2024 Conference Speakers

Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Presidential Historian and Pulitzer Prize -Winning Author

 

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author. Since 2020 she has served as executive producer for the History Channel’s miniseries events Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, with more to come!

 

Her seventh book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, was published in September 2018 to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller. A culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career of studying the American presidents focusing on Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our everyday lives.

 

Goodwin’s career as a presidential historian and author was inspired when as a 24-year-old graduate student at Harvard she was selected to join the White House Fellows, one of America’s most prestigious programs for leadership and public service. Goodwin worked with Johnson in the White House and later assisted him in the writing of his memoirs.

 

She then wrote Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, which became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It was re-released in 2019 with a new foreword highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs that have stood the test of time.

 

Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys was adapted into an award-winning five-part television miniseries. Her memoir Wait Till Next Year is the heartwarming story of growing up loving her family and baseball. Her sixth book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, won the Carnegie Medal and is being developed into a film. Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln served as the basis for Steven Spielberg’s hit film Lincoln and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for American History, and the Lincoln Leadership Prize.

 

Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, Goodwin is frequently seen in documentaries including Ken Burns’ The History of Baseball and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; and on news and cable networks, and shows including Meet The Press and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She played herself as a teacher on The Simpsons and a historian on American Horror Story.

 

Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a doctorate degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency. Among her many honors and awards, Goodwin was awarded the Charles Frankel Prize, the Sarah Josepha Hale Medal, the New England Book Award, as well as the Carl Sandburg Literary Award. Goodwin recently founded Pastimes Productions with Beth Laski to develop and produce film, television and digital projects.

 

Goodwin lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979, and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team

.

 
andrew

Andrew N. Mais

Commissioner, Connecticut Insurance Department

 

Andrew N. Mais was nominated by Governor Ned Lamont to be Connecticut's 33rd Insurance Commissioner on March 4, 2019.

 

Mais was elected as NAIC Vice President and serves on the Executive (EX) Committee. Additionally, he serves on the NAIC's Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee, the Audit Committee, the Government Relations (EX) Leadership Council, the Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee, the Financial Regulation Standards and Accreditation (F) Committee, and the International Insurance Relations (G) Committee. He is also a member of the NAIC's Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance, which is charged with conducting research and analyzing issues of diversity and inclusion within the insurance sector.

 

Mais also serves on the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Macroprudential and Executive Committees. The IAIS is the international standard-setting body responsible for developing and assisting in the supervision of the insurance sector.

 

Mais has led discussions in several forums on race, diversity, and inclusion at the state level and within the insurance industry and in insurance practices. He has also joined the efforts led by Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to address social inequities in Connecticut, including the Council on Women and Girls and cultural competency initiatives.

 

Mais previously was a member of Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services, providing industry-leading thought leadership and insight on U.S. and international regulatory affairs.

 

Prior to that, he was a Director at the New York State Insurance Department. There he served four governors as part of the Department's senior leadership team through numerous events, including the financial crisis of 2008 and major state and federal changes in health insurance regulations and laws.

 

Even outside the government, Mais has dedicated much of his life to public service. He most recently served as chair of the Council on Ethics for the town of Wilton, CT, where he lives. Other recent service includes the Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk; the American Red Cross; the Board of Finance of the Town of Wilton; and the Rotary Club of Wilton.