Diversity Speakers

Ted Childs

As IBM's Vice President of Global Workforce Diversity, Childs oversaw IBM's model workforce diversity programs and policies. Called "perhaps the most effective diversity executive on the planet" by Fast Company, he helps companies, organizations, and communities understand the importance of diversity education to ...

Richard Carmona

As the 17th Surgeon General, Dr. Carmona developed comprehensive knowledge of the environmental influences on healthy living today. He offers a close look at the epidemic of asthma in young children as well as other issues directly related to the state of our environment and how we can work towards not only a healthy body, ...

Susan L. Taylor

As editorial director of Essence, Taylor was the driving force behind one of the most celebrated black-owned business success stories in recent times. Her firm belief in personal empowerment and tapping into the power within motivates and inspired her employees to lead Essence to become a successful global ...

Victor Rivas Rivers

Born in Cuba, Rivers came to the US at the age of two, endured horrific child abuse and witnessed domestic violence at the hands of his father, which he chronicles in his New York Times bestseller, A Private Family Matter. An actor, athlete, and advocate, Rivers is the national spokesperson for the National ...

Juan Williams

A prize-winning columnist and former editorial writer for The Washington Post, Juan Williams is also a Fox News correspondent and a keynote speaker on issues including diversity, ethics, leadership, media and national issues. There are few voices as clear and intelligent on the power of diversity within today's ...

Michael Eric Dyson

Named by Essence magazine as one of the 50 most inspiring African Americans, Dyson is one of the nation's most renowned public intellectuals, revitalizing the role with the fervor of an ordained Baptist minister. Called "a street fighter in a suit and tie," he takes on the toughest and most controversial issues of ...

Jennifer Finney Boylan

Jennifer Finney Boylan is the author of ten books, including the memoir She’s Not There, the first best-selling book by a transgender American.Her latest book is I'm Looking Through You.

Julian Bond

Beginning with his pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, Julian Bond has always been on the cutting edge of social change and leadership. Legendary as the first black US vice presidential nominee and former Chairman of the NAACP, Bond continues to deliver a powerful message of equality, freedom, and justice with a ...

Michael Patrick MacDonald

Author of the incendiary New York Times bestselling memoir All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, and the companion bestseller Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion, MacDonald shares his remarkable story of survival and redemption while examining the tangled relationship between poverty and ...

Erin Gruwell

Erin Gruwell leveraged the power of education to transform Long Beach's "unteachables," by teaching tolerance through literature and writing. Her tenacity and commitment to her students is chronicled in The Freedom Writers Diary - How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around ...

Johnnetta Cole

One of the most powerful well-regarded African American women in the US, Johnnetta B. Cole has a way with making history. As the first female African American President of Spelman College, the first woman ever elected to the Board of Coca-Cola Enterprises, and the first African American woman to serve as Chair of the ...

Alvin Poussaint

A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Poussaint is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who is renowned as an expert and educated crusader for the African American family within our multicultural society. He has worked closely with Bill Cosby, serving as an advisor on The Cosby Show, and has ...

Maria Hinojosa

For 25 years, Maria Hinojosa has helped tell America's untold stories, many around themes of diversity and the cultural richness of the American experience. She is the anchor and editor of NPR's "Latino USA," a reporter for PBS's Frontline, and anchor of the Emmy-winning talk show One-on-One.

Charles J. Ogletree

A renowned legal theorist, educator, and activist, Charles J. Ogletree is primarily known for his work surrounding race and affirmative action, having earned an international reputation for his precise legal analysis, breadth of experience, and unique insight. Currently, he is the Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law ...

James McBride

An award-winning jazz musician, McBride is the author of The New York Times bestseller, The Color of Water, a memoir that has become a modern classic. Spike Lee directed the film adaptation of McBride's book, Miracle at St. Anna, paying tribute to African American soldiers who fought in WWII.

Tess Gerritsen

Internationally best-selling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Gerritsen went on to attend medical school and become a physician. While on maternity leave, she began to write fiction. Eight suspense novels later, she has never looked back.

Herman Boone

When he became head football coach at T.C. Williams High School, Boone faced the daunting challenge of uniting a racially divided team, and through his hard work and dedication, he led the Titans to a championship title. Portrayed by Denzel Washington in the highly acclaimed film, Remember the Titans, Boone delivers ...

Tony Plana

With an acting career in film, television, and theater spanning almost thirty years, Plana currently stars on the hit series Ugly Betty. A former teacher, he maintains his passion for education, serving the Latino community through educational outreach programs to schools while inspiring educators to use the arts ...

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Wife of slain civil rights activist, Medgar Evers, Evers-Williams became the first woman to lead and restore the credibility of the NAACP during a time when it was surrounded by scandal and controversy. She continues her activism on behalf of racial and gender equality and is co-author of The Autobiography of Medgar ...

Terry McMillan

Since McMillan's breakout novel Waiting to Exhale surged onto The New York Times bestseller list, critics and readers alike have been captivated by her irreverent, often-hilarious take on the issues faced by contemporary African American women. With several of her bestsellers, including Waiting to ...