2019 Featured Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Steve Pemberton

NASFAA is thrilled to welcome best-selling author Steve Pemberton as the opening session speaker Monday, June 24 at the 2019 NASFAA National Conference in Orlando. Pemberton will share with NASFAA conferees the inspirational story of how he overcame seemingly insurmountable beginnings and went on to become a successful corporate executive, innovative diversity and inclusion thought leader, and acclaimed speaker.

In 2012, Pemberton's best-selling memoir, "A Chance in the World" went to print. In it he explains that as a child orphaned into foster care, and taken in by an exceedingly cruel foster family, adversity only fueled his desire to become a man of resilience, determination and vision. The book, which was been hailed as "A heart-rending but uplifting story of the human spirit's ability to prevail," hit the big screen in 2018 as a major motion picture and led to the development of a foundation by the same name that provides scholarships and support to aspiring youth in an effort to help them reach their goals.

A tireless advocate for equality, access, and opportunity, Pemberton currently serves as chief human resources officer for Globoforce, a leading provider of social recognition and continuous performance development solutions. Prior to that, he served as the first-ever global chief diversity officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, the first global, pharmacy-led health and wellbeing enterprise in the world. Under his leadership, Walgreens reached record levels of performance on nearly every measure of diversity and inclusion, ranging from representation to supplier diversity spend. An extended part of his responsibility was to further the companies' pioneering efforts to employ people with disabilities. In that capacity, he frequently represented Walgreens' employment model at the White House and on Capitol Hill. In 2015, he was appointed by United States Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities.

Pemberton's keynotes, like his life story, amplify his highly motivational messages: Believe in your dreams, rise above obstacles, create opportunities for others, and most of all, persevere.

Mark your calendar for 4:00 pm on Monday, June 24 to make sure you don't miss what is sure to be an inspirational kick-off to this year's national conference.