Keynote Speaker: Gina Rudan
Director and Cultural Alchemist at Google X & bestselling author of Practical Genius.

 

Courage and Creativity, Reflections from a Cultural Alchemist

Gina will speak about the intersection of courage and creativity for women leaders and entrepreneurs.  This inspired keynote is both a personal empowered narrative and a leadership call to action for women to embrace both courage and creativity in their careers. In this talk Gina explores core concepts from her book Practical Genius while also introducing approaches to support peak engagement, innovation and deep cohesion and connection within organizations. Gina is the first Latina Director and Cultural Alchemist at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory and shares her learnings across the 6 years leading diversity, transformation and culture at X. 

Bio

As X’s first woman of color Director and Cultural Alchemist, Gina Rudan is responsible for leading Culture and transformation for Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory. Gina was also the head of Diversity at X for 5 years. Prior to joining X, Gina was a Senior Diversity Manager at Google, where she led innovative diversity programs including designing Google's first Immerse Virtual Reality educational series exploring racial identity. Before Google, she founded her own leadership development training practice, Genuine Insights Inc working with Fortune 500 companies on unlocking potential in young talent. She is the best selling author of Practical Genius, and currently studying world religions in divinity school and will graduate as a Interfaith Minister in 2022.

In 2016 she was an Aspen Fellow and also served on the Generation Listen Advisory Board for National Public Radio. In 2015, she was appointed to be the Chief Inspiration Officer for the Entrepreneurial  Barbie by Mattel Inc. and in 2014 the National Association of Women’s Business Owners awarded her with their Hall of Fame award.

Gina has a BA in English Literature from Binghamton University and is a National Urban Fellow holding a MPA from Baruch College. She lives in Redwood Shores with her son and is a happy vegetarian.