College & Independent Schools
First Year Experience, Common & Community Reads
First Year Experience, Common & Community Reads:
Recovering Addict & Subject of Beautiful Boy
Nic Sheff’s heartbreaking and inspiring struggle with substance abuse disorder is the story of Beautiful Boy, a major motion picture starring Timothée Chalamet as Nic and Steve Carrell as his father, David.
Founder, Homeboy Industries
Father Gregory Boyle is the founder and CEO of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in Los Angeles County.
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.
Bestselling Authors of Sexual Citizens
Columbia University Professor Jennifer S. Hirsch and Princeton University Professor Shamus Khan's bestselling book — Sexual Citizens: Sex, Power and Assault on Campus — has transformed how we understand and address sexual assault.
Serial Social Entrepreneur, Storyteller & Author
Growing up in Washington, DC, Chris Wilson was surrounded by violence and despair. At 18, he was sentenced to life in prison, with no hope of parole. While behind bars, Chris embarked on a remarkable journey of self-improvement.
Co-Founder of March For Our Lives, Co-Founder of Leaders We Deserve & NYT Bestselling Author
Thrust into the world of activism by the largest school shooting in American history, Parkland survivor David Hogg has become one of the most compelling voices of his generation.
Psychologist & Stereotype Expert
Speaker Claude Steele is an expert on "stereotype threat," the notion that students who belong to negatively stereotyped groups are likely to perform less well.
NYT Best-Selling Author & Motivational Leader
Moore energizes audiences with his remarkable personal story of overcoming adversity through education, embracing personal responsibility and emerging as an inspirational leader.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning NYT Columnist
How good do you really have to be, to be christened the reporter’s reporter…by other reporters? You have to be Nicholas Kristof – good.
Human-Centered Thought Leader, Bestselling Author, Managing Director at Seramount & The Pemberton Podcast
Steve Pemberton is a visionary human-centered thought leader and the Founder and CEO of The Lighthouse Academy.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author & Journalist
Nazario has spent over 20 years writing about social issues including immigration. Her acclaimed book, Enrique’s Journey, recounts a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist
Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian-American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive and best-selling author. She co-founded FullSky Partners, a consulting firm focusing on double-bottom line ventures in new media, technology and health.
New York Times Best-Selling Author & Musician
McBride uses music and writing to share powerful stories such as The Color of Water, The Good Lord Bird and Miracle at St. Anna, which was adapted by Spike Lee.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalists
Husband-and-wife duo Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer in journalism and have written a series of best-selling books together as well as appeared in television documentaries of their books.
Directors of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies and Professors of Teacher Education at Montclair State University
Monica Taylor and Emily J. Klein are professors at Montclair State University focusing on Teaching and Learning, Education, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
Co-Authors of We Are Not Like Them & You Were Always Mine
Christine Pride partnered with Jo Piazza to write We Are Not Like Them, a story of an interracial friendship upended by a police shooting that hits close to home for two women.
Co-Authors of The Price She Pays, Mental Health Advocates & Licensed Experts
For Katie Steele and Dr. Tiffany Brown, sports have always been a means of connection, and when they witnessed first-hand the mental health crisis facing athletes, they could not look away.
Award-Winning Author & Curator
Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days , was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger Award and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction.
Entrepreneur, Veteran & Bestselling Author
The founder of an NGO and a former Marine, Rye Barcott has the distinction of being both a warrior and a peacemaker, a juxtaposition he explores in the memoir It Happened on the Way to War.
Chief Science Officer, Athletes Mental Health Organization; Co-Author of The Price She Pays
Tiffany Brown, Ph.D., LMFT, is an award-winning senior faculty member at the University of Oregon Couples and Family Therapy graduate program and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who works with student-athletes.
Physician & Inspirational Leader
One of three young men raised in poverty that made a pact to become doctors, NY Times best-selling author Davis told his story in The Pact and wrote Living & Dying in Brick City and The Stuff.
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.
Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter
Alicia Garza is someone who believes that black communities deserve what all communities deserve — to be powerful in every aspect of their lives. That’s what drives Garza as an innovator, strategist, internationally recognized organizer and writer.
Host of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior & CBS’s The Talk
Akbar is the host of NBC’s four time Emmy nominated series American Ninja Warrior, Universal Kid’s spin off show, American Ninja Warrior Jr.
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.
Intersectional Activist & Co-Founder of March For Our Lives
X González (they/them) is a gun-violence prevention activist born and raised in Parkland, Florida. A survivor of the Marjory Stoneman-Douglas High School shooting, X became a leading voice in the gun-violence prevention movement.
Transformational Speaker, Educational Leader & National Trainer
Brian Heat is a dynamic Educator, Trainer and Amazon Best Selling Author with his latest book release Get Ignited, who transforms audiences by infusing high-octane motivational and cinematic themes.
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University, Co-Author of Sexual Citizens
Jennifer S. Hirsch, a Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University, is widely recognized as one of the nation’s top voices researching gender, sexuality and health.
Best-Selling Author & "Human Guinea Pig"
Known as "the human guinea pig," A.J. Jacobs lived as a biblical subject, followed every bit of medical advice to be the healthiest man alive, and followed other bizarre situations that he documents in his novels.
