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Anton Gunn

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Anton Gunn elevates organizations through his innovative insights on leadership and workplace culture. With a distinguished career spanning college sports, healthcare, public service, and executive leadership, Anton is a highly sought-after strategic advisor. As a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama and C-level healthcare executive, he delivers game-changing strategies that help audiences and organizations build exceptional leaders and unstoppable teams.


A trailblazer from the start, Anton made history as the first African American elected to the South Carolina Legislature from his district. He also became the youngest CEO of a statewide nonprofit advocacy organization. His meteoric rise in healthcare leadership earned him recognition as one of the Ten Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare. His 25 years of service as Board Director and the current Chairman of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport Commission underscores his strategic leadership and corporate governance expertise.
 

With his unique ability to combine academic rigor with real-world experience, global organizations like Pfizer, KPMG, Microsoft, T-Mobile, SHRM, HCA Healthcare, and Mercedes-Benz Vans turn to Anton for his motivating insights on leadership, organizational culture, and inclusion strategy. His keynote presentations combine magnetic stage presence with profound wisdom and unforgettable storytelling, leaving audiences both inspired and equipped with actionable solutions that drive measurable results.

Speaking Topics

THE RETENTION ADVANTAGE: How Great Leaders Win By Building Trust First

Trust isn’t just a leadership buzzword. It’s the foundation of influence, retention, and success. Yet, many leaders struggle to cultivate trust, leading to disengaged employees, high turnover, and toxic workplace cultures.


In today’s workforce, employees demand more than just a paycheck. They want meaningful work, opportunities for growth, and leaders who can bring out the best in them. Anton Gunn, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama and one of the world’s foremost experts on organizational leadership, shares a transformative approach to becoming the leader that everyone admires.


This keynote is built on practical, field-tested strategies drawn from Anton’s 25-year career in leadership, spanning the White House, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world's most influential organizations. Leaders will leave with a concrete game plan to transform their leadership, build trust, drive engagement, and foster a workplace culture that attracts and retains top talent.


Participants Will Learn:

  • The three non-verbal questions every employee asks and how answering them the right way transforms workplace culture
  • Eight psychosocial responses that drive employees away (and how to counteract them)
  • A step-by-step method to build attractive credibility and inspire action at any leadership level
  • How to future-proof your team culture in an era of workforce disruption and change
  • Practical strategies to become the highest regarded leader in your organization and create a thriving, resilient, high-performing culture


Whether you’re a CEO, executive, or emerging leader, this session will give you the blueprint to lead with connection, confidence, credibility, and ultimately impact.

BE THE CULTURE: How Everyday Leaders Build Workplaces People Love

Great workplaces don’t just happen. They’re built by people who show up every day ready to lead, inspire, and contribute. The most admired companies in the world, like Apple, Microsoft, and Costco, have one thing in common: they create a workplace culture where employees feel valued, trusted, and empowered.


However, too many workplaces suffer from ineffective leadership, disengaged employees, and revenge quitting, which creates a culture of “toxic turnover.” So, how do you change the game? By becoming a Culture Champion, someone who brings energy, authenticity, and impact to their workplace every day.


In this inspiring and high-energy keynote, Anton Gunn, a leading expert on workplace culture, introduces a F.R.E.S.H. new Framework, five powerful principles drawn from the world’s top-performing companies, and hip-hop’s relentless commitment to innovation, resilience, and influence. Whether you’re an employee, a middle manager, or an aspiring leader, you’ll walk away with the tools to shape your leadership journey, elevate your career, and build a World-Class Culture™.


This isn’t about waiting for others to fix things—it’s about what you can do right now to create a workplace people love.


Attendees Will Learn:

  • The five areas of culture that matter to most employees and how to manage them
  • The eight psychosocial responses that kill productivity, morale, and employee engagement
  • How to lead without a title and why culture starts with personal accountability, not just management
  • The top culture strategies from the world’s most admired companies and how to apply them in your workplace
  • Practical ideas to boost collaboration, trust, and teamwork
  • How small, consistent actions can drive lasting cultural change


World-Class workplaces aren’t created by accident; they’re built by Culture Champions. This keynote will inspire and equip your team with the skills to lead, influence, and elevate their workplace from any level.

BUILT TO BELONG: How Inclusive Cultures Drive Innovation And Impact

The best organizations don’t just talk about opportunity and inclusion – they build it into their DNA. Yet, too many companies have lost focus on creating cultures where every employee feels valued, heard, and empowered. Without intentional leadership, organizations suffer from low morale, high turnover, and a workforce that feels disconnected and disengaged.


Anton Gunn, a nationally recognized authority on leadership and workplace justice, knows firsthand the impact of good intentions gone bad. He has advised Fortune 500 companies, top healthcare systems, and even the White House on how to turn cultural challenges into competitive advantages. In this dynamic keynote, he shares the essential leadership strategies to build a thriving, opportunity-driven culture where everyone can succeed.


This session isn’t about check-the-box initiatives, it’s about sustainable leadership actions that create real impact.


Attendees Will Learn:

  • The barriers to innovation and outcomes and how to break them down
  • How to lead a diverse team with confidence and competence
  • The DNA traits of inclusive, high-performing workplace cultures
  • Why diversity is your biggest competitive advantage and how to implement it
  • How to embrace resistance and create lasting change in your organization


Organizations that embrace fairness, trust, and opportunity don’t just improve morale—they drive innovation, growth, and long-term success. This keynote delivers the blueprint to make it happen.

LEADING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY: How To Build Resilient Teams That Thrive In An Unpredictable World

Motivated and prepared teams with the right tools can not only survive a crisis, but they can also thrive in uncertainty. Unfortunately, the best teams can quickly fall apart in turbulent times without a crisis leadership strategy.


Global instability, political disruption, economic uncertainty, and other catastrophic events are just a few potential crises that can devastate an organization. An online poll of more than 2,000 executives and organizations found that a large percentage of respondents did not know what their biggest gap in crisis preparedness would be. Further, half of the respondents were unsure whether their teams would even be prepared to respond to a crisis.


Not having the tools to respond can cost an organization everything. Loss of revenues, market share, and brand positioning, plus a loss of talent and employee trust, are the first things that can impact your organization in times of uncertainty.


With more than two decades of successful leadership development experience, helping some of America's top organizations, Anton teaches that any high-performing team can thrive through tough times by embracing a few key principles modeled by some of the greatest leaders.


Key points in this presentation include:

  • Identify and understand disruptive environments
  • Develop the right mindset during uncertain times
  • Build resilient teams that are prepared for adversity
  • Respond to the impact of the crisis; do not react to the circumstances
  • Become better prepared for the next challenge


Customized and personalized for each audience, this program is an impactful program for leaders at any level.

Anton Gunn's Experiences

EXPERIENCE DETAILS

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Virtual In-Person

Experience Details

Virtual In-Person

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Testimonials

"Anton Gunn was perfect for us. From his high energy and innovative introduction to his powerful and memorable conclusion, he had our employees’ full attention. He can relate to a very diverse audienc...

"2020 has been a year of astounding challenges, so there’s never been a better time to gain insights on leadership from an expert like Anton Gunn. Anton’s informative presentation showed not only how ...

“Anton Gunn’s session really resonated with our audience. He has incredible insights into the field of healthcare and an indepth understanding of the role our audience plays in it. He rocked the house...

“Anton, it has been almost a week since your presentation and the team is still buzzing. Your presentation was fantastic. We've received great feedback from all levels of management, our executive tea...

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