Programs and Speakers

Captivating speakers and a slate of can’t-miss sessions are waiting for you.

Jeffrey Selingo

The world of work is undergoing a massive shift, and the skills needed to keep up in almost any job are increasingly churning at a faster rate. Education has long been seen as the fuel for humans to keep up with shifts in the workforce. More education means better work. That won’t change in the decade ahead, but how students learn will shift. To compete, traditional higher education institutions need to reimagine the student journey through college, from residential life to career services to academic affairs. An enhanced student experience creates a more inclusive future for higher education because it meets students where they are in terms of how they learn, how they connect with peers and mentors, and, fundamentally, whether they feel a sense of belonging and purpose to their education.

Jeffrey Selingo has spoken before scores of colleges, businesses, healthcare organizations, and financial services companies and helped leaders and managers understand what’s next for education and how companies can better compete for talent, especially among Gen Z. Selingo’s latest book, Who Gets In & Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, was named among the 100 Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times. It takes readers on a journey through the selection process from inside three admissions offices, revealing what really matters to the gatekeepers and how the ultimate decision is often based on a college’s priorities.

As both an observer of higher education and an insider with an academic appointment at one of the largest universities in the country, Jeff occupies a unique position to explain the intersection between work, life and learning. He writes regularly for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was the top editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lorenzo Lewis

With his presentation, “Achieving Student Success: How Everyday People Can Become Mental Health Gatekeepers,” social entrepreneur Lorenzo Lewis will inspire campus leaders to cultivate their skills around mental health. Using a peer-reviewed study conducted by Harvard University, Lorenzo will share how he empowered 4,000 barbers and stylists across more than 60 cities and 32 states and inspired 4 million individuals to take on the role of mental health advocate. Leave inspired by Lorenzo’s thought-provoking storytelling, an academic peer-reviewed mental health framework, and how to use small and simple steps to help reduce mental health challenges and suicide.

Lewis has modeled his life around liberation as the founder and former Chief Visionary Office of The Confess Project, a leading national grassroots movement that empowers barbers to become mental health advocates for men of color. He understands that releasing trauma is the only way to move forward. In the barbershop, Lewis witnessed the intersections of poverty and violence and learned that people need more support—they need pathways to careers, wealth, and liberation. He helped create a revolution in mental health and in turn, it led him to look deeper inside himself.

Now building upon the work he has done over the past 15 years, Lewis is dedicated to the empowerment, wealth-building, and wellness of others. His passion for helping underserved folks break into the free market led him to partner with Crown Cutz Academy founder Craig Charles to create Uplift Barber and Beauty Academy, the first barber school in the country that incorporates mental health and entrepreneurship into the curriculum. Committed to fighting for his freedom and others, his unconventional experiences give him a unique perspective to explore the ultimate questions he seeks to answer in his work—how we connect, how we heal, and how we thrive.

Megan W. Gerhardt

With five generations currently in the workplace, many leaders view this dynamic as frustrating and challenging. Megan Gerhardt, a professor of management and leadership at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio, however, has proposed solutions to overcome these conditions.

In her session, “Mastering Gentelligence: Understanding & Leveraging Generational Diversity in the Workplace,” she will explore the barriers that often prevent organizations (and individuals) from effective intergenerational collaboration and conduct an assumption audit to push beyond lazy stereotypes to understand generational and age differences as a valuable and complex form of diversity. In addition, she will discuss ways to practice replacing generational judgment with curiosity; examine how to develop organizational cultures that normalize intergenerational learning and collaboration; and learn how to have smarter intergenerational conversations using power questions.

Gerhardt’s Gentelligence work has been showcased as Harvard Business Review’s Big Idea in March 2022 and was also chosen as one of Harvard Business Review’s Top 10 Must Reads for 2024. Her work on leveraging generational diversity has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, NBC News, The Washington Post, and CNN, among others.

Sprint Sessions

The Sprint Sessions — six short, personal, and inspiring stories — will close out this year’s Campus Home. LIVE! When you hear these moving tales from your professional colleagues, you’ll understand how they have quickly become one of the most popular aspects of the conference experience.