Speaking at an Innovation Leader Event

Dan Seewald of Pfizer plays a custom-designed board game with participants at an Innovation Leader event in 2018.

Interested in speaking at an upcoming Innovation Leader gathering? Check out the guidelines below, along with sample session titles and examples of past speakers (at the bottom of the page.)

Speakers at Innovation Leader events:

  • Are all involved in fostering innovation within large organizations. They may have roles in R&D, Strategy, Technology, Design, Marketing, HR, or other functions.
  • Can be at any level of seniority. We’ve had CEOs of public companies talking about innovation at a high level, as well as innovation catalysts or team members who can teach a particular approach or methodology that they use in their organization.
  • Are comfortable speaking without slides. Our typical session formats include interactive breakout sessions and “fireside chat”-style discussions. Most of our sessions are slide-free and instead rely on whiteboards, easel pads, LEGOs, Play-doh, Post-it Notes, and other tools designed to encourage learning and engagement.

We also love to hear about innovation centers, R&D labs, or other spaces your company has that might be interesting to visit, as many of our events are built entirely around these kind of “site visits.”

If you are a consultant, advisor, software vendor, or another type of firm that markets products or services to corporate executives, please reach out to Andrew Donovan (andy@innovationleader.com) to learn more about our sponsorship opportunities that include an active role at our events.

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Speaker Submission Form:



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Examples of Session Titles at IL Events:

  • “Digital Transformation in Large Companies: When Worlds Collide” — Mars, Inc.
  • “Mergers and Acquisitions: Getting Right the Things That Can Go Wrong” — Walmart
  • “Time to Remake The Donuts: A Case Study on Brand Transformation” — Dunkin’ Brands
  • “Less is More: Purpose-Driven Innovation and Business Development at Porsche” — Porsche Cars North America
  • “Where to Begin: Top 5 Ways to Effectively Define a Need for Your Organization” — Energizer Holdings
  • “Facing the Reality: Colleagues Who Believe That They Can Innovate and Don’t Need Your Help” — Philips Healthcare
  • “Using a Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) Approach for New Product or Feature Development” — Pearson
  • “Understanding Business Needs and Creating a Radar for Emerging Tech” — Swiss Re
  • “Corporate Venture Capital — Setting it up for Success” — Samsung Ventures
  • “How We’re Exploring and Applying Emerging Technologies like VR, Smart Video, and AR” — Suffolk Construction

Past speakers at Innovation Leader events include:

  • Arne Sorensen, CEO, Marriott
  • Jon McNeill, COO, Lyft
  • Bob Maresca, CEO, Bose Corp.
  • Mehmood Khan, Vice Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer, Pepsico
  • Faisal Masud, COO, Google Wing
  • Jean Finnegan, Vice President of Innovation, Nationwide
  • Nigel Hughes, SVP of Global Research, Kellogg
  • Stephen Kaufer, CEO, TripAdvisor
  • Denise Garner, SVP & Chief Innovation Officer, Clorox
  • George Corbin, Chief Digital Officer, Mars
  • Vicki Dobbs Beck, Executive-in-Charge, ILMxLab / Lucasfilm
  • Jen Compton, VP of Innovation & Brand, TD Garden
  • Dennis Devine, Co-President Key Community Bank, KeyBank
  • Judy Mondello, Vice President of R&D, J.M. Smucker
  • Tim Vanderham, Chief Technology Officer, NCR Corp.

Please reach out to events@innovationleader.com with any questions.