Keynote Speakers
Boris Johnson
Rt Hon Boris Johnson served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Leader of the Conservative Party, Foreign Secretary and Mayor of London.
In 2019 he led the Conservative Party to an extraordinary election victory, winning their biggest majority in the House of Commons since 1987 and the highest share of the vote of any party since 1979. The result was a major realignment in British politics, with Boris Johnson’s Conservatives winning unprecedented support in areas they had never before represented.
Delivering Brexit – the UK’s exit from the European Union – was Mr Johnson’s first major achievement in Downing Street. His government shattered the political and parliamentary deadlock that crippled the process since the 2016 referendum result. Under Mr Johnson’s leadership, the UK restored sovereign control over its borders, economy and lawmaking, finally enacting the will of the British people.
At home, he unleashed a visionary agenda of domestic policy reform, with a focus on infrastructure, education and technology. He worked to ‘unite and level up’ the country, a major cross-government project to address regional economic and social disparities with his ‘levelling up’ agenda. He worked to protect the union of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and tackled unresolved challenges avoided by other administrations, such as adult social care.
When Covid-19 struck, he led the UK through the darkest days of the pandemic, at one point becoming seriously ill from the disease. He commissioned the world’s foremost scientists and industrialists to work on a UK vaccine, resulting in the discovery of the Oxford AstraZeneca jab. His government delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe and the fastest booster rollout, allowing the UK economy to reopen and lifting restrictions more quickly than comparable countries. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, the UK emerged from the global crisis as the fastest growing economy in the G7.
More recently, Mr Johnson emerged as the preeminent global leader in the effort to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion. Under his leadership the UK committed more than £2.4 billion in military assistance, huge humanitarian support and became Ukraine’s foremost European political partner. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a close friend. The Kremlin said it considers Mr Johnson ‘enemy number one’.
Mr Johnson first entered Parliament in 2001 as MP for Henley. He was twice elected Mayor of London (with the biggest personal mandate ever won in British politics). As Mayor he oversaw the London 2012 Olympic Games, commissioned the new Routemaster bus, and introduced the now-ubiquitous “Boris Bike” cycle hire scheme.
After being returned to the House of Commons in 2015, representing Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Mr. Johnson served as Foreign Secretary, prioritising global development work on girls’ education and female empowerment. He also led the Foreign Office response to Russia’s use of a nerve agent on the streets of the English city of Salisbury.
In addition to his work in politics, Mr Johnson is an award-winning journalist, writer and editor. He is the author of almost a dozen books, from the globally bestselling historical biography of Winston Churchill, The Churchill Factor, to the self-illustrated children’s book The Perils Of Pushy Parents. He edited the Spectator magazine for six years and has written for dozens of major publications including, most notably, London’s Daily Telegraph.
Mr Johnson, who was born in New York City, has a special affection for the United States. He was educated at and the University of Oxford, and married his wife, Carrie, in May 2021.
Anita Josey-Herring
The Honorable Anita Josey-Herring was appointed to the bench in November 1997 by President William Clinton. As an Associate Judge, she has served in the Family, Civil and Criminal Divisions of the court. In 2000 Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Chief Judge to serve as the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Family Court and later served as the Presiding Judge of the Family Court from 2006 through 2008. She became Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in October 2020.
Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring is a 1987 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. While attending Georgetown as an evening division student, she was a member of the Legal Ethics Law Journal and was employed full time in various legal support positions. Chief Judge Josey-Herring obtained a judicial clerkship position with the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. in Superior Court of the District of Columbia. As a judicial clerk, she worked on a variety of civil law issues including family law, contract disputes, and landlord and tenant issues. In 1988, Chief Judge Josey-Herring joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney. While in the trial division, she handled a heavy caseload and litigated juvenile, misdemeanor and felony cases in the Superior Court and supervised staff attorneys. She also served in the Public Defender Service’s appellate division arguing cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 1994, while handling serious felonies and homicide cases, Chief Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service to the position of Deputy Director of the agency. As Deputy Director, Chief Judge Josey-Herring assisted the Director in all aspects of management and administration, including budgetary decision-making and supervision of agency staff. She also directly supervised the Investigations Divisions, the Prisoner Rights Program, and the Criminal Justice Act Office that is responsible for coordinating the appointment of counsel in all criminal cases in the District of Columbia. In addition, she administered the agency’s grant funded programs and coordinated the attorney and law clerk hiring programs. She also monitored the agency’s personnel policies for compliance with personnel law and handled personnel matters along with the Director. In addition, she testified before the District of Columbia City Council on proposed criminal law legislation and other matters.
During her service in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Chief Judge Josey-Herring has led numerous initiatives to improve the quality of justice and service to litigants and attorneys alike. She led the highly regarded Family Treatment Court Initiative that provides drug treatment and social services to mothers charged with neglecting their children due to substance abuse. Additionally, Chief Judge Josey-Herring presided over the Family Treatment Court calendar from its inception and collaborated with District agencies to deliver services to parents and children in the neglect system. She also presided over the Juvenile Drug Court prior to the establishment of the Family Treatment Court. Chief Judge Josey-Herring played a significant role in the development and implementation of the D.C. Family Court and implemented numerous programs, in her role as Deputy Presiding and later Presiding Judge of Family Court, to improve the quality of justice provided to District families.