NYT Bestselling Author, Political Commentator & Cultural Critic
Molly Jong-Fast is a New York Times bestselling author, political commentator, and cultural critic known for her sharp wit, fearless honesty, and unwavering commitment to truth.
Professor of Sociology and American Studies, Princeton University; Co-Author of Sexual Citizens
Shamus Khan is the Willard Thorp professor of sociology and American Studies at Princeton University. He writes on culture, inequality, gender and elites.
Son of Martin Luther King, Jr. & Civil Rights Activist
As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III serves as an ambassador of his parent’s legacy of nonviolent social change.
Professor at Montclair State University in the Department of Teaching and Learning & the Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies
Emily J. Klein is a professor at Montclair State University in the Department of Teaching and Learning, the PhD program in Teaching and Teacher Education, and the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
Award-Winning Journalist, Creator of Queer News Daily & Author
Nico Lang is a multi award-winning journalist, editor, culture critic, and essayist. In the decade they’ve spent in journalism, Lang has also served as the deputy editor for Out magazine.
Best-Selling Author & Community Activist
Author of the New York Times best-seller All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald shares his remarkable story of survival and redemption while examining the relationship between poverty and class he witnessed growing up in South Boston.
"Maria" on Sesame Street & Best-Selling Author
Having retired her iconic Sesame Street character “Maria,” Manzano now dedicates her time to speaking and writing on education, communication, and Hispanics in the media.
Youth Mental Health Expert & Parenting Coach
Dr. Andrea Mata, PhD, is on a mission to throat-punch the youth mental health crisis and equip parents, educators, and leaders with the tools they need to raise emotionally strong kids and build resilient communities.
Expert on Interfaith, Interracial & Multicultural Experiences
Samira K. Mehta is the Director of Jewish Studies and an Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research and teaching focus on the intersections religion, culture, and gender.
Abuse & Homelessness Survivor, Author of CinderGirl
Empowering others with her inspiring life story, Christina Meredith survived sexual, mental and emotional abuse, incest, trauma, aging out of foster care, poverty and homelessness to forge a life committed to helping others.
Lawyer, Neurodiversity Expert & Author
Haley Moss is a lawyer, neurodiversity expert, and the author of four books that guide neurodivergent individuals through professional and personal challenges.
Inspirational Speaker & Best-Selling Author
Formerly homeless, Liz Murray transformed her life of despair into an inspiring journey of determination, hope and hard-won success. Lifetime produced a movie about Murray’s life story entitled Homeless to Harvard, which was nominated for three Emmys.
Global Policy Expert
Controversial author, journalist, professor and food policy expert Raj Patel continuously challenges our presumptions about the global economy with his work both as a policy analyst and activist.
Internationally Bestselling Author, Award-Winning Journalist & Podcast Creator
Jo Piazza is a bestselling author, podcast creator and award-winning journalist. Jo is the national and international bestselling author of many critically acclaimed novels and nonfiction books including We Are Not Like Them.
Emmy Award-Winning Co-Anchor of ABC's Nightline & Best-Selling Author
Byron Pitts is an award-winning journalist who has covered some of the most horrific and dangerous news stories in the world, from Sept. 11 to Hurricane Katrina to the Boston Marathon to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Award-Winning Journalist & Author of The Family Roe
For more than twenty years, Joshua Prager, a former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal, has written about historical secrets. His work has shed new light on our cultural touchstones.
Editor, Writer, Co-Author of We Are Not Like Them & You Were Always Mine
Christine Pride is a writer, editor and long time publishing veteran. She’s held editorial posts at many different imprints including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion, and Simon and Schuster.
Bestselling Author & Screenwriter
Steven Rowley is the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, The Editor, named by NPR and Esquire magazine as one of the Best Books of 2019.
Real Life Hero of Hotel Rwanda
Known as the "Rwandan Schindler," speaker Paul Rusesabagina saved countless lives during the Rwandan genocide. His story is chronicled in the film Hotel Rwanda.
Resiliency Expert & Coach
An internationally recognized expert on resiliency and stress reduction, Dr. Eva Selhub specializes in helping individuals and organizations improve health, wellbeing, productivity and outcomes by creating a culture of resilience.
Organizational Thought Leader, Expert on Rejection & Best-Selling Author
As the CEO and publisher of College Magazine, the trusted guide to navigating college, reaching millions of readers, Amanda Silver empowers young professionals to achieve a career they love.
Founder & Executive Director, Athletes Mental Health Organization; Co-Author of The Price She Pays
Katie Steele is the Founder and Executive Director of the Athletes Mental Health Organization, a non-profit organization dedicated to changing athletic systems and providing resources to support mental health in athletes.
Disability Advocate, Educator & Best-Selling Author, Sitting Pretty
Rebekah Taussig will challenge everything you think you know about disability as she invites us into her experience of living in a body that looks and moves differently than most.
Director of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies & Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University
Monica Taylor is the Director of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, as well as in the teacher education and teacher development doctoral program at Montclair State University.
Cultural Critic, Best-Selling Author & The Atlantic Contributing Writer
A cultural critic for extraordinary times, Thomas Chatterton Williams brings his insightful perspective to subjects of race, Black identity and history, cancel culture, social justice and inequality in America and the world.