Cornell Keynotes

Storytelling for Impact: Three Steps for Growing Your Influence

Learn more about storytelling online at Cornell: The Media Strategy for Policy and PR Cornell Certificate Program  Check out the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program at the Brooks School Mark’s Newsletter “One for the Week” In this Keynote, Mark Bayer, Visiting Lecturer at Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy and former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff, reveals insider strategies for crafting compelling, memorable stories that influence key stakeholders in your professional ecosystem. Drawing from 20 years of experience writing powerful narratives, persuasive speeches, and media pitches at the highest levels of U.S. government, Mark shares proven techniques you can use to elevate your own presentations and achieve high-priority goals. Mark will guide you through the storytelling process, from identifying the most impactful content to mastering narrative sequence and stylistic elements. You will discover what to include, what to leave out, and how to harness both the art and science of storytelling to enhance your influence. Since leaving Capitol Hill, Mark has served as a two-time keynote speaker for Harvard Medical School's orientation, delivered workshops for major scientific societies, and hosts the "When Science Speaks" podcast — ranked among the top 5% most popular podcasts globally by Listen Score, the Nielsen ratings for podcasts. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, The New Yorker, Barron's, Science, Teen Vogue, and other media outlets. Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

The New Immigration Regime: Restrictions, Outcomes, and What’s Next

The Migration and Human Rights Program @Cornell Law School The Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic @Cornell Law School Immigration was a top priority in 2025 for President Trump. The administration has restricted immigration in many ways, ranging from travel bans to mass deportations. The White House has stated that the United States may have negative net migration to the U.S. in 2025 for the first time in over 50 years.  In the meantime, employers face labor shortages. The demographics of an aging population and declining birth rates are indisputable. More people worldwide are fleeing the breakdown of civil society, climate change, and persecution than ever before. Over 10 million people in the United States lack immigration status and fear deportation. And our immigration courts face a backlog of over 3 million deportation cases.  Join retired Cornell Law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr and a panel of Cornell experts as they discuss how immigration law and policy changed in 2025 and what we might expect in 2026. What You’ll Learn: What changes to the immigration system the Trump administration made in 2025 The impact of those changes on communities, the economy, and immigration law What legal challenges these policies have faced and where those legal challenges stand What immigration changes might occur in 2026 by the Trump administration and/or Congress Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

When Should the University Speak? Cornell’s Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice

Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice Draft Report  October 2025 Update  Please provide feedback on the report  Members of our community —  whether students, staff, faculty, or alumni — feel deeply about many local, national, and world events, but does that mean that a university should opine on such weighty matters? Or should the university sit back and allow the individual voices of the community rise to the surface? Can it do both? And when the university does speak, who speaks for the university? What principles should govern this decision of when and how often to speak?  Last year, Cornell University created the Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice to examine these questions and issue recommendations to the community. A draft report was released to the Cornell community during the fall semester outlining principles and providing suggestions to guide how the president, provost, deans, academic departments, and others should approach this issue. The Task Force was co-chaired by Cornell Law School Dean Jens David Ohlin and Deputy Provost Avery August. In this Keynote, Dean Ohlin and the Professor Nelson Tebbe will discuss the Task Force’s findings. What You’ll Learn: How Cornell University is studying the issue of institutional voice The principles and guidelines recommended by Cornell’s Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice The various approaches that other universities have taken on this issue Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

AI in Finance: A Partner, Not a Replacement

The AI in Finance certificate program starts April 13, 2026!AI is reshaping finance, but it's not about replacing people — it's about empowering them to work more effectively. As these tools become part of our everyday roles in financial services, knowing how to successfully partner with AI while leveraging human judgment has become key to success.Join Cornell Professor Victoria Averbukh and Andrew Chin, Chief AI Officer at AllianceBernstein, for a practical look at AI in finance. They'll explore how AI can enhance financial decision making and discuss why human expertise remains essential. Through real-world examples, they'll explain how professionals can confidently work with AI tools to achieve better outcomes as partners in the process.What You'll LearnHow to identify which financial tasks are best suited for AI assistanceTips for balancing AI capabilities with human insightStrategies for confidently integrating AI tools into your business processes  Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

Did COVID Expose Our Biggest Weakness?

BOOK: In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us In In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, authors Frances Lee and Stephen Macedo examine the unprecedented mobilization of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly half the world's population was under quarantine by April 2020. Their eye-opening analysis questions how institutions responded to the crisis, why pre-existing pandemic plans were ignored, and how COVID-19 policies often benefited the "laptop class" while leaving essential workers exposed, revealing how scientific discourse became increasingly politicized as reasonable dissent was marginalized.In this Keynote from Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences, Princeton Professor Frances Lee will speak about her best-selling book, offering a comprehensive — and candid — political assessment of how U.S. institutions fared during this historic global crisis. This timely discussion will explore the successes and failures of America's pandemic response and its implications for future crisis management.  Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.