The Perkins Platform

Join us on Wednesday, September 6 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation with The Decision Doctor, Constance Dierickx, as she shares the steps on getting “unstuck” when making decisions. Constance is a sought-after advisor to boards and senior executives making the most consequential decisions, including strategic pivots, CEO transitions, conflict, and crisis. She has consulted with dozens of boards and over 500 executives on five continents. Recognized as an expert on governance, strategic decisions, and recovering from strategic mistakes, Constance has been interviewed by National Public Radio for Marketplace Morning, The Wall Street Journal, and Chief Executive and writes for Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Her most recent book is Meta-Leadership: How to see what others don’t and make great decisions (April 2023.) She is a member of the Association for Psychological Science, The Association for the Advancement of Consulting, and Marshall Goldsmith’s MG100 Coaches. Constance, a former stockbroker, earned her MA and Ph.D. from Georgia State University in clinical Psychology.

Leadership development speaker and visionary technology and business executive with deep expertise in security, managing risk, and leading an inclusive culture, Andy Ellis joins us to discuss his new book, 1% Leadership: Master the Small, Daily Improvements that Set Great Leaders Apart. Andy is a graduate of MIT and former US Air Force officer, and served as Akamai’s Chief Security Officer. He is now an Operating Partner at YL Ventures, an advisor to numerous cyber security startups, and has served on Harvard’s Visiting Committee to Information Technology, the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. He was inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2021. Tune in on Wednesday, August 30 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, August 23 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation on leadership philosophy with Gretchen Oltman and Vicki Bautista, authors of What's Your Leadership Story?: A School Leader's Guide to Aligning How You Lead with Who You Are.Gretchen Oltman, J.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor of organizational leadership at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She is also an attorney and author with over 25 years working in the field of education. Her work focuses on the practical application of leadership principles to real-life settings.Vicki Bautista is an Assistant Professor at Creighton University in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine. She serves as the Assistant Program Director for the online master’s in Integrative Health and Wellness. Additionally, she is a Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach. Prior to working at Creighton, she was employed in a variety of health promotion settings including, non-profit, medical, government, and research.

Miami-based independent scholar and blogger for Psychology Today, Lawrence R. Samuel joins us to share his thoughts on the psychology of success. Lawrence’s many books include Diversity in the United States: A Cultural History of the Past Century (2023) and the forthcoming Literacy in America: A Cultural History of the Past Century (2024) and The American Teacher: A History (2024). He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies and an MA in English from the University of Minnesota and was a Smithsonian Institution Fellow. Tune in on Wednesday, August 16 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, August 9 @ 6pm EST for an exciting discussion with award-winning author, Joseph Grenny as he shares his work on crucial conversations. Joseph is a New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including the communication classic, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. His work has been used by nearly half of the Forbes Global 2000 and has helped millions of people achieve better relationships and results. He co-founded Crucial Learning, one of the world’s most respected learning and organization development firms, offering courses in communication, performance, and leadership. Joseph is also the co-founder and current board chair of Unitus Labs, an international nonprofit that has helped more than 50 million people increase their self-reliance and provided capital arrangement services of more than $2 billion to some of the world’s most successful socially oriented ventures. Joseph also co-founded The Other Side Academy (TOSA), a residential school that teaches vocational and life skills to people with histories of crime, addiction, and homelessness.

Catalyst, strategist and coach to C-Suite executives, professionals and entrepreneurs, David Lancefield joins us to share his thoughts and experiences on emotions and leadership. As well as a speaker and facilitator, David hosts the Lancefield on the Line podcast for strategic leaders. He writes for Harvard Business Review and is a contributing editor for Strategy+Business. David is also a guest lecturer at the London Business School. He has worked with over 40 CEOs, hundreds of senior executives, professionals and entrepreneurs from start-ups to corporates, private to public, local to global, media to utility. These include the BBC, Microsoft, Royal Mail, Standard & Poors, Informa, Vodafone, NBC Universal, NHS, Virgin Media, Technicolor, Channel 4, Sage, IHG and The Guardian. Tune in on Wednesday, August, 2 @ 6pm EST!

Founder, productivity expert, automation enthusiast, and bestselling author, Aytekin Tank joins us to discuss his new book, Automate Your Busywork: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff. This work delivers an essential and insightful roadmap to help you make the most of your most precious asset: time. Aytekin’s entrepreneurial passion and firm belief in creating tools to make organizations more productive led him to build Jotform, a bootstrapped global Software as a Service (SaaS) company that provides powerful online forms to tens of millions of users. Tune in on Wednesday, July 26 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, July 19 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation with award-winning writer and author, Julia Keller to discuss her new book, Quitting: A Life Strategy / The Myth of Perseverance and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free. Julia is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, playwright, and teacher. She has taught at Princeton University, The University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame, and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She was the literary critic at The Chicago Tribune for a decade until she quit to write books. Her award-winning, eight-volume mystery series begins with A Killing in the Hills and is set in her home state of West Virginia, and she is also the author of a three-volume science fiction series, The Dark Intercept.

Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, Dr. Joia Crear-Perry joins us to discuss race, maternal health, healthcare and life outcomes. Dr. Crear-Perry is a physician, policy expert, thought leader, and advocate for transformational justice who identifies and challenges racism as a root cause of health inequities. She is a highly sought-after trainer and speaker who has been featured in national and international publications, including Essence and Ms. magazines. She has twice addressed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge a human rights framework to improve maternal mortality. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the Birthing Project USA, Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at Jefferson Community Health Care Centers, and Director of Clinical Services for the New Orleans Health Department. A proud recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Healthcare Heroes award, she currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Community Catalyst, the National Medical Association, and the New Orleans African American Museum. Dr. Crear-Perry completed her medical degree at Louisiana State University and her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Tulane University School of Medicine. She was also recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Seasoned Executive, Entrepreneur, and Board Director, Andy Canales joins us for an exciting discussion on the newest artificial intelligence chatbot sweeping the nation, ChatGPT. Andy most recently served as the founding Executive Director of Latinos for Education in Texas, leading a network of Latino teachers, leaders, and families to positively impact thousands of students across Houston. He began his career as a public-school teacher in low-income communities in Miami and New York City. He also serves on the boards of multiple organizations making a positive difference in the community, and is a Senior American Leadership Forum Fellow (Class XLVII) and a 2020 Houston Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree. Andy holds a B.A. in Political Science from Pepperdine University, a Master's of Science in Education from Hunter College, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. As the son of Salvadoran immigrants and the first one in his family to graduate from college, Andy is driven by the belief that everyone should have access to opportunities for success. Tune in on Wednesday, July 5 @ 6pm EST!