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2024 Groundbreakers Speakers

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Huma Abedin

New York Times Best-Selling Author - "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds”
MSNBC Contributor; Co-Host - "Morning Mika”

Consulting Producer - HiddenLight Productions

Deputy Chief of Staff - U.S. Department of State

Vice Chair of Hillary for America (2016)

Keynote / Fireside Exchange

Huma Abedin is a New York Times best-selling author of "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds.” She is also an MSNBC

contributor, co-host of "Morning Mika," and a consulting producer for HiddenLight Productions. She serves as Vice Chair of the annual Forbes 30/50 mentorship Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Huma began her career in public service as an intern in First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office in 1996. After four years in the White House as Special Assistant to the First Lady and Trip Director, she worked in the U.S. Senate as Senior Advisor to Senator Clinton and went on to be Traveling Chief of Staff for the Clinton 2008 presidential campaign. In 2009, she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of State under President Obama where she oversaw long-term strategic planning and operations for the Secretary of State, which resulted in nearly a million travel miles over four years. Her work earned her recognition as one of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders and on TIME magazine's 40 Under 40 list. She served as Vice Chair of Hillary for America in 2016, an effort that resulted in the first woman to be elected as nominee of a major political party. Her work with Secretary Clinton continues today and she is advisor to the Hillary Rodham Clinton Leadership Institute at the Clinton Foundation.

In addition to her long career in public service, Huma’s passion for storytelling led her to write her memoir “Both/And” in 2021 as well as contributing to “Listening in the Dark: Women Listening to their Intuition,” edited by Amber Tamblyn and published in 2022. As a consulting producer for HiddenLight Productions, she helps bring untold stories from diverse voices to a global audience. Her role as a regular MSNBC contributor and co-host of "Morning Mika" allows her to draw on her expertise in government and politics to provide unique insights into current domestic and global events.

Huma also plays a key role as Vice Chair of the annual Forbes 30/50 Summit, bringing together leading female voices in policy, the arts, NGOs, and business to share their experiences to rooms filled with powerful icons from Forbes' 50 Over 50 List and barrier-breakers from the 30 Under 30 List, which provides an important framework for long-term mentoring and networking partnerships.

Huma serves on the board of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an NGO which has been investing in women leaders for 25 years as they seek to address the world’s greatest challenges. In 2022, Huma received the Golden Heart Award for Outstanding Leadership from God's Love We Deliver, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger and malnutrition. In 2023, Huma was awarded the Celebrating Women Award from the New York Women’s Foundation.

Huma was born in the United States and raised in Saudi Arabia. She graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science. She lives in New York with her son Jordan.

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Magalie René

Confidence & Compassion Expert and Executive Coach

Host - The "C" Word mini series

Conquer Fear and Find Your Shine Workshop

 

As a Compassionate Leadership and Confidence Expert and CEO of Workplace Catalyst, Magalie René empowers professionals to unlock exceptional performance through compassion and authenticity.

She and her team of facilitators at Workplace Catalyst™ deliver powerful programming ranging from leadership training and retreats to team-building and motivational speaking.

Magalie has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS News, ABC News, Forbes, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and more. An inspiring speaker, master facilitator, and transformational coach, she teaches leaders how to access unshakeable confidence to take big leaps, enjoy the journey of success, and lead with impact. 

She helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned organizations elevate wellbeing, belonging, engagement and retention. Her clients include Citigroup, Publicis Groupe, Senator Mark Kelly, Live Nation, California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), Kaiser Permanente, Havas, Fictiv and many more. 

When she’s not speaking, writing, show-hosting or coaching, you can find the native Brooklynite on a walk in her vibrant communities of residence (Los Angeles and Palm Springs) with her loyal canine companion, Prince.

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Dolly Chugh

Award-winning Social Psychologist and New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business Professor

Activate Your Growth Mindset: How to Make Mistakes Count Workshop

Dolly Chugh (she/her, hear my name) is a social psychologist and management professor at the New York University Stern School of Business where she teaches MBA courses in leadership and management. Because of Dolly’s teaching skills, she was one of six professors chosen from thousands at New York University to

receive the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and one of five to receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award in 2013.

Dolly is best known for her two books The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias (HarperCollins, 2018) and A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with our Past and Driving Social Change (Simon & Schuster, 2022).

Dolly’s TED Talk was named one of the 25 Most Popular TED Talks of 2018 and currently has almost 5 million views.

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