Events Assembly 2026

After growing up poor and Black in a Southern rural community, Jerome Adams went on to lead the 6,000 person U.S. Public Health Service as “America’s Doctor” during a worldwide pandemic. As Surgeon General, he brought a passionate commitment to fighting issues that his own family and community experienced, including limited healthcare access, chronic disease, substance use disorder and ensuing stigma, tobacco addiction, maternal health, mental illness and the opioid epidemic. Dr. Adams’ talks merge his expertise at the forefront of national and global health policy with his own personal experiences: growing up with life-threatening asthma, as a brother to someone with substance use disorder, and as someone navigating politics to tirelessly champion the health of the vulnerable and voiceless during times of crisis.Dr. Adams’ experience with healthcare began as a patient. As a child with chronic asthma, he suffered an attack so severe that he was airlifted, barely breathing, from his home in rural southern Maryland to a hospital in Washington D.C. As a student, he excelled in science, math and technology and was awarded a scholarship to study biochemistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. It was there that he first met a Black physician (“You have to see it to be it!”) and was inspired to pursue a career in medicine. Adams was featured in the film Black Men In White Coats which tackles the issues around why black men aren’t becoming medical doctors and what that means for society.Adams was awarded a scholarship to Indiana University Medical School, earned his Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley and went on to work in private practice as an anesthesiologist in rural Indiana. He was recruited back to Indiana University Medical School, rising to the rank of associate professor. During this time, Dr. Adams caught the eye of Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who appointed him as Indiana State Health Commissioner. Adams triumphed in that role, handling Ebola, Zika, the nation’s largest HIV and Hepatitis C outbreak associated with IV drug use, and a lead contamination situation in Northern Indiana that drew comparisons to the crisis in Flint, Michigan. His leadership during the HIV/Hepatitis C outbreak has been heralded for dramatically reducing infection via a needle exchange program that Dr. Adams championed through a highly conservative state legislature, paving the way for many other states to subsequently start or expand such services.In 2016, Dr. Adams followed then-Vice President Pence to Washington as America’s 20th Surgeon General. He brought with him an ambitious goal to tackle the raging opioid crisis and make naloxone widely available. His agenda also included addressing health disparities such as maternal health and promoting community health and wellness through engagement with businesses and employers. As Surgeon General, Adams faced three category five hurricanes in a row, an e-cigarette/vaping epidemic among youth, and a once-in-a-century COVID-19 pandemic that was combined with a once-in-a-generation level of political strife and national division. Through it all, he stayed at the table, as one of the only high-level Black voices in the administration. Dr. Adams leveraged his position to advocate for disproportionately hard-hit communities of color and address the systemic health disparities that COVID shone a bright light on. As Dr. Adams often says, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Throughout his career, he has continued a hands-on approach to medicine, maintaining hospital privileges and becoming the only Surgeon General in recent history to actively practice while in office. The Bipartisan Policy Center launched an opioid task force to address drug addiction and overdose deaths in the U.S., and Dr. Adams is a member. This new group will develop policy to reduce drug overdose deaths and combat the national opioid crisis, which it described as an epidemic within the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Adams is also working with the Pro Football Hall of Fame on their new mental health initiative called Hall of Fame Health to help spread the word about mental health, addiction, and health equity.Dr. Adams is chairman of the Indiana State Trauma Care Committee and as cochairman of the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative Governing Council. Dr. Adams is a fellow of The University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean’s D.C. Fellows program, which assembles innovative and intellectually accomplished experts who have distinguished themselves in fields outside of academia. These fellows collaborate with Darden faculty and students in a variety of ways. Eko Health, a company specializing in AI-powered cardiac and pulmonary detection, appointed Dr. Adams as a Distinguished Medical Advisor. Most recently, he became a Distinguished Professor, Presidential Fellow and Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives at Purdue.Now, as a speaker, Dr. Adams continues his 25-year mission in community and public health with unforgettable keynote speeches and frank, courageous, and insightful fireside chats. Never backing down from tough questions, he brings a passion for engagement that pulls him from behind the podium to genuinely interact with audiences during Q&A. Known for speaking plainly on an array of health topics, he customizes his talks to meet the interests of an array of audiences. With a calm and caring manner, Dr. Adams speaks from the heart with the goal of making every audience member feel that he is speaking directly to them.

David Brooks is a bestselling author, op-ed columnist at the New York Times, and recurring commentator on PBSNewsHour. He has a gift for bringing readers and audiences alike face to face with the spirit of our times withhumor, insight, and quiet passion. He is a keen observer of the American way of life and a savvy analyst of present-day politics and foreign affairs whose columns are among the most read in the nation.The author of six books with many bestsellers among them, Brooks seeks to further explore and explain humanity and the way we live with every addition to his critically acclaimed body of work. With intellectual curiosity andemotional wisdom, he underscores the value of community and the importance of nourishing both the inner self and the social self in our journeys to live fulfilling lives.His latest release, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, debuted on the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists and has maintained spots on both for many weeks. It was deemed both “a hands-on guide to making meaningful human connections” and “yet another inspirational roadmap to building strong moral character and achieving authentic self-actualization” by Kirkus. Brooks makes the case that at the center of any healthy and thriving business, organization, community, or nation is the crucial skill of being able to see and value other people. Written to speak to audiences of all kinds, How to Know a Person is his attempt to repair America’s torn social fabric by giving us the tools we need to move beyond division and polarization and connect with others on an innately human level. In The Second Mountain, he makes the case that a life of meaning and purpose is built on four major commitments: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. He argues that to repair the societal damage done by hyper-individuality, we must embrace interdependence and put commitment at the center of our lives. The Road to Character is a soul-searching account that speaks to the necessity of cultivating our deepest inner lives rather than focusing solely on success and external achievement, distinguishing between what Brooks calls résumé virtues and eulogy virtues. Backed by multidisciplinary research from neuroscience, psychology, and sociology, the #1 bestseller The Social Animal rejects society’s overemphasis on rationalism and individuality and drives home the idea that our minds, emotions, and social context have a more profound impact on our beliefs, decisions, and actions than we’d like to accept. When we adopt this more nuanced view of human behavior, we can better understand politics and culture and ultimately lead more meaningful lives.Brooks’s earlier books cemented his style of “comic sociology,” offering observations on how we live and “the water we swim in” that are as witty and entertaining as they are revealing and insightful. Bobos in Paradise, his first bestseller, is a comedic yet sincere reflection on the budding class of “bobos”—a generation of elites at the intersection of bourgeois capitalism and bohemian counterculture. On Paradise Drive explores what Brooks sees as a uniquely American “future-mindedness” that drives our frenzied work ethic and inability to relax. In an effort to practice what he preaches in his writing, Brooks founded and currently chairs Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute. Weave explores what it means to build connection and weave a rich social fabric in our schools, workplaces, and every other part of life. Weave’s mission is to invite everyone to start living like a weaver and shift our culture from one that values achievement and individual success to one that finds value in deep relationships and community success.Beyond the New York Times, Brooks has also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and NBC’s Meet the Press, as well as in the New Yorker, Washington Post, and Forbes, to name a few. Prior to joining the Times in 2003, he held positions at Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Newsweek, and The Weekly Standard. He has been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities, was a Jackson Senior Fellow at Yale, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1987, John O’Leary was a curious nine-year-old boy. Playing with fire and gasoline, John created a massive explosion in his home and was burned on 100% of his body. He was given less than a 1% chance to live.This epic story of survival was first showcased in Overwhelming Odds, the book his parents wrote in 2006. It was this book that first invited John to embrace his miraculous recovery and share it with the world.Today, John inspires tens of thousands of people at more than 100 live and virtual events each year. He partners with companies and organizations across fields, such as: sales, healthcare, safety, marketing, finance, faith, education and insurance.Consistently described as “the best speaker we’ve ever had,” John’s tireless schedule is a testament to the power of his message. His emotional storytelling, unexpected humor and authenticity make each presentation unforgettable.John is a two-time bestselling author of On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life and In Awe: Rediscover Your Childlike Wonder to Unleash Inspiration, Meaning and Joy.John’s award-winning Live Inspired Podcast has more than seven million downloads and enjoys world-class guests such as Brené Brown, Mitch Albom, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Bob Costas.Amazingly, John’s story is taking on a new form: a full-length feature film starring Joel Courtney, John Corbett, and William H. Macy. SOUL ON FIRE released in theaters nationwide on October 10, 2025.Regardless of his professional accomplishments, John considers his greatest success to be his marriage to his wife Beth, their four children and his relationships with friends and family.