Overheard at the Bush Center

Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, where she led a push toward sustainable growth emphasizing more nutritious products, a smaller environmental footprint, and empowerment for employees and communities served. She has been recognized for her achievements by both the governments of the United States and India and has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Sm...

As part the Engage at the Bush Center series presented by Nexpoint, a panel of former White House Social Secretaries shared insights and behind-the-scenes stories about entertaining at the White House. Moderated by Anita McBride, the panel featured Jeremy Bernard, former White House Social Secretary to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; Gahl Hodges Burt, former White House Socia...

In the Winter 2024 edition of  The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute , our contributors look at the current condition of American democracy. This virtual conversation will focus on how the United States has reached this point. Guests Jane Dailey of the University of Chicago and Ryan Streeter of the Civitas Institute joined The Catalyst Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Tepperman, for an...

At a recent Engage at the Bush Center event presented by NexPoint, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, had a highly entertaining conversation on the art of disagreeing better. This lively conversation was held in collaboration with KERA and the National Governors Association's Disagree Better Initiative and moderated by KERA THINK's Krys Boyd. Rela...

The George W. Bush Institute, in collaboration with Liberty in North Korea, recently hosted 14 North Korean refugees and recipients of the Lindsay Lloyd North Korea Freedom Scholarship for a workshop to further develop their leadership and advocacy skills. At the workshop, the Bush Institute’s Executive Director David J. Kramer, Senior Fellow Victor Cha, and the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Direct...

In an Engage at the Bush Center webinar presented by Nexpoint   Jonathan Tepperman , Senior Fellow and Editor-in-Chief of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute,  discusses the latest issue of The Catalyst: 'The Fix'. Tepperman was joined by Anne Wicks , the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education and Opportunity at the George W. Bush Institute and Albert Torres , Associate of...

As part of the Engage at the Bush Cente r series presented by Nexpoint, Jonathan Tepperman, Editor-in-Chief of The Catalyst , moderated a webinar and Q&A session featuring Bush Institute’s Victor Cha and the Stimson’s Center’s Yun Sun. The discussion focused on topics addressed in the latest edition of The Catalyst such as China’s new geopolitical position, the country’s global influence, and U.S....

Artificial intelligence is spreading throughout the economic, political, and geopolitical spheres with growing public concerns about its ramifications. In this Studio 43 panel discussion for the 2023 Forum on Leadership, Dave Copps, CEO and Co-Founder of Worlds Inc.; John Donovan, CEO of Qudit Investments; and Cullum Clark, Director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, explored th...

Mandy Ginsberg, former CEO of Match Group and Director of ThredUp and Uber Technologies; and Nikki Krishnamurthy, Chief People Officer at Uber Technologies, examined the long-term impacts technology has had on human connections in this Studio 43 session for the 2023 Forum on Leadership. Eva Chiang, Managing Director of Leadership and Programming at the Bush Institute moderated the conversation. Re...

Former U.S. Senator Rob Portman and Nick Eberstadt, the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute joined Anne Wicks, the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education and Opportunity at the Bush Institute, at the 2023 Forum on Leadership to discuss where job opportunities, readiness to work, and regional strength connect in a post- COVID America.  Related:  2023 Forum...

What is the future of American capitalism? Bill Haslam, former Governor of Tennessee and the Sammons Enterprises Fellow at the Bush Institute; Larry Summers, the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University and former U.S. Treasury Secretary; McKesson Corporation’s CEO Brian Tyler, and Mary Moore Hamrick, the Don Evans Family Managing Director of Domestic Poli...

At the 2023 Forum on Leadership, Bush Center President and CEO Ken Hersh sat down for the keynote conversation with the 74th Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin. They discussed governing in a purple state, the health of America's democratic spirit, and how we can unite the American people.  Related:  2023 Forum on Leadership

Bill Gates , co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , joined David J. Kramer, Executive Director of the Bush Institute, to discuss how PEPFAR’s successful program model can inform U.S. engagement in global health and development more broadly. Related:  PEPFAR at 20 event Read: A report series on lessons learned from PEPFAR’s success Read: Building on PEPFAR’s success: Is a win for U.S....

President George W. Bush joined 66th U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete  for a conversation during PEPFAR at 20 , an event marking 20 years of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) hosted by the George W. Bush Institute. The trio discussed the inception of PEPFAR, its enormous impact, and...

The Bush Institute, in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, hosted a conference on The Struggle for Freedom. The event gathered activists, experts, and leaders who assessed threats to freedom and offered recommendations for the cause of liberty. They also examined the global struggle for freedom, pushing back against the authoritarian threat and how the U.S. can...

The Bush Institute, in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, hosted a conference on The Struggle for Freedom. The event gathered activists, experts, and leaders who assessed threats to freedom and offered recommendations for the cause of liberty. They also examined the global struggle for freedom, pushing back against the authoritarian threat and how the U.S. can...

The Bush Institute, in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, hosted a conference on The Struggle for Freedom. The event gathered activists, experts, and leaders who assessed threats to freedom and offered recommendations for the cause of liberty. They also examined the global struggle for freedom, pushing back against the authoritarian threat and how the U.S. can...

The Bush Institute, in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, hosted a conference on The Struggle for Freedom. The event gathered activists, experts, and leaders who assessed threats to freedom and offered recommendations for the cause of liberty. They also examined the global struggle for freedom, pushing back against the authoritarian threat and how the U.S. can...

The Bush Institute, in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, hosted a conference on The Struggle for Freedom. The event gathered activists, experts, and leaders who assessed threats to freedom and offered recommendations for the cause of liberty. They also examined the global struggle for freedom, pushing back against the authoritarian threat and how the U.S. can...

On November 16, President Bush and David J. Kramer, Executive Director of the Bush Institute, sat down at The Struggle for Freedom conference hosted by the Bush Institute in partnership with Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy. They discussed the importance of U.S. support for democracy and freedom around the world, especially in places like Ukraine. 

The Bush Center welcomed Dr. Deborah Birx, the former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as part of our Engage at the Bush Center series, presented by NexPoint.  The conversation focused on advancing health care, education, and lessons learned from the pandemic. The panel also discussed the role of publ...

Author and Russian corruption fighter Bill Browder joined the Bush Center for a special NexPoint Lecture edition of Engage at the Bush Center. In this conversation, he discussed his harrowing story exposing President Vladimir Putin’s corruption; the real situation on the ground in Russia; as well as the latest developments of the conflict in Ukraine.

Recent eighth grade graduates will be entering the workforce in 2030. Is your state preparing them appropriately? Governor Bill Haslam, the Sammons Enterprises Fellow at the Bush Institute, and Anne Wicks, the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education and Opportunity at the Bush Institute, discuss how we can support our kids and create opportunities for them.

Troy Aikman, the Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback and NFL broadcaster, joined the Bush Center for an Engage at the Bush Center event, presented by NexPoint. Aikman reflected on what matters most to him: fatherhood and community. ABC Dallas' main sports anchor, Joe Trahan, led this special conversation, which also included some football talk and discussion of Aikman's recent move to ESPN.

On May 18, the Bush Institute and four partner organizations hosted Elections – A More Perfect Union. Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution; and Natan Sharansky, Honorary Member of the Board of Governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel, discuss the experience of elections in other countries and how America’s commitment to th...