Mick Ebeling Keynote Speaker

Founder & CEO, Not Impossible Labs and Bento
Named Ad Age’s “Top 50 Most Creative People” and one of Fortune’s “Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders”
Only 3x Recipient of “TIME” Best Inventions of the Year

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Mick Ebeling's Biography

Named by Fortune Magazine as one of the Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders, the only person honored 3x by TIME Magazine for a Top Invention of the year, a recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award and listed as one of the world’s most influential creative people by The Creativity 50’s, Mick Ebeling has sparked a movement of pragmatic, inspirational innovation. As a career producer and filmmaker and now founder and CEO of Not Impossible, Ebeling harvests the power of technology and story to change the world.

Ebeling founded Not Impossible, a multiple award-winning social innovation lab and production company, on the premise that nothing is impossible. His mantra of “commit, then figure it out” allows him to convene a disparate team of hackers, doers, makers and thinkers to create devices that better the world by bringing accessibility for all.

Working with a wide array of Fortune 500 companies, Ebeling not only pushes the bar on innovation, he also shares the emotionally resonating story of doing so. These narratives of overcoming seemingly impossible odds to “Help One. Help Many” have inspired people across the world to do the same.

Ebeling’s book, Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn’t Be Done, recounts the life experiences that led to the founding of Not Impossible. Published in a multitude of languages, the book was hailed as “a unique and inspiring tale of brave abandon” by Nicholas Negroponte.

Named one of Wired’s ‘Agents of Change’, a two-time SXSW innovation of the year award winner, a two-time Tribeca Disruptor innovation winner, a fellow with The Nantucket Project, and recipient of every major creative and advertising award, Ebeling is on a mission to provide “Technology for the Sake of Humanity.” By tapping into a community of passionate and talented engineers, makers, idea generators and storytellers, Ebeling is making the inconceivable, the unbelievable and the impossible, Not Impossible.

Creating a Culture of Impact and Purpose

Imagine what companies could accomplish and be if their entire workforce was activated by a sense of purpose. This isn’t just about employee satisfaction, recruiting or retention; this is about tapping into the Movement of Purpose so that both companies AND society win. In this talk, Mick will delve into the creation of a Culture of Purpose and Impact and the direct effects this has on profitability, productivity, innovation, and engagement.

The Fallacy of Impossible

Since the launch of the Eyewriter and Not Impossible Foundation, Mick has passionately studied the concept of “Impossible.” All the modern conveniences we see around us were once considered “impossible” by people who didn’t know any better. Synthetic fabrics, cell phones and digital watches (not to mention cars and computers) were all figments of the imagination until inspiration met execution and the impossible became a reality. In this talk, Mick dives deeper into “Impossible,” the underlying psychological affects it has on an organization, and how to overcome “Impossible” so true innovation can take place.

Innovation in a Tumultuous World

Collaborating with unlikely characters to tackle seemingly impossible challenges and finding innovative ways to overcome them, is what Mick and Not Impossible Labs have done for the last 10 years. OK… now introduce a global phenomenon. What the heck do we do now? How do we maintain an innovation culture in our very disrupted and strange new world? How do we embrace experimentation as a pathway to breakthroughs? In this conversation, Mick will briefly explain the origin of Not Impossible, the NI design process, and dive deeper into Not Impossible's newest world changing solutions.

Creativity for Breakfast - Breeding a Creative Culture

Peter Drucker’s famous quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” has never been more true – and needed – than today. Finding innovative ways to be nimble and creative in the midst of one of the most turbulent periods in modern history (social unrest, political strife, a pandemic) will not only inform which companies will survive, but those that will thrive. The creative revolution has been democratized. The leader’s role to mine and nurture creativity within their organizations has never been more critical than today. In this talk, Mick will teach business leaders the way of the “hacker-maker” and the gift of positive failure. Mick will empower leaders' resourcefulness and remind them that the business landscape has never been more primed for breakthrough innovations… and quite possibly with the help of some zip ties and duct tape.

AI For The Sake of Humanity - Jekyll Vs. Hyde

Say the letters "A.I." and you may imagine of Mr. Hyde...but what if Dr. Jekyll appeared instead? The concept of artificial intelligence, or A.I., connotes thoughts of science-fiction, Big Brother and a scary, robot-controlled world set in a dystopian future. But what about the concept of A.I. for good? Not Impossible's founder Mick Ebeling discusses how A.I. has the incredible potential to make the world a better place. Citing tangible solutions from around the world as well as solutions that are being developed at his Not Impossible Labs (such as remote vaccine delivery by drones, smart sensors that register seizures and tremors caused by Parkinson's, to intelligent electronics in prosthetics and therapeutic gait-trainers for Cerebral Palsy), Mick focuses on the most cutting edge and forward thinking ideas, advancements, and inventions in the A.I. space...but for good. By changing the narrative of what artificial intelligence can mean for the future of humanity to what it should mean, we can influence and inspire an entirely new generation of mad scientists.

Radical Collaboration

Take a Hollywood producer, a NY professor, a fine artist and a hacker with a criminal record…Put them together and what do you get? A device that helped a paralyzed man create drawings using only the movement of his eyes. Collaboration comes in many form, some of them unexpected. In this talk, Mick discusses the tools necessary to become a stellar collaborator, and to recognize the traits of collaboration-worthy individuals for your next big idea.