Clark Dumont in a sportcoat holding a crystal award.

Navigating Leadership with the “Rattled Generation”

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Event Start Date:
October 26, 2026		Event End Date:
October 26, 2026		Event Venue:
Virtual

Highlights from “Simplify: Do 50% More With 50% Less” by Axios Co-Founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen

  • Monday, Oct. 26, 2026
  • 2-3 p.m. ET
  • Virtual
  • Guest Speakers: Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, co-founders of Axios and authors of “Simplify: How To Do 50% More With 50% Less”
  • Moderated By: Clark Dumont, M.S., APR, Fellow PRSA
  • Cost: $20 for Yankee Chapter PRSA members and friends; $25 for non-members
  • Register by: Oct. 20, 2026

We are living in an era of “certain uncertainty” — where all that is certain is change. This is the result of a journey that started two decades ago with technology and connectivity at our fingertips, coupled with a pandemic and the rise of AI to create a “rattled generation”.

The good news for communicators leading organizations: according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, “my employer” is cited as the most trusted, surpassing government, media, and other institutions.

Together, we will examine the leadership “call to action” and how to navigate life in these uncertain times in a conversation with Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen.  They will talk about the ideas behind their new book, “Simplify: Do 50% More with 50% Less” — drawing on their experience building Politico and Axios, and lessons learned from executives of today’s leading companies. They will also discuss how AI is creating both opportunity and complexity in our work and personal lives.

Walk away with ideas on how our organizations can set priorities and make meaningful progress by doing less of what does not matter, using a practical three-step framework.

The session will conclude with an audience Q&A.

REGISTER

 

JIM VANDEHEI is the co-founder and CEO of Axios, a media company focused on breaking news and invaluable insights across business, politics, technology and the world. Axios helps readers and viewers get smarter, faster across the consequential topics reshaping our country and lives. As CEO, VandeHei has steered Axios into becoming one of the most celebrated digital media success stories of the past decade.

VandeHei is the author of the forthcoming book Simplify alongside his Axios co-founders Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz. He is the author of the best-selling Just the Good Stuff where he shares lessons he’s learned from founding two successful media companies, and his tricks for thriving at work and in leadership. He also serves as the chairman of Axios HQ, a software company that helps organizations create essential communications.

He was an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning docu-news series, “Axios on HBO” and co-author of Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less.

Before Axios, VandeHei co-founded and was CEO of Politico, the media company that upended and revolutionized political and policy journalism in Washington, New York, and Europe. Overseeing both the editorial and business teams, VandeHei was the leading strategist behind its highly scalable and successful business model.

Prior to this, VandeHei spent more than a decade as a reporter, covering the Presidency and Congress

for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He was named National Editor of the Year in 2016. VandeHei is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

 

MIKE ALLEN is the co-founder of Axios. Allen writes the Axios Daily Essentials newsletters, Axios AM, Axios PM and Axios Finish Line. He was also an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning docu-news series, “Axios on HBO,” and co-author of Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less. 

Allen was a co-founder of Politico, where he created Politico Playbook and helped build the company for its first decade. He has been named several times to Vanity Fair‘s “New Establishment” list. He is also an alumnus of TIME, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is from Orange County, Calif., and graduated from Washington and Lee University.