2014 Blanchard Leadership Forum Kicks Off Next Week

Press release from the issuing company

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014

A lineup of nationally prominent entrepreneurs and leaders come to Columbus next week to show how they have seized their own opportunities and turned them into tremendous success stories. It’s all part of Columbus State University’s Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum 2014, starting Monday evening the Columbus Iron Works and Trade Center.

For the first time ever, Columbus State University students will be able to view the event via a remote simulcast.

The forum, organized and hosted by CSU’s Leadership Institute, begins Monday at 5:45 p.m. and features a keynote address by Mark Cuban, business magnate, investor on ABC’s popular TV show Shark Tank, philanthropist and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.

Speakers scheduled for Tuesday include Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer for Facebook and Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, the popular line of undergarments that made her the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Currently enrolled students with a valid CSU ID can watch any part of the Forum live via simulcast from the University Hall Auditorium.

“This stellar lineup of speakers reinforces our commitment to bringing the brightest minds to Columbus,” said Ed Helton, director of the Leadership Institute. “We are very excited about this year’s forum, and are thrilled that the speakers allowed us to bring their comments to the students via a simulcast.”

In addition to Cuban, Blakely and Sandberg, the forum will feature:

  • Geoffrey Canada, Author and Founder of Harlem Children’s Zone
  • Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral John R. Ryan, president and CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership, a nonprofit organization focusing on leadership education and research.
  • Author Marcus Buckingham, a leading expert on employee productivity.
  • And Ronald A. Heifetz, senior lecturer and co-founder of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

For more information on and to register for the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, visit http://jblf.org.