Wes Moore

In this presentation, Wes Moore focuses on social innovation and corporate citizenship. How do we define a well rounded leader in this era? What should be his/her ethics, management goals, community responsibilities, and family focus? Most importantly, what are the benefits to be realized with this new kind of leadership?

New York Times best-selling author and youth advocate Wes Moore knows that being a leader, both in your personal life and in the business world, comes down to one thing: personal responsibility. Drawing on his experiences as a leader in the public and private sectors and in the military, Moore explains that embracing your own personal responsibility – and holding yourself accountable for your choices – is a quality that makes great "transformational leaders": leaders who create a vision, then inspire and empower those around them to execute that vision.

To Wes Moore, leadership is not about assigning tasks or delegating – it is about inspiring those around you to achieve a greater good, while empowering them to take charge of the tasks at hand. Oftentimes, leaders get too caught up in the details while failing to see the bigger picture: that what makes a good leader is the ability to adapt and evolve, while cultivating employees to become successful and accountable without micromanaging them. In this presentation, Moore shares his personal story – how he overcame adversity and went on to become a highly successful leader in the public sector, private sector, and military – relating it to leadership audiences from all walks of life.

Keynote speaker Wes Moore is committed to being a positive influence and helping kids find the support they need to enact change. Pointing out that a high school student drops out every nine seconds, he says that public servants – the teachers, mentors, and volunteers who work with our youth – are as imperative to our national standing and survival as are our armed forces. "Public service does not have to be an occupation," he says, "but it must be a way of life."

Drawing on his personal experiences as highlighted in the Time magazine cover story "The New Greatest Generation," keynote speaker and Army combat veteran Wes Moore speaks about how this generation of new veterans are creative, entrepreneurial, and inventive – and how these skills are exactly what the business, nonprofit, and governmental communities need now.