Registration Closes Monday, November 4

 

Keynote Spotlight

The World Affairs Councils of America's 2013 National Conference starts just two weeks from today. Please join us and the keynote speakers below, plus many others, November 13-15, at The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, DC.

 

Honorable Keynote Speaker

 

 

 

  

Laura Bush

Former First Lady of the United States

 

 

   

Keynote: 

Making our Democracy Work 

 

  

Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

  

  

 

   

Moderator: Ambassador Marc Grossman 

Former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former Chair, WACA National Board of Directors

 

  

  

 

Opening Dinner Keynote: 

Top National Security Issues for 2014

 

 

Senator Kelly Ayotte

Opening Dinner Keynote Speaker

Member, Senate Armed Services Committee

 

 

Moderator: Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky 

Senior Fellow, Harvard University JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; former Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs; Chair, WACA National Board of Directors 

 

 

Keynote: 

Human Trafficking: Ending the Global Scourge

 

 

  

  

Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Former Chairman and CEO, Carlson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senator Richard Blumenthal

Co-Chair, Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking 

 

 

 

  

Senator Rob Portman

Co-Chair, Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking

  

  

 

 

 

Keynote:

 Future of Energy

 

  

  

 

Bob Dudley

Group Chief Executive, BP

 

 

 

 

Keynote Plenary: 

U.S. Education, 

A National Security Imperative

 

 

  

Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr. (Ret.)

NASA Administrator

 

 

 

 

  

  

Michelle A. Rhee

Former Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools, and Founder and CEO of StudentsFirst

 

 

 

  

  

Moderator: Edward Alden

Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

  

  

 

Thursday Keynote Luncheon:

Freedom and Power in the Digital Age

 

   

  

David Drummond

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, Google  

  

 

 

 

    

   

Moderator: Ambassador John D. Negroponte

Vice Chairman, McLarty Associates  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Keynote: Cybersecurity: Assessing the Threat, 

Meeting the Challenge 

 

 

  

The Honorable Michael Chertoff

Former Secretary of Homeland Security; and Chairman and Co-Founder, The Chertoff Group

 

  

 

  

Full List of Confirmed Speakers

 

  

Held annually for over two decades, the World Affairs Councils of America's National Conference engages our regional leaders and members drawn from the business, civic, and education communities with leading policy-makers and experts. The National Conference launches the National Network's year-long discussion of the Six Top Issues for 2014 selected by our network leadership across the country and helps plan our programming for the coming year. 

The Six Top Issues selected by the National Network's leadership as the most important national security issues for the coming year are: 

• Cybersecurity
• U.S. Energy Independence
• Global Economic Realignment
• Middle East
• Global Environment Issues
• U.S. Education  

Register for 2013 National Conference

Schedule

Wednesday, November 13

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM: Fall Leadership Meeting for Council CEOs and Staff/Annual Membership Meeting

6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Opening Dinner  

Thursday, November 14

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM: Main Plenaries

5:30 PM - 8:00 PM: Embassy Receptions

• Embassy of Canada
• Embassy of Portugal
• Embassy of the United Arab Emirates

Friday, November 15

7:30 AM - 8:45 AM: 1918 Society Breakfast

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM: Main Plenaries

Conference concludes at 3:00 PM