January 6-9, 2025 | The Waterfront Beach Resort | Huntington Beach, Calif.
The Premier Gathering of Public Affairs Executives
Step outside the day-to-day challenges of your job. Focus on the broader issues that shape the business and political environments in which your organization operates.
Locations are noted in italics. For daily class sessions, the first-year class will meet in Huntington DE; the second-year class and Fellows will meet in Huntington AB; and the third-year class will meet in Dolphin.
Monday, January 6
2:30 p.m. – Registration + Snacks Huntington Foyer
3:00 p.m. – Mandatory Orientation for First-Year Class Huntington DE
4:30 p.m. – Welcome Remarks & Introductions Huntington C
5:00 p.m. – Plenary Session: Katie Harbath Huntington C
6:00 p.m. – Welcome Dinner TBD Indoors
Tuesday, January 7
7:00 – Breakfast Buffet Huntington Foyer
8:00 a.m. – Plenary Session: Lori Knowles Huntington C
9:00 a.m. – 15-min. Break
9:15 a.m. – Plenary Session: Jerry Michalski Huntington C
10:15 a.m. – 30-min. Break
10:45 a.m.
- 1st Year: Katie Harbath
- 2nd Year: Lori Knowles
- 3rd Year: Class Photo/Free Period
Huntington Pool
12:15 p.m. – Lunch Buffet Huntington Pool
1:30 p.m.
- 1st Year: Optional Headshots/Free Period
- 2nd Year: Katie Harbath
- 3rd Year: Jerry Michalski
3:00 p.m. – 15-min. Break
3:15 p.m.
- 1st Year: Lori Knowles
- 2nd Year: Optional Headshots/Free Period
- 3rd Year: Katie Harbath
4:45 p.m. – Sunset Reception Huntington Pool
6:00 p.m. – Class Off-Site Dinners
Wednesday, January 8
7:00 – Breakfast Buffet Huntington Foyer
8:00 a.m.- Plenary Session: Alison Taylor Huntington C
9:00 a.m. – 15-min. Break
9:15 a.m. – Plenary Session: Amy Gallo Huntington C
10:15 a.m. – 30-min. Break
10:45 a.m.
- 1st Year: Amy Gallo
- 2nd Year: Jerry Michalski
- 3rd Year: Lori Knowles
12:15 p.m. – Lunch Buffet Huntington Pool
1:30 p.m.
- 1st Year: Jerry Michalski
- 2nd Year: TBD
- 3rd Year: TBD
3:00 p.m. – Free Afternoon
6:00 p.m. – Class Off-Site Dinners
Thursday, January 9
7:00 – Breakfast Buffet Huntington Foyer
8:00 a.m. – Plenary Session: TBD Huntington C
9:00 a.m. – 15-min. Break
9:15 a.m.
- 1st Year: Alison Taylor
- 2nd Year: TBD
- 3rd Year: TBD
10:45 a.m. – 15-min. Break
11:00 a.m.
- 1st Year: TBD
- 2nd Year: Amy Gallo
- 3rd Year: Alison Taylor
12:30 p.m. – Lunch Buffet Huntington Pool
2:00 p.m.
- 1st Year: TBD
- 2nd Year: Alison Taylor
- 3rd Year: Amy Gallo
3:30 p.m. – 15-min. Break
3:45 p.m. – Capstone Session and Graduation Huntington C
4:30 p.m. – Farewell Sunset Reception Huntington Pool
Navigating Workplace Dynamics for Better Collaboration, Communication & Productive Debate
Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about effective communication, interpersonal dynamics, gender, difficult conversations, and feedback. She is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, as well as hundreds of articles for Harvard Business Review.
For the past five years, Amy has co-hosted HBR’s popular Women at Work podcast, which examines the struggles and successes of women in the workplace. She is frequently sought out by media outlets for her perspective on workplace dynamics, conflict, and difficult conversations. Her advice has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Marketplace, as well as on NPR, WNYC, the BBC, and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
The Intersection of Tech and Democracy
Katie Harbath is a global leader at the intersection of elections, democracy, and technology. She currently is the Chief Global Affairs Officer at Duco Experts – a technology consulting firm. Prior to joining Duco, for the past few years she served as a CEO of Anchor Change as well as the director of technology and democracy for the International Republican Institute and a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Integrity Institute and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Previously, Katie spent ten years at Facebook. As a director of public policy, she built and led global teams that managed elections and helped government and political figures use the social network to connect with their constituents.
Policy Creation & Ethics Oversight in Emerging Technologies
Lori P. Knowles is the Assistant General Counsel at Gunderson Dettmer and an expert in policy creation and ethics oversight in emerging biotechnologies. Lori is an attorney with international experience in regulatory compliance and legal ethics. She is a firm-wide resource based in our Boston office and is part of the Compliance, Risk, and Ethics team responsible for Gunderson’s risk management and loss prevention.
