective during tough challenges
• How to better understand interpersonal dynamics and build stronger professional relationships within your team and throughout your organization
• Strategies to get better at communication and become more influential in your position

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As the Trump administration rewrites U.S. trade policy and 2025 European Union rules banning goods made with forced labor go into effect, many questions about trade’s global impact have arisen.

Some of what we buy worldwide is produced by an estimated 28 workers in forced-labor situations. New government leaders in Washington and Brussels will influence how forced labor is uncovered as well as how regulations to control it are developed, enforced, or even reversed.

Join Jason Judd of the Global Labor Institute (GLI) at Cornell’s ILR School and two global labor governance experts, Samira Rafaela and Kelly Fay Rodríguez, as they discuss different approaches being taken by the U.S. and European countries and how those differences could unfold for individuals, companies, and consumers.

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