Ellen Gustafson, co-founder and co-executive director of We the Veterans, delves into the critical role that veterans and military families play in upholding democracy and combating misinformation. In this talk, Ellen highlights how the trust and leadership within this diverse community can be harnessed to counter hate-fueled ideologies and political violence. Ellen shares insights from the successful initiatives such as "Vet the Vote" initiative, demonstrating their continued service to the nation by ensuring the integrity of elections and fostering civic engagement. Through her work, she's ensuring veterans are not just defending the country but actively protecting the democratic process at home.

Women and mothers all faced intense challenges in the face of the pandemic and the government response. As an entrepreneur, mother of three young children and military spouse of a deployed husband, Ellen Gustafson felt the double burden that many other women also felt with real fears around the virus and the abrupt societal shutdown that it necessitated. But now that society is reopening, there’s an opportunity like never before to build a new system of work that not just includes women, but favors their needs and, thereby, makes work healthier for everyone—parents or not. Ellen argues America is at a most unique moment of opportunity for all women—the time when we finally make the workplace friendly to workers and their families. Ellen shares her experience co-founding a new military family organization during the pandemic and her involvement with the Care Force founding coalition, which is the women-led movement behind making the care economy part of our national infrastructure and the Marshall Plan for Moms.

From our sustainable food choices to our move toward walkable urban lifestyles to our consumer fascination with BOGO and fair trade, the Millennial generation has continued to make sustainable living & giving some of the hottest trends. As a trailblazer in give-back social enterprise (co-founding FEED) and an early voice in changing food systems, Ellen Gustafson discusses how she's studied and been a part of shaping the trends that make up the new, hip and healthy Main Street. "Take a walk" with her as she explains how all of this continues to take shape in your local communities and how consumer behaviors may affect your next business pivot.

On a global scale, there's a very large percentage of us who are either suffering from obesity or from hunger. Far from complete opposites, hunger and obesity are in fact different manifestations of the same problem: it's increasingly difficult to find and eat nutritious food. By outlining the common roots of the problems of one billion hungry and one billion overweight on the planet today, Ellen Gustafson lays out a compelling case for the system being the problem as well as a few simple things that all people can do to push towards a better global food system.