Prior to joining Gunderson Dettmer, Lori practiced law in Toronto and worked at a think tank in New York, specializing in international regulation, policy, and ethics in emerging technologies. Lori worked for the US Food and Drug Administration as a Special Governmental Employee for 18 years and has consulted for governments, global companies, and organizations on issues of innovation, compliance, and governance.
How to Tackle Impossible Problems
Jerry Michalski is the founder of Open Global Mind, a project to help humans make better decisions together. He is also an expert on trust.
Jerry was on the front lines of the tech revolution for a dozen years as a tech-industry trends analyst during the dot-com boom, as Managing Editor of Esther Dyson’s monthly newsletter, Release 1.0. He also advised corporate advanced-technology groups on whether and where to deploy exponential technologies like AI.
One of the 4,000-plus startups Jerry interviewed had a useful mind-mapping app called TheBrain. Intrigued, Jerry began curating his Brain then, over 26 years ago. Now it’s the world’s largest, with over 585,000 entries.
How Business Can Do the Right Thing
Alison Taylor is a Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School of Business, Executive Director of Ethical Systems and the Author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World. She has spent the past two decades consulting with multinational companies on risk, anti-corruption, sustainability, human rights, culture and behavior, stakeholder engagement, ESG, and ethics and compliance–including as a senior advisor at sustainability nonprofit BSR, a member of the Board at Venture ESG, and a sustainability adviser at Zai Lab, KKR, and Pictet Group.
Hear From Past Participants
“The Public Affairs Institute is an innovative and unique public affairs experience. I walked away with fresh ideas, new ways of thinking and new relationships with senior leaders in the industry.”
– Jennifer Brooks, PAC manager, Northrop Grumman Corp.
“The Institute should be mandatory professional development for public affairs executives. The content and substance covered is timely and critical. And the people are even better. My network is stronger and broader as a result.”
– Kevin Hennessy, Director of Government Affairs, New England, Dominion Resources Inc.
“The Institute exceeded my expectations for a professional development program. It was an incredibly insightful few years where the speakers delivered thought provoking ideas and concepts yet were fully engaged and interacted with the participants. As important, the other students were high caliber professionals and I’m confident we will remain engaged over our careers.”
– Brian McAndrews, Vice President, State Government Relations, TIAA
Past Participants’ Organizations
1-800 CONTACTS
3M
AAA
ABB Inc.
Agilent Technologies
Alcoa Inc.
Altria Corporate Services
American Beverage Association
American Council of
Life Insurers
American Electric Power
American Express Co.
American Forest and Paper
Association
American Insurance Association
American Medical Association
American Petroleum Institute
American Standard
American Water Works
Amoco Corp.
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
ARAMARK
Arch Chemicals Inc.
Aristotle Inc.
ASARCO Inc.
Ashland Inc.
Association of American
Medical Colleges
AstraZeneca
AT&T
Australia and New Zealand
Banking Group Limited
Bank of America
Bank One Corp.
Baxter Healthcare Corp.
Becton Dickinson and Co.
Behan Communications Inc.
Berlex Laboratories
Best Buy Co., Inc.
Bethlehem Steel Corp.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Association
BlueCross BlueShield of
Georgia
BlueCross BlueShield of
South Carolina
The Boeing Co.
Bose Public Affairs Group LLC
BP America
Bravo Group Inc.
Brewers Association of Canada
Briggs and Stratton Corp.
Brown-Forman Corp.
Burlington Resources
Burroughs Wellcome Co.
The Campbell Co.
The Canadian Institute of
Chartered Accountants
Capital Blue Cross
Cargill Inc.
Catholic Health Initiatives
Centerpoint Energy Inc.
Central Freight Lines Inc.
Cephalon Inc.
ChevronTexaco Corp.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
CHS Inc.
CIGNA Corp.
CILCORP
Citigroup Inc.
CLECO
The Clorox Co.
CMS Panhandle Pipe Line Co.
CNA Financial
CNF
Columbia Gas of PA/MD/VA
Comcast Corp.
Constellation Energy Group
Coors Brewing Co.
Corning Inc.
Covidien
CT Corp.
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CVR Energy Inc.
CVS Caremark
Diageo North America
Dominion
Dow Corning Corp.
Duke Energy Corp.
DuPont & Co.
Duquesne Light Co.
Eastman Chemical Co.
Eastman Kodak Co.
Eaton Corp.
eBay
Edelman Canada
EdFund
Edison Electric Institute
ElectriCities of North Carolina
Entergy Corp.
Equiva Services LLC
Exelon Corp.
Exxon Mobil Corp.
Federal Home Loan Bank of
Pittsburgh
Federation of American
Hospitals
FMC Corp.
Food Lion LLC
Fort James Corp.
Gap Inc.
Genentech Inc.
General Electric Co.
General Mills Inc.
Genworth Financial
Glatfelter
GlaxoSmithKline
GPU Energy
Grant Thornton LLP
Greater Cincinnati
Chamber of Commerce
GTECH Corp.
Hallmark Cards Inc.
Harsco Corp.
