Additional speakers at 2018 Forum on Leadership will includenext generation leaders, currentand former government officials, innovatorsin science and technology, and recognized philanthropists
February 1, 2018 (Dallas, TX) – The Bush Center today announced that Priscilla Chan, Co-Founder of The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and founder of The Primary School, will participate in a conversation on education at the Forum on Leadership, a three-day gathering hosted by President George W. Bush and Laura Bush to develop, recognize, and celebrate leadership. The Forum will take place from April 18-20, 2018 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas.
“We’re thrilled that Priscilla Chan will lend her visionary expertise to a conversation around how our children learn and the future of how we educate students in this country,” said Ken Hersh, President and CEO of the Bush Center. “Education is core to our mission at the Bush Institute, and we share The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative’s belief that every child should have the opportunity to recognize their full potential. I look forward to an important conversation around how parents, educators, organizations, and communities can contribute to learning environments that meet the needs of all children.”
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Priscilla and her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, in December 2015, is a new kind of philanthropic organization that brings together world-class engineering, grant-making, impact investing, policy, and advocacy work. Areas of focus include supporting science through basic biomedical research and education through personalized learning, as well as other initiatives tied to equal opportunity, including access to affordable housing and criminal justice reform.
A pediatrician and former teacher, Priscilla is also the founder of The Primary School, which integrates health and education and serves children and families in East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven neighborhood in Menlo Park, California.
The Forum on Leadership will also feature Ben Bernanke, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Arthur C. Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute; John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado; General Peter Pace, USMC (Ret.), 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and, Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, among others.
During the event, the inaugural George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership will be awarded to Bono for his work on behalf of poverty and disease eradication in Africa.
Two additional citations will also be presented: the Trailblazer Citation will be given posthumously to Jan Pruitt of the North Texas Foodbank. Blayne Smith, Founder of Team RWB, will receive the Military Service Citation.
The Forum on Leadership is by invitation only. The Closing Conversation at the Forum, co-presented with SMU, will feature Jeff Bezos, Chairman and CEO of Amazon. Tickets to that event are sold out, but sponsorships and underwriting are still available. For more information, please visit www.bushcenter.org/forumonleadership.
