Richard Florida Speaking Fee: $50,000 to $75,000

The Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Global Research Professor at New York University, and the founder of the Creative Class Group, which works closely with governments and companies worldwide, Richard Florida is perhaps the world's leading urbanist, “as close to a household name as it is possible for an urban theorist to be in America,”according to The Economist. Esquire has included him on its annual list of “The Best and the Brightest,”and Fast Company dubbed him an “intellectual rock star.”world's most influential thinkers. GDI also named him one of the world's global thought leaders of 2013 and the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) recently named him 100 of the most followed scientists. He is also a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Creative Economy, World Economic Forum. Florida is the author of several global best sellers, including the award-winning The Rise of the Creative Class (“one of the best business books of all time”—800-CEO-READ), and is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for Atlantic Cities, the world's leading media site devoted to cities and urban affairs. Florida appears regularly on CNN and other news broadcasts and is a regular contributor to the op ed pages of major newspapers and magazines. TIME magazine recognized his Twitter feed as one of the 140 most influential in the world. Florida previously taught at Carnegie Mellon and George Mason University, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. If you'd like to bring in Richard Florida as your next keynote speaker, please fill out the "Request More Information" form on the right.