Keynotes

Opening Keynote

Making meaningful connects in the ’New Normal’
Wednesday, Jan. 22
9 - 10:15am EST

Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist and radio host, professional speaker and author of the bestselling book “We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter” and the recently released “Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving”. Her TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 23 million times. Close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000 events since the TED program launched in 2009. Celeste’s talk is one of the 10 most- watched talks posted on TED’s homepage.

In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been the Executive Producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Radio and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. As an NPR host and journalist, Celeste has interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life. Through her work, she has learned the true power of conversation and its ability to both bridge gaps or deepen wounds. In a time when conversations are often minimized to a few words in a text message and lack of meaningful communication and dialogue abounds, Celeste sheds a much-needed light on the lost and essential art of conversation.

Celeste is a communication and human nature expert, reclaiming common humanity and finding well- being. She frequently provides insight and commentary on what is good for all humans and what is bad for us, focusing on the best research in neuro and social science to increase understanding of how we relate with one another and can work together in beneficial ways in our workplaces, neighborhoods, communities and homes. As a mixed-race journalist of black and Jewish descent, Celeste also speaks candidly about how to converse on race and other difficult subjects. People respond to Celeste because she connects the dots, explaining the “why” of our behavior in clear terms and providing actionable strategies for doing things differently.

Celeste is a member of Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Thought Leader group and is a regular host of Women Amplified, a Conferences for Women podcast. She serves as an advisory board member for ProCon.org and The Listen First Project and in 2019, received the Media Changemaker Award. Celeste lives in the DC area with rescue dog, Samus.