Welcome to the Call for Speakers for the highly anticipated NCEO Forum! The NCEO Forum provides a platform for industry experts, thought leaders, and practitioners to share insights, experiences, and innovations shaping the landscape of employee ownership.
For the 2026 NCEO Forum, the NCEO is excited to announce that the event will undergo shifts in its format, embracing new approaches to deliver an even more engaging and enriching experience for our attendees. This evolution in format presents a unique opportunity for speakers to explore fresh perspectives, present cutting-edge research, and engage in dynamic discussions that drive the conversation forward.
We require prospective speakers to carefully review the speaker guidelines on this page, which outline critical criteria for topic selection, presentation style, and overall contribution to the objectives of the NCEO Fall Forum.
February 27–May 4: Call for Speakers
Mid-May–Early June: Speaker Acceptances/Regrets Sent Out
July 15: Presentation Material Deadline
August 3: Speaker Registration Deadline
August 3: Hotel Booking Deadline for Speakers
August 26–28: Event Dates
“Being able to speak at the NCEO Forum is so meaningful to our company mission.”
2025 Forum Speaker
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The Best-in-Class Governance track explores governance excellence and best practices for high-performing boards in employee-owned companies.
The Employee Ownership Fundamentals track focuses on the structure and launch of employee owned businesses, with an emphasis on how employee ownership works and how to implement it correctly.
The EO as a Competitive Edge track is all about growth and market strategy. Showing attendees how to leverage ownership as a structural competitive edge.
The HR and People Operations track explores how ownership culture shapes the way organizations attract top talent and create environments where employees want to stay and contribute as true owners.
The Developing an Ownership Mindset track examines how organizations translate ownership into everyday behavior, building cultures where engagement runs deep and employees at every level feel and act like true stakeholders.
The Financial Transparency and Education track explores how organizations build financial fluency across their workforce—from open-book practices to line-of-sight accountability—empowering employees to connect their daily work to the bigger financial picture.
The Nuts and Bolts of Thriving ESOPs track dives into the financial and operational fundamentals that keep employee-owned companies healthy, compliant, and positioned to grow for generations of employee owners to come.
Sharing your knowledge and experience with employee-owners
Gaining exposure, brand awareness, and leads
Showcasing yourself or your organization as an expert within the employee ownership community
Inspiring other employee-owned companies by showcasing what you are doing within your own company
Creating more awareness nationally for employee ownership
If you work for an employee-owned company, you'll receive one free registration for one employee-owner from your company that is speaking
We have made it easier than ever to apply to speak.
Please note that if you submit a panel or workshop of speakers, other panelists must also log in and submit their headshot, bio, and profile information before your session proposal can be submitted.
If you wait until the day before the deadline, you risk not finalizing your submission.
Following the May 4 deadline, your submission will be reviewed both internally and externally by our selection committee consisting of NCEO staff, board members, and peers. Our conference is for employee-owners, and topics outside of employee ownership will be considered but not treated with the same weight. Please note that selection preference will be given to speakers who have demonstrated excellence in meeting speaker deadlines and have been rated higher in previous NCEO speaking engagements.
If selected to speak, you will be notified by email by the first week of June 2026. You will have ten days to accept your speaking slot. Session times will be communicated once all speaking slots have been accepted or declined.
