Abigail Posner, head of strategy for Google’s Brand Unit, has studied advertising, product development, technology, neuroscience and anthropology. All of it has guided her work in the industry and personal growth as a leader.
Posner will share the steps of her journey with students, faculty, staff and community members in a talk at 7:30 p.m. March 5 at Macky Auditorium.
Get tickets
- Students, faculty and staff may register and get free tickets. (Tickets sold out as of Feb. 21)
- Tickets for community members will be available beginning Feb. 5 at the same link.
Free tickets for campus affiliates are available starting today.
“There’s more to this world than you see at first glance,” the Harvard graduate says in her online bio. “And it can change everything. My passion is to spark your curiosity, stimulate thinking and foster wonder in our daily lives. Opening our minds to this can have profound effects on our personal and professional lives.”
Posner is the third speaker in the university’s annual Leo Hill Leadership Speaker Series. Other speakers include former Secretary of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency Director Robert Gates and the first woman of color in space, astronaut Mae Jemison. The speaker series is brought to campus by the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, a position now held by Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.
In her talk, Posner will share her unique method for tapping a person’s creativity as a way to yield profound changes as a leader and as an individual.
“Shaping tomorrow’s leaders is a top campus imperative,” DiStefano said. “It’s our privilege to host established leaders, such as Abigail Posner, who can share their journeys and engage with students and our community to help them grow.”
At Google, Posner’s role is to help advertisers and marketers make sense of “human beings’ deep, emotional relationship to the digital space and convert those insights in strategic and creative efforts.”
“Whether at work or play, I have spent my life asking why and how to put those insights into action,” Posner writes on her website. “Whether I was dissecting Talmudic laws as a child or investigating different cultures during my anthropology studies at Harvard University, or examining people’s relationships with products and brands during my career in advertising, the quest for why is the thread that is woven throughout all my roles.”
At Google, Posner also launched an industry-first thought leadership series—Humanizing Digital—on human beings’ emotional relationships with the digital space. She blogs regularly on topics around beauty at Beautyskew.com, has published a range of articles on marketing, digital culture and beauty, and is a contributor to Advertising Age and Google’s sites.
In addition to the lecture series, the Newton chair serves as a clearinghouse for campus leadership programs and supports the activities of several other marquee leadership programs, including: the Presidents Leadership Class, INVST Community Leadership Program, CU Gold, CU Engage, Leeds Scholars Program, Business Leadership Certificate Program, CU Athletics Leadership Development Program, and the Engineering Leadership Program.
The chair also helps to bring experienced leaders from government, business, higher education, the military and the public sector to campus to interact with students and faculty and advise students on leadership paths.
