Featured keynote speakers are meant to inspire you, help you lead, and show you how thinking outside of the box can help you manage your local government in today’s complex environment.
Keynoters Coming to the Main Stage at #ICMA2023
Austin Convention Center (Hall 4)
![photo-emmitt-smith-2](https://conference.icma.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/photo-emmitt-smith-2.jpg)
Sunday, October 1
1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Opening General Session
Sponsored by MissionSquare Retirement
Emmitt Smith
Pro Football Hall of Fame Running Back, Speaker, Best-Selling Author and Entrepreneur
Game On: A Championship Vision
Winning | Discipline | Leadership
Coming to the main stage to open the ICMA Annual Conference, Pro Football Hall of Fame Running Back, Speaker, Best-Selling author, and Entrepreneur, Emmitt Smith!
Emmitt will take the audience through his life and career, weaving into his story, valuable lessons and inspirational messages. He will talk about adapting to change and overcoming obstacles, achieving goals, maintaining success, leadership, and teamwork – while highlighting his journey as a football player, businessman, and even ‘Dancing with Stars’ champion.
Monday, October 2
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Lindsey Pollak
Workplace Consultant and One of the World’s Leading Experts on the Millennial Generation (A.K.A. Generation Y — Those Born Between 1982 to 2000)
The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace
Lindsey Pollak is widely recognized as the leading voice on millennials and the multigenerational workplace. Often called a “translator,” Lindsey advises both young professionals looking to succeed in today’s work environment and the organizations that want to recruit, retain and market to them. During her keynote, Pollak will provide a roadmap for the future of work, sharing her insights into how to lead an organization in today’s unprecedented workplace. She will offer positive approaches for organizations to optimize their multigenerational workforce, support diversity and inclusion efforts, and navigate the ever-changing workplace for success.
![photo-pollak-lindsey](https://conference.icma.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/photo-pollak-lindsey.jpg)
![photo-dhawan-erica](https://conference.icma.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/photo-dhawan-erica-1.jpg)
Tuesday, October 3
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Erica Dhawan
Leading Authority on Collaboration and Innovation. Bestselling Author. Named “Oprah of the Management Thinkers” and Ranked #1 of Top Women Keynote Speakers of 2020
Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence
It’s 2023, the world of business is increasingly digital and work practices have changed at a blistering rate. Erica will share innovative strategies to unlock the collective power of teams, build a culture of trust across any distance and create authentic engagement to ensure competitiveness.
Wednesday, October 4
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Dr. Samuel Ramsey
Inspirational Changemaker in Science & Society; Cutting-Edge Communicator | Founder & Director of The Ramsey Research Foundation
You Can and You Will: Finding Resilience on the Path to Success
How did a little boy who was terrified of bugs become a professor and innovator in science and the study of insects? With the encouragement of his parents, a young Sammy Ramsey turned a debilitating fear into a passion and a successful career. Now the endowed professor of entomology, at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Ramsey knows adversity, but he’s even better acquainted with perseverance. In this keynote, he will empower you to look at the glass as half full as he discusses resilience from unexplored perspectives that will reframe how people process every challenge and setback on the path to success.
![photo-ramsey-samuel](https://conference.icma.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/photo-ramsey-samuel.jpg)