Wade Davis

In this signature keynote, Wade Davis explores the deep wisdom held in traditional cultures around the planet. Drawing on decades of work with Indigenous communities across the Amazon, the Andes, and beyond, he argues that ancient knowledge systems offer urgent lessons for sustainability, spirituality, and resilient leadership. Audiences leave with a richer understanding of why cultural diversity is as critical as biological diversity, and why the wisdom of other ways of being matters now.

Inspired by his Samuel Johnson Prize-winning book, this keynote revisits the early British expeditions to Mount Everest in the years after the First World War. Davis weaves together the human drive to confront the unknown, the psychological aftermath of trauma, and the meaning of heroism. The result is a powerful meditation on leadership, courage, and the search for meaning that speaks directly to audiences facing their own challenges.

Following his book Magdalena: River of Dreams, this keynote traces Wade Davis's voyage along Colombia's most symbolic river, a lifeline that mirrors the country's tumultuous past and hopeful future. Through vivid storytelling, Davis explores how ecology, conflict, and reconciliation come together along a single waterway. Audiences gain a rare perspective on how landscapes can heal communities, unify nations, and inspire renewal.

Drawn from his Rolling Stone essay that reached five million readers, this keynote argues that COVID-19 did far more than test America's healthcare system; it revealed cultural fractures long ignored. Davis offers a candid, deeply researched critique of American exceptionalism and the structural weaknesses of empire in decline, alongside lessons on how societies recover their sense of common purpose.

Beyond religion lies the real battleground: land, memory, and competing truths. In this keynote, Wade Davis unpacks the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a clash of historical narratives. He shows how identity, loss, and myth shape a struggle in which peace remains elusive, and gives audiences a richer framework for understanding one of the most consequential conflicts of our era.

Climate doom dominates headlines, but what if fear is clouding solutions? In this keynote, Wade Davis pushes back against both denial and despair, making the case for honest, science-grounded conversations that combine pragmatism, history, and optimism. Audiences leave with a clearer picture of what realistic climate progress looks like, and what it asks of leaders today.

Wade Davis offers a sharp critique of contemporary woke culture, examining how a movement born from genuine concern for justice drifted toward moral absolutism. Cutting across political lines, he explores how the impulse to silence debate erodes academic inquiry, public dialogue, and democratic norms, and what it would take to rebuild a culture of open, principled disagreement.