Heineken USA Inc.
Hershey Foods Corp.
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Hill and Knowlton Inc.
Hoechst Celanese Corp.
Honeywell International
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield
of New Jersey
HSBC North America
Hughes Electronics
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Impact Texas
InterContinental Hotels Group
International Council of
Shopping Centers
International Paper
ITC Holdings Corp.
JM Family Enterprises Inc.
John Deere
John Hancock Financial
Services
Johns Manville Corp.
Johnson & Johnson
Kesarev Consulting
Keystone Automotive
Industries Inc.
K N Energy
Kraft Foods Inc.
Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory
Lechmere Inc.
LEGO Systems
Lennox International Inc.
Liberty Mutual Group
Limited Brands
Lincoln National Corp.
Linkedge Technologies Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Lundbeck
Manulife Financial
Mary Kay Inc.
Mayo Clinic
MBNA America
McCormick Co.
McDonald’s Corp.
McLane Co., Inc.
MDU Resources Group
Mead Westvaco Corp.
MedImmune
Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin Inc.
Moore & Van Allen PLLC
Multistate Associates Inc.
Mutual of Omaha
Mylan Laboratories Inc.
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
National Association of
Manufacturers
National Automobile Dealers
Association
National Council of Chain
Restaurants
Nationwide
Nestlé Waters North America Inc.
New York Power Authority
New York State Funeral
Directors Association
NOL Group
North America Corp.
Northeast Utilities
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Northwestern Mutual
Novartis
NRG Energy Inc.
Nuclear Energy Institute
OneMain Financial
Pacific Life Insurance Co.
Paschall Strategic
Communications
PCS Phosphate Co., Inc.
Personal Care Products Council
PECO Energy Co.
Pfizer Inc.
PG&E Corp.
Philips Electronics
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.
The Pires Group Inc.
Port of Seattle
Potlatch Corp.
PPL Corp.
Premera Blue Cross
Princeton Public Affairs Group
Principal Financial Group
The Procter & Gamble Co.
Professional Beauty Association
Progress Energy
Property Casualty Insurers
Association of America
Prudential Financial
PSE&G
Public Affairs Management LLC
Public Affairs Resources Inc.
Public Affairs Support Services
Publix Super Markets Inc.
Puget Sound Energy
Quantum Corp.
Raytheon Co.
Reed Elsevier Inc.
Reliant Energy Minnegasco
Retail Industry Leaders
Association
Rexam Beverage Can Co.
Roche Diagnostics Corp.
Rockwell Collins
Rohm and Haas Co.
Rudin Management Co.
Salt River Project
SeaWorld Parks &
Entertainment Inc.
Sempra Energy
Serlin Haley LLP
Shell Oil
Siemens Corp.
Solem & Associates
Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Southwest Airlines Co.
Sprint
Starbucks Coffee Co.
State and Federal
Communications Inc.
State Farm Insurance Co.
State Government Affairs Council
Sumitomo Corp. of Americas
Sundstrand
Sun Microsystems
Sunoco Inc.
Syngenta
Synopsys Inc.
Target Corp.
TE Connectivity
Teck American Inc.
The College Board
The Compressed Gas
Association
The Dow Chemical Co.
The Home Depot
The Kroger Co.
The Pillsbury Co.
The Prudential Insurance Co.
The Soap and Detergent
Association
The Society of the Plastics
Industry Inc.
The Trammell Group
ThedaCare Health System
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Toy Industry Association
Travelers Property Casualty Corp.
TRW Inc.
Tyco International
UL
Unilever
Union Pacific Railroad
Unisys Corp.
United Parcel Service
Unocal Corp.
Unum Corp.
Verizon
VOX Global
Vulcan Inc.
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Walgreen Co.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Washington Roundtable
Waste Management
International
WellPoint Inc.
Wells Fargo & Co.
Western Union
Weyerhaeuser Co.
Whirlpool Corp.
Wisconsin Electric Power
Wyeth
Yum Brands Inc.
Conference Location
The Waterfront Beach Resort
21100 E Pacific Coast Hwy
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
The Waterfront Beach Resort is located in Huntington Beach.
- From John Wayne Airport (Orange County)
Driving time: 22 minutes - From Los Angeles International Airport
Driving time: 1 hour (plus, during peak traffic times) - From the Long Beach Airport
Driving time: 30 minutes (plus, during peak traffic times)
Application Information
FIRST-YEAR CANDIDATES
Please send your completed application to Brenda Plantikow at [email protected]. Once your application has been accepted, we will send you a confirmation with invoice for registration. Please be aware that in past years the first-year class has filled to capacity before the deadline, so it is recommended that you apply early. You will be notified within one week.
Annual Registration Fee*
Public Affairs Council Members: $5,550
Non-Members: $6,900
Institute Fellows: $2,500
*Note: Tuition includes meals. It does not include the cost of lodging, transportation or personal expenses.
Questions
Brenda Plantikow
Senior Manager, Board Relations
202.787.5965 | [email protected]