- David Brooks, Chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project, and New York Times Columnist
- Harvey Godwin, Jr, Lumbee Tribal Chairman, Lumbee Tribe of N.C.
- Jim Hansen, Regional President, PNC Bank Eastern Carolinas
- Thomas Parrish, Acting Secretary, NC Department of Information Technology
- Thomas Stith III, President, NC Community College System
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- Impact on Higher Education and the Future of Work
- A Digitally Inclusive North Carolina
- Mental Health & Well-Being
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- Joshua Edmonds | Director of Digital Inclusion, City of Detroit
- Roberto Gallardo, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Purdue Center for Regional Development
- Marc Hoit, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, North Carolina State University
- Larry Irving, President and CEO, the Irving Group
- Zachary Mannheimer, Principal Community Placemaker, Alchemy Community Transformations
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- Brian Collier, Executive Vice President, Foundation for the Carolinas
- Stephen De May, North Carolina President, Duke Energy
- James Ford, Co-Chair, Leading on Opportunity
- Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr., Former Governor, State of North Carolinan
- Tara K. Myers, Deputy Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
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- Governor Roy Cooper
- John Hood, President, John William Pope Foundation
- Jane Leonard, President, Growth and Justice, Minnesota
- Maurice Smith, CEO, Local Government Federal Credit Union
- Chancellor Randy Woodson, NC State University
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- David Brooks, New York Times columnist
- Lt. Governor Dan Forest
- Senator Terry Van Duyn
- Representative Chuck McGrady
- Hope Williams, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities
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2017: kidonomics: The Economics of Early Childhood Investment
- Susan Gates, Special Advisor on Education, SAS
- Nathan Fox, Distinguished Professor and Chair, University of Maryland
- Kate McEnroe, National Economic Development & Site Selection Expert
- Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina
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- Martin Ford, NYT Bestselling Author, The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
- Devin Fidler, Research Director, Institute for the Future
- Vivek Wadhwa, technology entrepreneur and scholar
- Dambisa Moyo, international author, economist and futurist
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2015: Innovation Reconstructed
- Ray Kurzweil, renowned inventor, tech guru, and Google engineering director
- ADM Michael S. Rogers, Director, National Security Agency
- Steve O’Donnell, EVP Racing Operations & Chief Racing Dev. Officer, NASCAR
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2014: TEACHERS AND THE GREAT ECONOMIC DEBATE
- Amanda Ripley, Author, The Smartest Kids in the World
- Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, Centre for Int’l Mobility and Cooperation (Helsinki)
- Hon. William Haslem, Governor, State of Tennessee
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2013: @Manufacturing Works
- Chris Anderson, Former Editor, Wired Magazine
- Will Powers, Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer, Rolls-Royce North America
- Jim Owens, Retired CEO, Caterpillar
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2012: Investing in Generation Z
- Robert Safian, Editor in Chief, Fast Company Magazine
- Bill Haslam, Governor, State of Tennessee
- Ray Mabus, Secretary, U.S. Navy

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2011: An Idea Exchange for Healthcare
- Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School
- Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo
- Sanjay Gupta, M.D., Chief Medical Correspondent and Neurosurgeon, CNN
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2010: Creativity, iNC
- Tim Pawlenty, Governor, Minnesota
- Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
- Bill Strickland, Manchester Craftsman Guild
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2009: Changing Landscapes: Building the Good Growth State?
- Chris Dodd, United States Senator
- David Brooks, The New York Times
- Bruce Katz, The Brookings Institution
- Wayne Klotz, The American Society for Civil Engineers
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2008: North Carolina’s Energy Futures: Realizing a State of Opportunity
- Thomas Friedman, The New York Times
- Jeffrey Immelt, Chair and CEO, General Electric
- Kenneth Lewis, Chairman, CEO and President, Bank of America
- Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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2007: Transforming Higher Education: A Competitive Advantage for North Carolina
- Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education
- Ja Song, Former Minister of Education, South Korea
- Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University
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2006: Financing the Future
- Paul O’Neill, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
- Paul Krugman, The New York Times
- Steve Forbes, Forbes, Inc.
