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Speakers
for the NAHC 27th Annual Meeting
NAHC always prides itself in bringing top flight speakers
to address its membership. The NAHC Annual Meeting Committee,
the NAHC Board and the NAHC Strategic Planning Congress
(which meets every January) help guide the decisions about
who to ask to Keynote the meeting.
Another consideration is the theme of the annual meeting
which is chosen to reflect what is going on in the health
care environment or will be at the time of the annual meeting.
The theme for 2008 will be: Home Care & Hospice: Charting
New Frontiers in Health Care The theme is supposed to convey
the idea that by now it is obvious to policymakers and
the media that home care is the best answer to the nation’s
growing long term care crisis. The question is what can
be done by individual organizations together with NAHC
to realize the promise of making home care and hospice
the central part of health care in America.
There are many factors responsible for boosting the stock
of home care including, technology, cost effectiveness,
greater public awareness of home care and a strong preference
for continuing to receive care at home instead of in an
institutional setting. Perhaps the most important reasons
of all, however, are the graying of America and the press
of demographics. To really understand the place of home
care in the future, a person needs to understand how the
world is being changed by the imminent graying of the baby
boom generation -- all 78 million of them -- who are only
five years away from beginning to reach retirement years.
Speakers are selected to inspire and inform the leaders
of America’s home care and hospice community and
to encourage them to continue to care for every person
as if he or she was someone they loved. The stated goal
is to help the leadership of America’s home care & hospice
community to become even more efficient and more successful,
improving the quality of care while still treating every
person they see as if she or he was a parent, child or
someone they love.
The following speakers have been invited and will appear
subject to their acceptance.
 S.
Truett Cathy
Founder, Chick-fil-A Company
S. Truett Cathy likes to say that his famous chicken sandwich
has “character.” You can tell he does too.
Since opening his first restaurant in 1946, Cathy has built
a fast-food kingdom dedicated to doing good while serving
the public good food. A devout man who grew up going to
church, Cathy tries to apply Christian principles to business
practices. Cathy acknowledges that all his workers are
God’s children by closing on Sundays and sponsoring
scholarships for long-term employees. The result is a high
employee retention rate that has helped Chick-fil-A hit
over $1 billion in yearly sales. No doubt it’s worth
crossing the road for one of Cathy’s classic chicken
sandwiches, especially when you consider how he uses his
wealth to help others. Starting in 1984, his WinShape Foundation
has funded children’s camps, sponsored mission trips
throughout the world, and provided foster care for children
who need secure, loving homes. Society has recognized Cathy’s
contributions by giving him the National Caring Award,
Horatio Alger Award, and Family First Ambassador Award.
These honors show Cathy has come up with a proven recipe
for success. It’s based on his belief that, “We
should put principles and people ahead of profits.”
 Doris Kearns Goodwin
Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, Presidential
Historian
Doris Kearns Goodwin is an expert on the American presidency
and that quintessential American sport, baseball. She’s
the author of award-winning books, a contributor to leading
publications, and an NBC news analyst. She’s been
involved both on and off the air in PBS documentaries on
LBJ, the Kennedy family, FDR, and Ken Burns’ “History
of Baseball.” She received a B.A. from Colby College
and a Ph.D. from Harvard, where she taught government for
10 years. Afterward, she served as assistant to LBJ during
his last year as president and later helped him prepare
his memoirs. In 1976, her book Lyndon Johnson and the American
Dream was a New York Times bestseller. Her next book, The
Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, was made into a six-hour
miniseries that aired on ABC in 1990. Then in 1995, she
received a Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin
and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
In 1997, she wrote Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir about
growing up in love with family and baseball. Her most recent
work is Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham
Lincoln. A 2005 bestseller, it’s the basis of a forthcoming
biopic by Steven Spielberg.
 Judy Woodruff
Author, Broadcast Journalist with CNN,
Inside Politics, NBC, CBS and Humanitarian
Judy Woodruff is famous in the field of broadcast journalism
for her integrity, intelligence, and commitment to public
service. She’s best known as anchor of CNN’s
Inside Politics, the first daily program dedicated to the
subject. Since joining CNN in 1993, she’s developed
several innovations, such as running a mobile newsroom
during the 2004 presidential election. In her frequent
travels, she moderated the first presidential forum of
Democratic candidates in 2003 and the final debate between
Bush and Kerry in 2004. She’s also led network coverage
of the Iraq War, the 9/11 attacks, and the Space Shuttle
Columbia tragedy. Before joining CNN in 1993, she spent
11 years at The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, where she was
chief Washington correspondent and anchor of Frontline
with Judy Woodruff. Before that, she covered politics for
NBC and WAGA-TV in Atlanta. She’s received many honors,
including the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage
of the 9/11 attacks and an Emmy for coverage of the Centennial
Olympic Park Bombing. She supports numerous philanthropic
organizations and has gained particular recognition for
efforts to fight spina bifida. She’s founding co-chair
of the International Women’s Media Foundation and
author of This is Judy Woodruff at the White House.
