The No Barriers Life

“I think this is the best time in history, the most precious time in history to be a pioneer, to reach out, to seize hold of adversity and challenges we face, to harness energy not only to transform our own lives but to elevate the world around us.”

– Erik Weihenmayer

As a blind adventurer who has climbed Mt. Everest and kayaked the Grand Canyon, Erik understands better than most that barriers are real, not merely perceived, and that obstacles encountered can either stop us in our tracks, or we can figure out a way to harness them and propel ourselves to new places that we would never get to in any other way. Erik calls this “alchemy,” the process of turning lead into gold.  “With an alchemist,” he says, ” you can throw them in the midst of a fiercely competitive environment, strip away their resources, throw roadblocks in front of them, and they’ll still find a way to win – not despite adversity, but because of it.”

Erik will take audiences on a journey to discover the tools and insights to develop what he calls the “No Barriers Mindset,” what it takes for individuals, teams, and organizations to turn into the storm, convert challenges into greatness, and reach for nearly impossible goals.

Putting Equality Into Practice

Michelle King is a globally recognized expert on gender equality and organizational culture. Based on over a decade’s worth of research Michelle believes that to tackle inequality we need to fix workplace cultures so that they work for everyone.

She is the host of a popular podcast called The Fix. Michelle is the author of the bestselling, award-winning book: The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers that are Holding Women Back at Work. Michelle has been featured in The Economist, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, CNN Business, Fortune, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Time, Business Insider, The Times, Daily Mail, and LinkedIn Editors.

Michelle is the founder of Equality Forward, a global consultancy that provides leaders with the assessment, development, and inclusion coaching needed to build cultures of equality at work. In addition, Michelle is a Senior Advisor to the UN Foundation’s Girl Up Campaign, where she leads the NextGen Leadership Development Program, which enables young women to navigate and overcome the barriers to their success. She also heads up a global Leadership Inclusion Academy with Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.

Prior to this Michelle was the Director of Inclusion at Netflix, and before that she was the head of UN Women’s Global Innovation Coalition for Change, which includes managing over 30 private sector partnerships as well to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Michelle has two decades of international experience working in the private sector.