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February is Black History Month, and this year’s theme is “African Americans and the Vote” in honor of the centennial of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and the sesquicentennial of the 15th amendment, which granted black men the right to vote. Voting is the foundational promise of true democracy and our APB speakers Ilyasah Shabazz, Melissa Harris-Perry, Andrew Gillum and Admiral Michelle Howard have all fought tirelessly to realize the vision of justice, equality and freedom for our country. During this Black History Month, they all provide perspective on how far we have come and how far we have left to go:

Former President of Ireland and APB speaker Mary Robinson is the Chair of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace and human rights, founded originally by Nelson Mandela. In her capacity as Chair of the eminent council, she recently took part in the annual unveiling of their signature "doomsday clock" in Washington, D.C. Used as a metric that measures the existential and global level of threat to humanity, the 2020 clock is set at 100 seconds to midnight, which is the closest to midnight it has been since 1947. This is a sobering wake-up call to pressing issues of our time, notably climate change and nuclear arms controls.

CNN military and diplomatic analyst and APB speaker John Kirby appeared on CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church to offer his expertise in light of the recent developing tensions with Iran. After Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in a retaliatory strike, both Iran’s foreign minister and President Trump tweeted potential messages of de-escalation. Kirby weighed in on the tense situation, cautioning against taking these preliminary tweets as surefire evidence of de-escalation. He added that with the amount of information we have currently, we cannot be sure if Iran intentionally avoided casualties or mistakenly hit a deserted section of the base. Kirby pointed out that while Iran’s missile system has undoubtedly gotten much more sophisticated in recent years, it is not always accurate, saying, “there was a risk in using that kind of missile if your goal was not to hurt or kill.”

One of the winningest game show contestants of all time, Ken Jennings recently earned legendary status when he won the coveted title of Jeopardy!'s Greatest of All Time. Dubbed "the Michael Jordan of trivia," Jennings has shattered records, become a pop culture icon and is one of our most sought-after speakers. Having spoken at corporate events and colleges nationwide, Jennings covers topics ranging from how to train your brain for high performance and success to the importance of education.

Written by Speaker Nomi Prins | A new decade has arrived! And with it, the Roaring Twenties of a century ago echo today. That’s because the past can teach us lessons. Consider F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda. She eloquently summarized the excesses and red-flags of the 1920’s. “We couldn't go on indefinitely being swept off our feet,” she noted in her 1932 semi-biographical book, Save Me The Waltz. The book was published at the height of the Great Depression that followed the Crash of 1929.

APB’s Mark Blyth, a bestselling author, lauded professor and eminent political economist, lays out his vision of the coming decade in a timely New York Times op-ed. The Times asked 13 high-profile public figures, from Andrew Yang to Larry David to Blyth himself, to weigh in on the decade and share insights into what is to come. Blyth brings his signature honesty and essential knowledge to the question of our near future, saying, “only one thing matters between now and 2030: climate change.” He incorporates his sweeping knowledge of politics, finance and popular sentiment into his remarks, making bold predictions about not only the 2020 Election, but 2024 and beyond.

APB speaker David Epstein’s latest bestseller Range contradicts the conventional wisdom of “practice makes perfect” or, in career lingo, specialization. Epstein went on GPS with Fareed Zakaria on CNN to explain his data-driven bombshell theory. Epstein shares that it is generalists who thrive in a specialized world and offers two key reasons why this is so. Firstly, he draws on his encyclopedic knowledge of science, journalism, data, business and technology to assert that the world itself is becoming more specialized, which in turn demands big-picture thinkers to synthesize information and connect the dots. Secondly, as he puts it for Zakaria on air, “we learn who we are in practice, not in theory,” meaning that we maximize our potential by sampling many things.

Jeopardy! champion and APB speaker Ken Jennings is set to return to the Jeopardy! stage this January to compete against the other two top money winners in show history. The ultimate showdown, aptly called Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, is set to debut at 8pm EST on January 7th, hosted by Alex Trebek. Already having won two games, the first of the three contestants to win three matches will take home $1 million (and a lifetime of bragging rights), while the two runners-up will win $250,000.

Check out these trending speakers who are making headlines!

A world-renowned talent management consultant and advocate for women in the workplace, APB speaker Joan Kuhl channeled years of high-level consulting experience into her new book Dig Your Heels In: Navigate Corporate BS and Build the Company You Deserve. She recently appeared on Know Your Value on NBC to discuss the phenomenon of imposter syndrome in the workplace with host Mika Brzezinski.