New Canaan Library is pleased and proud to welcome Mike Hayes, Former Commanding Officer, US Navy SEALs, as guest speaker for the Library’s spring Benefit Event. Mr. Hayes will speak about his book, Never Enough: A Navy SEAL Commander on Living a Life of Excellence, Agility, and Meaning. Throughout the narrative, Hayes recounts dramatic stories and offers battle-and-boardroom tested advice that will motivate readers to do work of value, live lives of purpose, and stretch themselves to reach their highest potential.
The event will be presented in-person at The Country Club of New Canaan on Thursday, May 5, 2022, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. A reception with the author will immediately follow the talk. Tickets are $65 and include a hardcover copy of Never Enough, provided with the support of Elm Street Books and available for pick up at the shop. Tickets are currently on sale, online at https://newcanaanlibrary.org.
New Canaan Library thanks Bankwell for once again providing generous corporate sponsorship of Library events.

Mike Hayes is the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at VMware, leading the company’s worldwide business operations in cloud computing and virtualization. Prior to joining VMware, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Strategic Operations for Cognizant Technologies and spent four years at Bridgewater Associates.

Mike Hayes’s 20-year military career in the U.S. Navy SEALs culminated with his appointment as Commanding Officer of SEAL Team TWO, which included ten months as the Commander of a 2,000-person Special Operations Task Force in southeastern Afghanistan. He served in both the Bush and Obama administrations. In the Bush Administration, Hayes was responsible for the START Treaty, where he produced a new proposed START Treaty and flew to Russia for negotiations. In the Obama administration, he led the White House response to President Obama’s first major foreign policy showdown – the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia.

He is the founder of The 1162 Foundation – named for the date President Kennedy commissioned the SEALs – which helps families in the special operations community who have lost loved ones. Mike has personally pledged to donate a minimum of $250,000 from the book’s royalties to the foundation to help Gold Star families.