College & Independent Schools
Education
Education:
Innovative Educator & Chair of the Acosta Institute for Healing-Centered Education
Dr. Angel Acosta is a transformative leader, educator, and speaker, renowned for his innovative work at the intersection of social justice, mindfulness, and education.
Real-Life Deaf Football Coach
Keith Adams is a head coach football at California School for the Deaf in Riverside, but he also has been a long time coach for over 30 years in various sports in hearing and deaf sports.
Award-Winning Futurist, Higher Education Expert & Author of Peak Higher Ed
Bryan Alexander is an award-winning futurist and one of the leading voices helping colleges, universities, and organizations navigate the future of higher education, technology, and work.
Former Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools
David C. Banks is the former Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools, the largest school system in the United States.
Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign & NYT Best-Selling Author
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is the President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; Co- Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign; Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries; and Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary.
Founder and Past President of Solution Tree & HOPE Foundation
Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair was Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Co-Founder of She’s the First
In the past decade as She's the First Co-Founder and Chief Programs Officer, Christen has revolutionized outdated models of philanthropy by shifting power to the most vulnerable.
Dean of Harvard’s Renowned Radcliffe Institute
Tomiko Brown Nagin is a prize-winning author, eminent legal scholar and historian, dean of Harvard’s renowned Radcliffe Institute, and pathbreaking leader in higher education.
CEO of Robin Hood
Richard is the CEO of Robin Hood and former Chief Executive Officer of Achievement First, a network of 37 public charter schools providing an excellent education to 15,000 students across New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Higher Education Evangelist & CEO, University Innovation Alliance
Named one of the “16 Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly magazine, Dr. Bridget Burns is the founding executive director of the University Innovation Alliance (theUIA.org).
Trauma Survivor & Internationally Recognized Trauma Informed Care Expert
Tonier works tirelessly to raise the awareness about trauma informed care around the world. Tonier is an advocate and educator, speaking all over the world on trauma, addiction, incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse and mental health.
Co-Founder of Blackboard & CEO of PrecisionHawk
Michael Chasen is an entrepreneur who is focused in the technology, education, and Social Local Mobile (SoLoMo) space.
Education Innovation Expert
Speaker Milton Chen is a leading figure in educational media for years, currently leading the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit that shares ideas on education.
Best-Selling Author, The Campus Color Line & Higher Education Thought Leader
Dr. Eddie R. Cole is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Organizational Change at UCLA. His research focuses on college presidents’ historic role in shaping racial policies and practices both inside and outside of the educational sphere.
Inspirational Educator & Survivor
A decade ago, Brenda Combs Ed.D. was a homeless cocaine addict and criminal. Today, she's turned her life around and motivates others with her story of perseverance and rediscovery.
Psychotherapist
Elliott Connie is a psychotherapist who practices in TX and an author. He has worked with numerous individuals, couples and families applying the solution focused approach to help them move their lives from the problems towards their desired futures.
Best-Selling Author, Educator & Thought Leader
Jennifer De Leon is author of the YA novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From which was chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection, and the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing, which is a recipient of the Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction.
Former Mayor of Miami
As former mayor, speaker Manny Diaz transformed Miami from a poor, crime-ridden, and economically stagnant city to a flourishing metropolis with a hurtling skyline.
Performing Artist, Founder of the Sphinx Organization, & Best-Selling Author
Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts and member of President Biden’s Arts Policy Committee, Aaron P. Dworkin is former dean and current Professor at the University of Michigan.
China Expert, Millennial Explorer & Cultural Futurist
Zak Dychtwald is a writer and consultant, and has traveled extensively throughout five continents to explore what makes people and cultures tick while searching for glimpses into the future.
One of Wall Street’s First Black Women Traders
From humble Southern beginnings to breaking barriers on Wall Street, Martina Marshall Edwards is the epitome of not allowing your circumstances to determine your outcome.
Founder of McSweeney's & Author
Dave Eggers is an expert of every step of the book industry as the founder of McSweeney’s, a designer, an editor, and author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity and more.
178th President of the AMA & Chief Medical Officer of Aidoc
Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld was the 178th president of the American Medical Association (AMA). Upon his inauguration in 2023, he made AMA history as the first openly gay president of the organization.
Professor of Science Education & Author
Christopher Emdin teaches STEM classes at Columbia where he serves as Director of Secondary School Initiatives at the Urban Science Education Center. He wrote Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation.
#1 NYT Bestselling Author of Range, The Sports Gene, and now Inside the Box & Expert on Human Performance
David Epstein has spent his career investigating—and overturning—our most deeply held assumptions about what makes people and teams perform at their best.
Global Education Thought Leader, Author, Futurist & Inventor
Charles Fadel is a global education thought leader and author, futurist and inventor. He is the founder and chairman of Center for Curriculum Redesign.
Award-Winning Educator, Entrepreneur & Author
Over the past decade, Brandon P. Fleming has become one of the most highly awarded and sought-after educators, entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers in the world.
Brother of George Floyd & Activist
On May 26, 2020, Floyd learned that his older brother, George “Perry” Floyd, Jr. had been murdered by four police officers in Minneapolis after a store clerk alleged that he passed a counterfeit $20 bill.
Inventor, CEO of Jara & Forbes 30 Under 30
Soraya Fouladi is the Founder & CEO of Jara, on a mission to ensure the 816 Million children in high-poverty and low-connectivity communities globally can get access to a quality education, anywhere, anytime, through her invention, the Jara Unit.
Educational Leader, Social Justice Advocate, Strategist & Author of Being Black in America’s Schools
Brian Rashad Fuller is educational leader, social justice advocate, strategist and author with a passion for addressing the needs of historically underserved students.
Best-Selling Author & Harvard Professor of Education and African American Studies
Jarvis R. Givens is a professor of education and faculty affiliate in the department of African & African American studies at Harvard University.
New York Times Bestselling Author & James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Princeton University
One of the nation’s most prominent scholars, Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. is an author, political commentator, public intellectual and passionate educator who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience.