Celebrate the legacy, courage and vision of Black leaders during February and all year long with these inspiring Black History Month speakers.
Host one of these renowned thought leaders, Civil Rights activists, influencers and C-Suite changemakers to amplify Black voices that empower organizations to engage in meaningful conversations and create a more inclusive and understanding community.
Janet Stovall
Janet M. Stovall has flourished in the highly competitive corporate Fortune 500 world. A long history of driving change and building culture in large, complex organizations has given her deep expertise around DEI practices and principles, especially in the area of communications. In fact, she broke barriers as one of the few Black C-level speechwriters in the Fortune 100.
A self-described diversity pragmatist, Stovall is best known for her TED talk challenging business to get serious about inclusion. Collectively, Stovall’s three TED presentations have nearly 3 million views.
LaTosha Brown
<p>LaTosha is a contributor to <i>The New York Times</i> op-ed page and a Senior Practice Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. As co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund organization, LaTosha is dedicated to increasing the political power of Black people.</p><p>The Black Voters Matter Fund was credited with energizing and turning out voters in Alabama’s Black Belt and playing a decisive role in Doug Jones’ election to the U.S.
Stacey Tisdale
<p>Award-winning financial journalist, behavior expert and author, Stacey Tisdale, discusses the new realities of the post Covid-19 economy helping audiences navigate the financial and psychological challenges that so many are facing, due to factors such as job and income loss, loss of healthcare coverage, financial stress, and the gender and racial inequalities the virus is amplifying. </p><p>When she was a journalist with Wall Street Journal Television, Stacey became one of the first women—and the first African American—to report from the New York Stock Exchange.
Anthony Robles
<p>A three-time all-American champion wrestler despite being born with only one leg, Anthony Robles is the inspiring subject of the forthcoming motion picture, <em>Unstoppable</em>—being produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company.</p><p>One of the most inspirational athletes in sports history and a true symbol of courage and perseverance, Anthony Robles was born with one leg and grew up to become an unstoppable phenomenon in NCAA wrestling, competing against able-bodied challengers, ultimately winning the NCAA Champion title, and inducted into
Jade Simmons
<p>Jade Simmons is a born storyteller, a classically trained pianist and a creator of transformational experiences designed to activate audiences into becoming the biggest, boldest version of themselves possible.
Carla Harris
<p>Carla Harris is a Senior Client Advisor, Former Vice Chairman, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. The breadth of her industry experience enables her to move effortlessly from topics of technology, retail, or media sectors to healthcare, telecommunications, and transportation.</p><p>Ms. Harris began her career with Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions department in 1987. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received from Harvard Business School an MBA, Second Year Honors and an AB in economics from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude.
Judge Victoria Pratt
<p>The Black and Latina daughter of a working-class family, Victoria Pratt learned to treat everyone with dignity, no matter their background. When she became Newark Municipal Court’s chief judge, she knew well the inequities that poor, mentally ill, Black, and brown people faced in the criminal justice system.</p><p>Judge Victoria has gained national and international acclaim for her commitment to reform the criminal justice system.
Bakari Sellers
<p>Bakari Sellers recently released a <i>New York Times </i>Best Seller <i>My Vanishing Country: A Memoir</i>. The book has been described as part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis illustrating the lives of America’s forgotten black working-class men and women.</p><p>Bakari recently expanded his audience with the <i>Bakari Sellers Podcast</i>, a twice-a-week show that is part of The Ringer Podcast Network.
Martin Luther King III
<p>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.</p>
Kevin Blackistone
<p>Kevin Blackistone spotlights the power of sport as an institution to illuminate critical social and political issues and serve as a platform to ignite social change.</p><p>Kevin is an award-winning national sports columnist at <em>The Washington Post</em>, a panelist on ESPN’s <em>Around the Horn</em>, and a contributor to NPR. He is also a professor at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism and co-author of <em>A Gift for Ron</em>, a memoir by former NFL star Everson Walls.