Keynote Speakers
Opening Keynote
John Agwunobi, Senior Vice President & President, Health & Wellness Business Unit, Wal-Mart Stores Division
John joined Wal-Mart in September 2007 as Senior Vice President and President of Health & Wellness for Wal-Mart Stores Division. John oversees the company’s health and wellness business unit, including pharmacies, vision centers and health care clinics.
Prior to joining Wal-Mart, he was the Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and an Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. As Assistant Secretary for Health, John’s responsibilities included disease prevention, health promotion, women’s and minority health, the reduction of health disparities, fight against HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza planning and vaccine preventable disease. John, a pediatrician, has also served as Florida’s Secretary of Health from October 2001 to September 2005. He had previously served simultaneously as vice president of a pediatric rehabilitation hospital and medical director for an affiliated managed care plan in Washington, D.C.
Business and Professional Affiliations
• Member, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)
• Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• Member, American Medical Association (AMA)
• Member, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS)
• Member, American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM)
• Member, American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP)
• Member, State and Territorial Health Officers Alumni Association (ASTHO)
Education
• Master of Business Administration, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Master of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• M.D., University of Jos, Nigeria
James Canton, Ph.D.
Futurist, Social Scientist, Author and Sought-After Public Speaker
Healthcare Biography
Dr. James Canton is a renowned global futurist, social scientist, author, and sought-after business advisor who presents on the future of healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. For the past twenty-five years, he has been insightfully forecasting the impact of future trends and innovations on business, customers and society.
Dr. Canton is Chairman and CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, an internationally recognized San Francisco-based think tank he founded in 1990, to help clients better anticipate the future. Dr. Canton advises Fortune 1000 corporations and governments worldwide. He also advises the National Science Foundation and is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He has been an advisor to the White House’s Science and Technology Council and has served on advisory boards at MIT's Media Lab, Europe and Motorola.
Dr. Canton’s experience in the healthcare and related industries is myriad, including positions as advisor to the National Science Foundation, former health policy advisor to the US Department of Health & Human Services, advisor to the National Health Council, Executive Director of the Health Policy Council, Executive Board member of California’s Governor’s Health Council, Chairman of the Work and Health Task Force - State of California, advisor to the Western Institute for Occupational and Environmental Sciences and Rockefeller Foundation Grant for the Future of Health Care Information Project.
A highly sought-after public speaker, Dr. Canton has spoken to thousands of organizations on five continents. He is noted for his unique and entertaining ability to blend fascinating forecasts of trends and breakthroughs that will shape the future. Successful Meetings Magazine named him as one of the top presenters in the nation.
A frequent guest of the media worldwide, he has served as a commentator on CNN, Financial News, where his insightful coverage has earned him the nickname, “the Digital Guru.” Media coverage about Dr. Canton’s innovative vision of the future have appeared in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Report, The New York Times, US News and World Report, CEO, CIO and CFO Magazines.
Dr. Canton is the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Futures Forecast, which advises leaders about emerging innovations and trends. With the National Science Foundation, he co-authored Social Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Convergent Technologies: Enhancing Human Performance in the 21st Century and with the New York Academy of Sciences Annals, Designing the Future: NBIC Technologies and Human Performance Enhancement. He is also the author of Technofutures, a book acclaimed as a blueprint for how innovation will shape the future of business in the 21st century. His next book, The Extreme Future, came out in late 2006.
Charlie Cook, Respected Authority
on U.S. Elections and Political Trends
Widely regarded as one of the nation’s keenest litmus testers on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie Cook is the publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM. He also writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a political analyst for NBC News. Once deemed “the Picasso of election analysis” by The Wall Street Journal, Cook is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities to provide the sharpest political handicapping and prediction-based lectures.
A political oracle. Cook’s expertise has been featured on the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs, as well as on Good Morning America,the Today show, Nightline, Meet the Press with Tim Russert,and This Week. He is also a welcome fixture on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, CNN, and National Public Radio.
Before joining the National Journal Group in 1998, Cook wrote a twice-weekly column in Roll Call, Capitol Hill’s premier newspaper. Charlie also served as an election night analyst for CBS in 1990 and 1992, and for NBC in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
The New York Times has called Cook, “...one of the best political handicappers in the nation” and noted that The Cook Political Report is “a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative,” while Bob Schieffer of CBS News refers to it as “the bible of the political community.” David Broder of The Washington Post has written that Charlie Cook is “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”
Timely predictions, time after time. A hugely popular political speaker, Cook addresses dozens of national and regional associations and corporate clients each year. Using his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, memorable stories, quick wit, and meaningful insights, he crafts speeches to provide his audiences with timely information about the changing political climate.
Cook focuses on a broad overview of the upcoming presidential election, an examination of President George W. Bush’s and Congress’ agendas, and provides perceptive commentaries on policy-making in Washington. In a balanced manner, he provides audiences with the concrete information they need to hear about today’s political and legislative environments.
