SPEAKERS
Featuring:
Soledad O’Brien
Broadcast Journalist
Soledad O’Brien will be joining this year’s 100th-anniversary City Summit, helping “anchor” all four days of general session programming.
As the host of the Sunday morning syndicated political show, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, and from her time at NBC and CNN, Soledad has established herself as one of the most recognized names in broadcasting by telling the stories behind the most important issues, people and events of the day. A champion of diversity, she gives voice to the underserved and disenfranchised through her Emmy-winning reporting and acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and Latino in America, while also the contributing editor, reporting in-depth news magazine pieces for PBS NewsHour, and correspondent for HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. A prominent philanthropist, Soledad is the founder of PowHERful, a foundation that mentors and funds college tuition and expenses for young women.
Jennie Taylor
Gold Star Widow & Professional Speaker
Jennie Taylor is the Gold Star Widow of Utah Army National Guard Major Brent Taylor, who was tragically killed in action in Afghanistan in 2018 while on a leave of absence from his role as mayor of North Ogden City. Together, Brent and Jennie were involved in the Utah League of Cities and Towns for nearly a decade.
A native of Utah, Jennie holds a profound respect for the tireless work of municipal leaders nationwide and looks forward to sharing her insights on the importance of civility in America’s cities today.
She holds education degrees from Brigham Young University and Utah State University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah. Jennie serves as an adjunct professor at two of Utah’s state universities.
Following Brent’s death, Jennie was appointed as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) for the state of Utah. In this role, she acts as a liaison between the Secretary’s office in the Pentagon and the Army community in Utah. Jennie is also the Executive Director of the Major Brent Taylor Foundation, where she is dedicated to fostering patriotism within communities while building bridges across generations and between service members and civilians.
Lindsey Vonn
Olympic Gold Medalist & Alpine Ski Racer
Lindsey Vonn is a recently retired Olympic gold and bronze medal‐winning alpine ski racer for the U.S. Ski Team as well as a New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the most successful skiers of all time and holds four World Cup titles, making her one of only 6 women to win World Cup races in all five disciplines of Alpine skiing.
Debuting first at the 2021 Alpine Skiing World Cup Races, Vonn is an NBC Sports broadcast analyst. Lindsey served as an International Games Ambassador in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Lindsey is also the founder of the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, established to empower young girls. She splits her time between Miami, Florida, Park City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California.
Crystal Washington
AI Specialist, Futurist & Author
Futurist, author, and Hall of Fame Speaker, Crystal Washington equips organizations with the knowledge they need to become “future-proof.” She will join City Summit to discuss the power of AI, its possibilities and pitfalls.
As a technology strategist and certified futurist, Crystal makes complex artificial intelligence, social media, and app technology easy to understand and accessible for everyday people. She has entertained and educated audiences around the globe.
Crystal’s clients include Fortune 100 companies, including Google, American Express, and Pfizer. As one of Forbes’ 50 Leading Female Futurists, she appears weekly on season two of the Emmy-nominated show Life 2.0. She’s also appeared in numerous publications, including Entrepreneur and Bloomberg Businessweek, and major television networks regularly call on her as a tech expert.
Crystal is the author of One Tech Action and The Social Media Why.