Nashville, Tennessee – October 21, 2026 – Keynote speaker and bestselling author Chad E. Foster will deliver the closing keynote at SHRM All Things Work 2026 (ATW), SHRM’s conference for HR professionals, inclusion and diversity (I&D) specialists, and organizational leaders, held November 15–18 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. His session, “Blind Ambition: Leading with Vision That Lasts,” closes the conference on Wednesday, November 18, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. CST.
Foster lost his sight at 21. He went on to become the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s leadership program, lead pricing and strategy on enterprise deals worth more than $45 billion, and build CRM software Oracle called impossible. He has since delivered more than 200 keynotes to more than 175,000 people across six continents.
At ATW, Foster will give attendees the Blind Ambition Framework™, a five-pillar framework for making decisions and executing when the path forward isn’t clear. Its premise: most organizations wait for clarity before they act, and by the time it arrives, they’ve lost their edge. Foster built the framework after losing his sight, when he had to rebuild every system he relied on without knowing what would work.
“HR leaders are being asked to drive performance through constant change, and most are still waiting for clarity before they move,” said Foster. “Clarity doesn’t come first. Performance does. I’ll give the ATW audience a system they can put to work Monday morning, so their teams execute even when the path isn’t clear.”
The framework is delivered through keynotes, facilitated executive intensives and a 30-plus-lesson LeaderPass course that reinforces it after the event. After one keynote built on the framework, a client’s chief revenue officer reported 40% year-over-year revenue growth, calling it “nothing like I have ever seen from a guest speaker at a sales conference.”
ATW 2026 brings three SHRM learning paths together in one event: the Linkage Leadership Institute, BLUEPRINT for Inclusion & Diversity, and Skills Accelerator. The idea is to stop developing HR, I&D, and leadership teams in silos. SHRM says the event draws attendees from more than 500 organizations, with 60% from mid-to-large enterprises. Foster closes a program where he shares the Linkage Leadership Institute main stage with John C. Maxwell, Carla Harris, and Michael Bungay Stanier.
Event Details: SHRM All Things Work 2026 (ATW) Session: Closing Keynote — “Blind Ambition: Leading with Vision That Lasts” Date and time: Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 4:30–5:30 p.m. CST Location: Gaylord Opryland Resort, 2800 Opryland Dr., Nashville, TN 37214 Registration: conference.shrm.org/atw
About SHRM Linkage:
SHRM Linkage empowers organizations to drive enterprise results by developing talent critical to their success. Backed by SHRM, the world’s largest HR association, we deliver research-driven talent and leadership development solutions grounded in more than 1 million data points from 100,000 leadership assessments collected over 30 years. This proprietary insight strengthens pipelines, accelerates readiness, develops leaders, and fuels business transformation.
SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces where people and businesses thrive together. As the trusted authority on all things work, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate, and thought leader on issues and innovations impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM touches the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. Discover more at SHRM.org.
About Chad E. Foster:
Chad E. Foster is a keynote speaker, the bestselling author of Blind Ambition, and the creator of the Blind Ambition Framework™, the Kill the Comfort™ Strategic Facilitation Exercise, and the Uncertain Advantage™ Strategic Activation Intensive. He is the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s leadership program and led pricing and strategy on enterprise deals worth more than $45 billion. He works with executive teams to build high-performance organizations when the path isn’t clear.
Learn more at chadefoster.com.
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