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2005: My Health Is Your Business: Making Healthcare Work in North Carolina
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S.
- Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
- Steven Reinemund, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo
- Phil Bredesen, Governor, State of Tennessee
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2004: Creative Responses for Global Economic Change
- Richard Wagoner, Chairman and CEO, General Motors
- Edward Rendell, Governor, State of Pennsylvania
- Mario Rubert, City of Barcelona
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2003: Jump Starting Innovation: Government, Universities & Entrepreneurs
- Louis Gerstner, Jr., Former Chairman, IBM Corporation
- Mary Harney, Deputy Prime Minister, Ireland
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2002: Biotechnology and Humanity at the Crossroads of a New Era
- Tommy Thompson, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- John Edwards, Former U.S. Senator, State of North Carolina
- Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Former Lt. Governor, State of Maryland
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2001: First in America: Charting the Course for Excellent Schools
- William Raspberry, The Washington Post
- Tom Vander Ark, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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2000: Shaping our Common Future
- Roy Barnes, Former Governor, State of Georgia
- Dan Glickman, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Hugh McColl, Former Chairman and CEO, Bank of America
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1999: Global Economic Storms
- Robert Rubin, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Treasury
- John Rockefeller IV, U.S. Senator, State of West Virginia
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1998: People and Planet: A Fragile Partnership
- Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Society
- Daniel Goldin, NASA
- Michael Robinson, Director, National Zoological Park
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1997: Economic Forces: Shaping the Next Half-Century
- Erskine Bowles, Former White House Chief of Staff
- William Weld, Former Governor, State of Massachusetts
- Alice Rivlin, Vice Chair, Federal Reserve Board
- Richard A. Gephardt, Former U.S. House Minority Leader
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1996: The Knowledge Explosion: What is the Payoff for Americans?
- Al Gore, Former Vice President of the U.S.
- Bill Bradley, Former U.S. Senator, State of New Jersey
- Richard Riley, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
- Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund
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1995: Conflict, Competition and Cooperation: Power Politics in a Changing World
- Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator, State of Georgia
- Mickey Kantor, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce
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1994: Investing in Health: An American Agenda
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Senator, State of New York
- Joycelyn Elders, Former U.S. Surgeon General
- Lawton Chiles, Former Governor, State of Florida
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1993: Strengthening America: New Economic Strategies
- Robert B. Reich, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
- Janice Faulkner, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Revenue
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1992: Priorities for America’s Future
- Diane Ravitch, U.S. Department of Education
- Kent Hughes, Council on Competitiveness
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1991: Changes in Europe: Challenges for America
- Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the U.S.
- Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator, State of Georgia
- Madeleine Albright, Center for National Policy
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1990: Global Changes in the Environment: Our Common Future
- Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the U.S.
- Carl Sagan, Former Director, Laboratory of Planetary Studies, Cornell University
- Steve Cowper, Former Governor, state of Alaska
- Madeline Kunin, Former Governor, state of Vermont
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1989: Education for a Competitive Economy
- David Kearns, Former Chairman and CEO, Xerox
- Tom Kean, Former Governor, State of New Jersey
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1988: Taking Control of the Future
- Paul Volker, Former Chairman, Federal Reserve Board
- Don Peterson, Former Chairman and CEO, Ford Motor Company
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S.
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1987: Winning in the Global Economy
- Ross Perot, Founder, Electronic Data Systems, Inc.
- Michael Dukakis, Former Governor, State of Massachusetts
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1986: The Challenge of Innovation and Competition
- John Young, Former President, Hewlett-Packard
- Richard Thornburgh, Former Governor, State of Pennsylvania
- Jim Goodnight, President and CEO, SAS Institute, Inc.
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