Heartland Summit 2018
October 18-20, 2018 | BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS
2018 Heartland Summit Recap Video
Eye on the Heartland
Economics. Innovation. Inspiration.
With an eye on issues impacting the Heartland, Summit attendees participated in interactive discussions on topics ranging from the arts to investment, and so much more.
Heartland Rising
Our opening session kicked off with an introduction by Olivia Walton, Co-Founder of the Heartland Summit, and Kyle Peterson, Executive Director of the Walton Family Foundation, and performances by Movement Artists Jon Boogz and Lil Buck.
Secret Sauce
Moderated by Olivia Walton, this session focused on the question "What is the secret sauce that makes the Heartland great?" We dive in with Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, MO, Siobhan Spain of Des Moines, IA and Santosh Sankar of Chattanooga, TN.
Investing in the Heartland
Steuart Walton, Wendy Guillies and Steve Case discuss the value of Heartland investment and what it takes to build robust local investment ecosystems.
Presenters

Byron Auguste
Opportunity@Work
CEO and Co-founder

Ross Baird
Village Capital Group
President

Luis Benitez
Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry - State of Colorado
Director

Howard W. Buffett
Columbia University
Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs

Steve Case
Revolution
Chairman and CEO

Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Chopra Center for Wellbeing
Co-Founder

Carol Coletta
The Kresge Foundation
Senior Fellow

Lisa Conn
Facebook
Community Partnerships

Devita Davison
FoodLab Detroit
Executive Director

Ross DeVol
Heartland Forward
President and CEO

Jessica Droste Yagan
Impact Engine
Managing Partner

Jeff Edmondson
Ballmer Group
Managing Director

Meka Egwuekwe
Code Crew
Executive Director

Louise Epstein
Walton Family Foundation
Director of University Partnerships

James & Deborah Fallows
Authors of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America

Tim Ferriss
Best-selling Author and Host of “The Tim Ferriss Show” Podcast

Richard Florida
Urbanist and Author of "Rise of the Creative Class"
Heartland Forward Senior Fellow

Jennifer Garner
Save The Children
Ambassador

Newsha Ghaeli
BioBot
Co-Founder

Wendy Guillies
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
President and CEO

Christine Gulbranson
University of California
SVP, Chief Innovation Officer

Alex Holland
McClure Engineering Co.
Lead Community Planner

Sly James
Mayor of Kansas City, MO

Emily Larson
Mayor of Duluth, MN

Robert Lynch
Americans for the Arts
President and CEO

Zach Mannheimer
McClure Engineering Co.
Principal Community Planner

Tom Mastrobuoni
Tyson Ventures
Chief Financial Officer

Christina McFarland
National League of Cities
Research Director

Kathleen McLaughlin
Chief Sustainability Officer of Walmart Inc. and President of the Walmart Foundation

Doug McMillon
Walmart, Inc.
President and CEO

Ceclilia Munoz
New America
Vice President for Public Interest Technology and Local Initiatives

Mark Muro
Brookings Institution
Senior Fellow and Policy Director, Metropolitan Policy Program

Kyle Peterson
Walton Family Foundation
Executive Director

Sankar Santosh
Dynamo VC
Co-Founder & Director

Jim Shelton
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Senior Adviser

Mark Shriver
Save the Children
SVP

William Simpson
DisposeRX
President

Shamina Singh
Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
President and CEO

Anne-Marie Slaughter
New America
President and CEO

Megan Smith
shift7
Founder

Siobhan Spain
Mainframe Studios
Executive Director

Joseph Steinmetz
University of Arkansas
Chancellor

Jerry Stritzke
REI
CEO

Michelle Sullivan
Caterpillar Foundation
CEO

Joy Sun
Groups Recover Together
Co-Founder and COO

Chuck Templeton
S2G Ventures
Managing Director

Joseph Thompson
Mass MOCA
Founding Director

J.D. Vance
Author of Hillbilly Elegy
Rise of the Rest Seed Fund
Managing Partner

Tom Vilsack
Former United States Secretary of Agriculture

Olivia Walton
Heartland Summit
Co-Founder

Steuart Walton
Heartland Summit
Co-Founder

Tom Walton
Heartland Summit
Co-Founder

Hank Webber
Washington University
Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration

Mary Winnefeld
Project S.A.F.E.
Founder

Sandy Winnefeld
Project S.A.F.E.
Founder
Performers

Amasa Hines

Bonnie Bishop

Leon Bridges

Lil Buck & Jon Boogz

Kweku Collins

COMMON

Elise Davis

The Going Jessies

Jeff Houghton

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats
