Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.

Keynote Speaker

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D., affectionately nicknamed "Dr. Meaning," is founder of the Center for Meaning and principal of The Innovation Group, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.   He is the author of the international best-selling book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, which is based on the wisdom of and was personally encouraged by his mentor, the world-renown psychiatrist, Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of the classic best-seller, Man's Search for Meaning.  A former therapist and mental health administrator, political campaign organizer, and full-time university professor of public and business administration, Alex has worked closely with several Presidential administrations on public policy matters, and served as an adviser to the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  He was also one of the initial faculty evaluators for the Innovations in American Government Awards Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  He is a past president of Renaissance Business Associates, an international, nonprofit association of people committed to advancing business integrity and elevating the human spirit in the workplace.  During his tenure as President, RBA was active in Australia, Canada, Europe, Nigeria, South Africa, and the USA.  Dr. Pattakos is a featured contributor to The Huffington Post and is an expert blogger for Fast Company magazine.

Paul Light

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Paul C. Light is NYU Wagner's Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service and founding principal investigator of the Organizational Performance Initiative. Until joining NYU, Dr. Light served as the Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, founding director of its Center for Public Service, and vice president and director of the Governmental Studies Program. He has served previously as director of the Public Policy Program at the Pew Charitable Trusts and associate dean and professor of public affairs at the University of Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Light has written 18 books, including the award-winning Thickening Government and The Tides of Reform. He is also a co-author of a best-selling American government textbook, Government by the People. His research interests include: bureaucracy, civil service, Congress, entitlement programs, executive branch, government reform, nonprofit effectiveness, organizational change, and the political appointment process.