FY25 A.I. Purpose-Driven Leadership

"Beyond Balancing Budgets: Financial Leadership That Shapes the Future of Education" - Adam Braun will share powerful, real-world stories from his journey in founding Pencils of Promise and how resourcefulness, strategic thinking, and purpose-driven leadership can drive meaningful change for students to improve their lives — even in the face of financial constraints.

Adam Braun

Keynote Speaker

Executive Speakers Bureau

Adam Braun is a 3x award-winning entrepreneur, New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and a world-renowned keynote speaker on leadership and innovation. His talks have been watched more than 3 million times, and the businesses he has founded and led have raised over $100MM by leveraging his unique, teachable framework - Build For Where The World Is Headed. As CEO of Clarasight, a technology company focused on company sustainability whose clients represent more than $1T in market capitalization and Chairman of Pencils of Promise, the organization he started with $25 that has built more than 600 schools around the world, his talks are rooted in the authentic first-hand lessons learned through successes and struggles in building pioneering companies with acclaimed leaders at the frontlines of industry innovation. His journey has taken him to 75 countries to identify how the world's best leaders navigate uncertainty to shape the future, and by distilling these universal learnings he has been featured as a speaker at The White House, Stanford and Harvard Business Schools, and countless Fortune 500 companies, industry associations and universities. His book, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change, is an international bestseller that reached the #1 spot on What Corporate America Is Reading. He has also been named to Business Insider’s 40 Under 40, Wired’s 50 People Who Will Change the World, and is the recipient of the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award as well as the United States' most prestigious award for public service, the Jefferson Award.

Daniel Gale (Moderator)

Director of Finance and Operations

Hudson Public Schools

Daniel Gale has been in school finance since 2008 and has worked in Worcester, Clinton, Grafton, and now Hudson.  He graduated from Bucknell University with a major in Business Mgmt and from Clark University with a Master in Public Administration, and also completed the MASBO licensure program.  Daniel is currently on the Board of Directors of MASBO.  He enjoys professional development and collaborating with colleagues.  When not in the office, he enjoys playing all sports, especially golf, with friends and with his son.

This content will not be available until 05/15/2025 at 9:40 AM (EDT)