The National League of Cities is pleased to feature the following speakers onstage during the City Summit General Sessions:

Meacham is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers. In 2022, he published And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, which won numerous awards, including the Lincoln Prize, and spent 16 weeks on the Times bestseller list. A #1 New York Times bestseller, Meacham’s The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear. Meacham’s His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope – an intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis—quickly gained bestseller status. His latest book, American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology, is an anthology that illuminates the nation’s complicated past. The rich and diverse collection covers a wide spectrum of history from 1619 to the twenty-first century with his signature commentary on the consequential speeches, letters, and essays that led us to this moment. 

Meacham’s Presidential biography of George H. W. Bush, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. He is a co-author of Impeachment: An American History, which reveals the complicated motives behind the three impeachments in U.S. history. A #1 New York Times bestseller, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power was hailed as “masterful and intimate” by Fortune magazine. Meacham’s other national bestsellers include Franklin and Winston, American Gospel, and American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, which won a Pulitzer Prize. 

Meacham released two podcasts with the History Channel: Hope Through History and It Was Said. Narrated and written by Meacham, season two of the critically acclaimed Hope Through History podcast explores some of the most historic and trying times in American History, how the nation dealt with the impact of these moments, and how we came through these moments a more unified nation. 

Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency. In 2024 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden and was honored as a Library Lion of the New York Public Library. 

Kiew spent his corporate career working at Deloitte, TELUS and ADP, where he led mission-critical strategic transformations. This included a $150-million primary care health policy reform, $13-million tech transformations, doubling app users from one to two million, and scaling 15 product lines to $35 million in 12 months. As the CEO at Citizencentric, he now invests his time in growing organizations for the greater good. 

At the age of 19, Kiew became the world’s youngest Distinguished Toastmaster. He has since been featured in Forbes, USA Today, Digital Journal, the Financial Times, Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Ivey Business Journal, Change Leadership and more. In 2024, the Project Management Institute inducted Jay as a Future50 honoree for his work on enabling organizations with AI Fluency and Agentic AI adoption. Kiew is also a 2025 Canadian delegate for the G20 YEA Summit, advocating for the future of entrepreneurship globally.  

Kiew holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School and lives in Vancouver with his wife, two daughters, and a stubborn Shiba Inu named Brooklyn.