 Marilyn Carlson Nelson
CEO and Chair, Carlson Companies
Marilyn is head of Carlson Companies and a firm believer
in an inclusive company culture. “The mission-driven
CEO,” she says, “has to serve all stakeholders:
the shareholders, of course, but also the employees, the
customers, the community, and the nation.” She inherited
this commitment to service from her father, founder of
her family’s travel services empire. When she took
the reins in 1998, she quickly created an in-house day
care center and company cafeteria. The returns she got
in terms of employee loyalty and team building helped her
make Carlson one of the world’s largest privately
held companies. Forbes has regularly called her one of “The
World’s Most Powerful Women,” and U.S. News & World
Report has named her one of “America’s Best
Leaders.” She serves on the boards of Exxon Mobil,
the Mayo Clinic, and the Committee to Encourage Corporate
Philanthropy. Following family tradition, she gives charity
5 percent of her company’s pre-tax earnings and heads
numerous nonprofit boards. She’s earned a National
Caring Award and membership in the French Legion of Honor
for exemplary acts based on her inclusive vision of humanity. “As
one suffers, we all suffer,” she says. “As
one is glorified, we all are glorified.”
 Alison Levine
Leader of the First American Women's Everest Expedition and Founder of the Climb High Foundation
Alison Levine is no stranger to risk-taking. She has
survived sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds,
sudden avalanches and a career on Wall Street – all
without the use of supplemental oxygen.
Surprisingly, Levine was born with a life-threatening
heart condition that precluded most demanding physical
activities. As a teenager, her health was so unstable that
she was not even allowed to do such basic things as drive
a car or walk up stairs. But 13 years after her initial
diagnosis she had surgery that changed her life - and climbing
stairs soon gave way to climbing mountains, a passion that
Levine continued to pursue despite her initial health setbacks.
In between starting business school and starting a job
on Wall Street, Levine “accidentally” scaled
the seven summits. Over the next several years as she continued
to climb the corporate ladder, Levine also pushed her limits
on the world’s highest peaks and soon became one
of the most experienced female mountaineers in the country.
In 2002, Levine was recognized for her track record of
leadership and success in the mountains when she was invited
to serve as the team captain of the first American Women’s
Everest Expedition, a history-making climb that would put
her heart and her spirit to the test. An avid explorer
and adventurer, Levine also traveled across the Arctic
Circle on skis for more than 100 miles to successfully
reach the top of the world – the geographic North
Pole. Her success in extreme environments is noteworthy
given Levine suffers from Raynaud’s Disease which
causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse
in cold weather, leaving her at extreme risk for frost
bite.
Levine’s expeditions have been documented by more
than 450 media outlets. She has made numerous appearances
on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, Fox, ABC News, CBS’ Evening
News, and other national programs. Her story has been the
subject of articles in Oprah Magazine, National Geographic,
Lifetime Magazine, Sports Illustrated Woman, Outside and
other publications. Levine has earned many honors for her
achievements and her ability to overcome adversity, including
the Courage in Sports Award from the Anaheim Angels. She
was named one of San Francisco’s Top Business Leaders
Under 40 and was listed as one of Arizona’s (her
native state) Most Interesting People. She has also been
featured prominently in the book More Than 85 Broads,
the book that captures the efforts of the women of Wall
Street to find success and take risks on their own terms.
Ms Levine’s 18-year business career encompasses
healthcare, technology and finance. After earning her MBA
from Duke University she moved to New York to work for
one of the top investment banks on Wall Street. In 2003,
she left Wall Street to serve as Deputy Finance Director
for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful bid to become
Governor of California.
Levine is the founder and President of Daredevil Strategies,
a consulting firm specializing in organizational effectiveness,
leadership development and team dynamics. Drawing parallels
between staying alive in the mountains and thriving in
a fast-paced business world, Levine focuses on the topics
of leadership, teamwork, overcoming odds, tackling fear,
taking responsible risks and dealing with changing environments. |
