2026 NCSL Legislative Summit

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He chairs the National Governors Association. As Oklahoma’s 28th governor, Stitt has focused on fiscally conservative stewardship. He is a fourth-generation Oklahoman and a graduate of Oklahoma State University.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. As the state’s 43rd governor, he has focused on sound fiscal management, infrastructure and manufacturing. Previously, Pritzker was the founder and managing partner of the Pritzker Group. He holds a bachelor’s in political science from Duke University and a law degree from Northwestern University.

Speaker Joanna McClinton has led the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 2023. Elected in 2015, McClinton is the first woman to serve as speaker in Pennsylvania. A lifelong resident of southwest Philadelphia, McClinton earned her bachelor’s at La Salle University and her law degree from Villanova University.

Speaker Matt Huffman is the speaker of the Ohio House and former president of the Ohio Senate. He is the first elected official in modern history to preside over both the Ohio Senate and House on the same day. Huffman holds a bachelor’s in government from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Geoffrey Hinton, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence, is considered one of the foremost thought leaders on the emergence of AI and its implications for business and society. He is a former faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and current professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. Hinton holds a doctorate in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh.

Curt Stedron is the director of the NCSL Legislative Training Institute. A West Point graduate and former Army officer, Stedron spent 22 years as an award-winning educator and coach. His work for NCSL includes over 500 trainings for 10,000 legislators and legislative staff in nearly every state. He is also a successful entrepreneur whose residential home construction company has built over 50 custom homes.

Donna Washington is an award-winning storyteller, spoken word recording artist and author. She has been entertaining, educating and inspiring audiences for over 30 years, using her dynamic style to breathe life into folklore, literary tales and personal narratives.

Rachel Campos-Duffy is a New York Times best-selling author and TV personality. She is a board member of Hope through Education and has served on the board of Hispanics for School Choice. Campos Duffy has a bachelor's in economics from Arizona State University's Honors Program and a master’s in international affairs from the University of California, San Diego.

Pete Buttigieg is the former Secretary of Transportation. Previously, he served two terms as mayor of South Bend, Ind., and served for seven years as a U.S. Navy Reserve officer. As a 2020 presidential candidate, Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses and finished second in the New Hampshire primary. He holds degrees in history and literature from Harvard and in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.