2017 Conference

The 2018 Conference will be held May 29 – June 1, 2018. Registration will open November 29, 2017.

2017 Mackinac Policy Conference Executive Summary

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Anya Babbitt, Harold Ford Jr. and Mark Schlissel Deliver Mackinac Moments at 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference

Check out three captivating and engaging Mackinac Moments from the 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference, featuring Anya Babbitt, Harold Ford Jr. and Mark Schlissel.
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Detroit Regional Chamber Releases 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference To-Do List and Announces 2018 Conference Dates

MACKINAC ISLAND, June 2, 2017 – Today, the Detroit Regional Chamber unveiled its 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference To-Do List following three days of discussions featuring top state, regional and national thought leaders. Conference Chair Stephen Polk, president and CEO of Highgate LLC, and Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah announced the list at the conclusion of the annual Conference.
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Morning View Gets Personal as Statewide Experts Share Uncensored Views on Hot Button Topics for Michigan, U.S.

This year’s Mackinac Policy Conference closed out with a brand new series of fast-paced, off-the-cuff sessions featuring 21 thought leaders from across the state sharing their unbridled opinions on everything from the Michigan governor’s race to term limits in the state Legislature and President Trump’s progress on moving America forward. Morning View: Mackinac Uncensored was emceed by Dennis Archer Jr., president of Archer Corporate Services and chair of the Detroit Regional Chamber Board of Directors, and Tammy Carnrike, the Chamber’s chief operating officer.
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Mayor Mike Duggan: Detroit Must Grow and Move Beyond Racially Divided History

Returning to the Mackinac Policy Conference, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivered a powerful keynote about the often-forgotten truths of Detroit’s racially charged history along with ideas of how to sustain America’s great manufacturing city by learning from its past.
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Walter Isaacson: Creativity, Collaboration, Civility is Recipe for Innovation

As a preeminent biographer for figures like Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin and Steve Jobs, Conference keynote and Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson has watched and studied some of the world’s most celebrated thinkers and inventors. He is keenly aware of the factors that foster ground-breaking innovation.
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Darren Walker: Detroit’s Core Narrative is About Opportunity

Detroit has several Foundation’s and leaders that are willing to do what needs to get done. Among these influential people and at the center of community development for more than two decades is Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. In a moderated discussion with Devin Scillian, anchor for WDIV-TV 4 on NBC, Walker expounded on the Ford Foundation’s commitment to Detroit through housing, community development, restoring funding to civic organizations and the issues of blight removal and putting Detroiters back to work.
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Michael Beschloss: Effective Leaders Embody Guts, Persuasiveness, Sense of History and Civility

From George Washington’s foreign diplomacy, to Abraham Lincoln’s willingness to reach across the aisle to pass the Emancipation Proclamation and Lyndon Johnson’s Civil Rights Act of 1964, time and time again effective leaders have understood the need to set aside …
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Gov. Snyder’s 21st Century Commission Chairs: Talent, Infrastructure Investment is Zero Sum Game to Grow Michigan’s Economy

With a critical eye on Michigan’s future, the chairs of Gov. Rick Snyder’s 21st Century Commissions doubled down on an urgent call for state leaders to consciously invest in education, infrastructure and the economy. Joining the Governor on Michigan’s Center …
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Geoff Colvin: Friction-Free Economy Will Create More Opportunity for Michigan’s Future

It’s no longer business as usual, says Fortune magazine Senior Editor-at-Large Geoff Colvin. Taking Michigan’s Center Stage for a keynote address and Q&A with “Autoline” Host John McElroy, Colvin explained how today’s most innovative enterprises are finding success and profit by removing …
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