College & Theater Events

Rosemary Saal

<p>Rosemary Saal helped make history as a member of the Full Circle Everest Expedition, the first all-Black team to climb Mount Everest. </p><p>One of three women on the Full Circle Everest Expedition team, Saal understands the value of diversity for leaders and teams, and the importance of focus in high-stakes environments.

Gaby Natale

<p>Every individual has an opportunity to break barriers and redefine what is possible, and triple Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Gaby Natale is on a mission to awaken the pioneer spirit in each of us.  </p><p>Gaby is among just a few women in the entertainment industry who not only owns the rights to her TV show, but also a television studio. This unique situation has allowed her to combine her passion for media and her entrepreneurial spirit, which continues to help her break barriers.

Maria Ressa

<p>Maria Ressa is an award-winning journalist and the co-founder, CEO of Rappler.com, an online news organization in the Philippines.</p><p>Maria’s courage and work on disinformation and ‘fake news’ culminated in being awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Her numerous awards include being named <em>Time’s </em>2018 Person of the Year and listed among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019.</p><p>Maria advises organizations and

Sherrilyn Ifill

<p>Sherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer and scholar. From 2013-2022, she served as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. She recently served as a Ford Foundation Fellow and as the Klinsky Visiting Professor for Leadership & Progress at Howard Law School.

Daryl Davis

<p>Daryl Davis is committed to helping people ignite positive change—using conversation to build bridges.</p><p>His jaw-dropping experiences speak for themselves. For nearly 40 years, he’s engaged leaders of the KKK and White supremacist groups face to face to find the answer to a question: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” </p><p>That question stemmed from his first encounter with racism at age ten when he was pelted with rocks, bottles, and soda cans by a handful of White spectators while marching in a parade.

Caitlin Dickerson

<p>Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Peabody Award, and Edward R. Murrow Award, Caitlin Dickerson engages audiences on the power of journalism as a check against systemic inequality, telling stories of remarkable resilience and hope from the front lines of the world’s refugee crisis.</p><p>From Ukraine to Romania to Guatemala, Caitlin Dickerson has spent years covering people forced to live on the move for some of the nation’s foremost news outlets.

Brendan Hunt

<p>Brendan Hunt is an actor and writer best known for co-creating the international smash hit TV comedy <i>Ted Lasso</i>, in which he also plays Coach Beard.</p><p>A Chicago native, he is a veteran of sketch and improv comedy, typified by his time with Amsterdam’s notorious Boom Chicago, where he performed with Jason Sudeikis, Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin and other notables.

Eduardo Chavez

<p>As the grandson of both the legendary civil rights activist César Chávez and the Cuban revolutionary Max Lesnik, Eduardo Chavez is the scion of two revolutionary families.</p><p>Eduardo's political and activist background influenced his feature documentary, <i>Hailing Cesar,</i> released April 2018. </p><p>Since its debut, Eduardo has screened <i>Hailing Cesar</i> and spoken at 50+ universities in 3 different countries.

Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

<p>The former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and bestselling author of the memoir <i>Lessons from the Edge </i>shares insights on the region and the current crisis as well as experiences from her 33-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.</p><p>Marie Yovanovitch served three times as U.S. Ambassador, most recently in Kyiv as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Previously, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008) and the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011).