Chip Conley

Organisations navigating multigenerational workforces often struggle to harness the full value of age diversity and intergenerational collaboration. Chip Conley, former Strategic Advisor for Hospitality and Leadership at Airbnb, mentored CEO Brian Chesky and helped transform the company into the world's most valuable hospitality brand. As founder of Modern Elder Academy, the world's first midlife wisdom school with campuses in Mexico and Santa Fe, and New York Times bestselling author of books including Wisdom at Work and Learning to Love Midlife, he equips leaders to unlock purpose, reimagine ageing, and build cultures where wisdom and curiosity thrive together across generations.

Organisations today face a critical challenge: how to harness the wisdom of experienced professionals whilst fostering collaboration across five generations in the workplace. Chip Conley is a hospitality entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and thought leader who has dedicated his career to transforming how we understand ageing, purpose, and intergenerational learning. After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second largest boutique hotel operator in the United States, and then as Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy at Airbnb, Conley has become a leading voice on the value of midlife wisdom in modern business.

At twice the age of the average Airbnb employee, Conley earned the title of the company's "Modern Elder", serving as internal mentor to CEO Brian Chesky during Airbnb's extraordinary transformation from tech startup to the world's most valuable hospitality brand. He taught his award-winning hospitality methods to hundreds of thousands of hosts across nearly 200 countries, demonstrating how curiosity and wisdom could coexist in a youth-driven culture. This experience inspired his bestselling book Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, which ignited a global conversation about intergenerational connectivity and the competitive advantage of retaining older workers. His other acclaimed works include Peak and Emotional Equations, which explore transformation and meaning in business and life. In 2018, Conley co-founded Modern Elder Academy (MEA), the world's first midlife wisdom school, which now operates campuses in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, serving more than 2,000 alumni. His latest book, Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age, reframes this often-misunderstood life stage.

Conley helps organisations and individuals unlock the potential of midlife through practical frameworks that create lasting impact. His signature MEA Purpose Fellowship, a year-long intensive programme, guides participants in developing their ten-year purpose plan, moving beyond fleeting inspiration to sustainable fulfilment. He teaches leaders how to navigate the "Midlife Atrium", a threshold space for intentional reflection before curating what comes next. Audiences leave his sessions with actionable strategies for cultivating intergenerational collaboration, reframing career transitions, and discovering renewed purpose. Whether speaking to corporate teams about leveraging multigenerational talent or guiding individuals through midlife reinvention, Conley delivers insights grounded in both psychological research and real-world business success, empowering people to view ageing not as decline but as an opportunity for growth, contribution, and deeper meaning.