Chief Judge Josey-Herring has also served on numerous committees, including the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Rules Committee, the Criminal Justice Act Panels Committee, the Committee on Appointment of Magistrate Judges, the Court’s Privacy and Access Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and was the Chair of the Superior Court Judicial Education Training Committee. In 2007, Chief Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia as a Commissioner on the Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges, which she ultimately chaired.
She is also a former board member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and has participated in numerous extracurricular activities over the course of her legal career. She has received many awards in recognition of her service to citizens of the District of Columbia, including the Woman Lawyer of the Year Award for 2022 from the Women’s Bar Association and the President’s Award from The Bar Association of the District of Columbia for outstanding service to the Washington legal community.
Caitlin Clark
- 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year
- 2024 First Team All WNBA
- 2024 WNBA All-Star
- 2024 WNBA 1st Overall Pick
- NCAA All-Time Leading Scorer (Men & Women)
- NCAA All-Time 3-PT FG Leader(Women)
- 4x AP All American
- 2x Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year
- 2x John R. Wooden Award
Caitlin Clark is one of the most exciting basketball players of her generation, a transcendent athlete who has broken records on and off the court, achieving global popularity thanks to her logo threes, visionary passing, and competitive spirit. After closing out her collegiate career by leading the University of Iowa to back-to-back NCAA Championship games, driving record viewership and attendance, Clark was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the most-watched 2024 WNBA Draft. During her remarkable rookie season, she earned a WNBA All-Star selection, showcasing her elite playmaking and court vision. She shattered single-season and single-game assist records, broke the rookie scoring record, and made history as the first rookie to record a triple-double with her dynamic, aggressive style of play. Her remarkable impact on the court helped propel the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016. Capping off her extraordinary rookie year, she became the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to make the First Team All-WNBA, one of only five players to ever achieve this honor, and was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
After being recruited by some of the top collegiate programs in the country, Clark chose to stay close to home, leading the Hawkeyes to three consecutive Big 10 championships. Along the way, Clark rewrote the record books as the first college player to surpass 3,000 points, 750 rebounds, and 750 assists. She set a new standard in women’s Division I basketball, boasting the highest number of 30+ point games over the past 25 years. Clark is also one of only seven women to win the Wooden Award twice and one of nine to win the Naismith Award multiple times. In the last home game of her senior season, Clark surpassed Pete Maravich for most points scored by a Division I basketball player, men’s or women’s. On April 10th, 2024, the University of Iowa announced the school will be retiring her No. 22 jersey to honor her iconic career.
Off the court, Clark is also making an impact with The Caitlin Clark Foundation which is focused on youth empowerment through education, nutrition, and sports—the very pillars of her success. The foundation is already benefiting organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa and making meaningful impact in the community. Clark’s relentless pursuit of excellence transcends anything she ventures into, as she remains committed in enduring change, both within the game and beyond its boundaries.
Geoff Martha
Geoff Martha is Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, the global leader in healthcare technology. In his role, Geoff leads the $31 billion company and its 95,000 employees to deliver groundbreaking technology solutions for more people in more places around the world. Medtronic served 74.3 million patients in FY23. Geoff leads the enterprise in pursuit of fulfilling the Medtronic Mission to use technology to improve human welfare. Since becoming CEO in 2020, he has been recognized as a driven and innovative executive, including as a top CEO in healthcare technology by the Healthcare Technology Report and as one of Modern Healthcare’s most influential people in healthcare.
Under his leadership, Medtronic is leveraging the latest advances in cutting edge technology to transform healthcare. In 2023, Medtronic was ranked number one in Healthcare Technology Report’s Top 100 Health Tech Companies of the year, named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the first time, and ranked second in DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity – reinforcing the impact the company has had with its unwavering commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity (ID&E). Fortune and Great Place to Work named Medtronic one of the ‘World’s Best Workplaces’ in 2022, and the company has been consistently recognized as one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Geoff joined Medtronic in 2011, and notably led the acquisition and integration of Covidien, the largest acquisition in the history of the medical technology industry. Before joining Medtronic, Geoff spent 19 years at GE Healthcare and GE Capital.
Geoff is a member of the Business Roundtable and the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, serves as a board member of the U.S.-China Business Council, as Treasurer for AdvaMed, and is also President of the Executive Committee of the board of directors for the Minnesota Business Partnership. In 2021, he served as co-chair of the Taskforce on Health and Life Sciences for B20, a G20 engagement group.
An ardent supporter of philanthropic and diversity initiatives, Geoff serves on the Board of Trustees for the Asia Society and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Medtronic Foundation, the Northside Achievement Zone, and the YMCA of the North. He was also one of the founding members of OneTen coalition, an organization committed to breaking down systemic barriers for Black Americans and serves as Medtronic’s Executive Sponsor to FIRST Robotics.
Geoff received a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Pennsylvania State University, where he currently serves on the Development Council for its College of Liberal Arts. He was also captain of the Penn State men’s hockey team and later inducted into its Hockey Hall of Fame.
Follow him on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/geoff-martha).
