Social Change & Human Rights

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Social Change & Human Rights

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Spiritual Leaders of Different Faiths

Monsignor Hartman and Rabbi Gellman are the first clergymen to be hired by a national network since Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in the late 50′s. Their work as religion consultants…

Rhythm and Blues and Gospel Singer, Actress, and Civil Rights Activist; Member of Family Band, The Staple Singers

Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples possesses one of the most recognizable and treasured voices in contemporary music. From her early days sharing lead vocals with her groundbreaking family group,…

Expert on Race Relations

Shelby Steele is currently a senior research fellow at The Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He has a BA in political science, an MA in sociology and a Ph.D. in…

Award-Winning Backpack Journalist and Author. First Internet Correspondent for Yahoo! News

Kevin Sites is a author and freelance journalist. He has spent nearly a decade covering global wars and disasters for ABC, NBC, CNN, and Yahoo! News. Dubbed by the trade…

Anti-Crime Activist, Founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels and Radio Talk Show Host

Curtis Sliwa, known by millions as the founder and leader of The Guardian Angels, has greatly impacted the American way of life. Curtis refused to accept criminal activity and founded…

Political Activist & Humanist

Bobby Seale is one of the last surviving architects of one of the most important social change movements in American and African American history. Taking to the stage with his…

Speaker of the Rwanda Parliment 1997-2000 & Author

Joseph Sebarenzi lost his parents, seven siblings, and countless other family members when 800,000 Tutsi were brutally murdered over the course of 90 days in 1994 by extremist Rwandan Hutu…

Human Rights Activist, Author and Daughter of Malcolm X

Ilyasah Al-Shabazz is a community organizer, social activist, motivational speaker, and author of the critically acclaimed Growing Up X (Random House, 2002). Her father, martyred human rights activist known as…

The Granddaughter of Civil and Labor Rights Activist Cesar Chavez, Human Rights Activist and Diversity Speaker

The granddaughter of civil and labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, human rights activist and diversity speaker Julie Chavez Rodriguez was introduced to the farm worker movement at an early age.…

Founder, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective; Reproductive Justice Activist

Loretta J. Ross was a co-founder and the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005-2012, a network founded in 1997 of women of color…

One of the "Little Rock Name"

Terrence James Roberts was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock…

President of Ireland (1990-1997) & President of the Mary Robinson Foundation: Climate Justice

Mary Robinson served as president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.

Historical and Cultural Sociologist

Dr. Orlando Patterson, a historical and cultural sociologist, is John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He has previously held faculty appointments at the University of the West Indies,…

Computer Scientist and Philosopher; Father of Slain Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl; President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation

Judea Pearl was born in Tel Aviv and is a graduate of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He came to the United States for postgraduate work in 1960, and the…

Television Host and Artist. He is most notable for having been the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which aired on ABC

The instantly recognizable sound of Ty Pennington’s “Good Morning!” has become an unmistakable sign of hope for families and communities, as he has helped transform the lives of thousands, while…

Member of Basketball Hall of Fame & One of the Most Dominant Centers in the History of the NBA

Nigerian born basketball great, Hakeem Olajuwon, was born on January 21, 1963. Olajuwon played center for the Houston Rockets, whom he led to back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995, and…

Japanese Multimedia Artist, Singer, Songwriter, and Peace Activist

Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist who is also known for her work in performance art, music, and filmmaking. She is the widow and…

Educator, Author & Activist

Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr. is scholar-activist who has been a central figure in the struggles for civil and human rights, social and economic justice, and peace in the United States…

Civil Rights Advocate and Human Rights Activist

Karen K. Narasaki is an independent civil and human rights consultant. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Narasaki to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in July of 2014. She is…

Academic and Author Specializing in the Middle East and Islamic World, Former Senior Advisor to US Representative to Afghanistan

Featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal; quoted by Senator John Kerry on the floor of the U.S. Senate; and described as a national resource by Richard…

Political and Civic Leader and the Current President of the National Urban

In a distinguished professional career that has spanned 25 years, Marc Morial has served as one of the most accomplished servant-leaders in the nation. As an entrepreneur, Morial started several…

Actress, Author, Philanthropist & Founder of Touch by Alyssa Milano; Known for "Charmed" and "Who's the Boss"

Actress Alyssa Milano has spent almost her entire life in the public eye.  A famous child actor, she has continued to work throughout her adulthood in both television and film.…

Global Diplomat, Peace Negotiator and Leadership Expert

George J. Mitchell served as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from January 2009 to May 2011. Prior to that he had a distinguished career in public service. He…

Legal & Investigative Anchor and Correspondent, NBC News

After two decades with ABC News, Cynthia McFadden recently joined NBC News as a senior legal and investigative correspondent contributing to all NBC platforms. Her distinguished work has won many…

New York Times Best-Seller "Kaffir Boy"

South African writer Mark Mathabane, author of the best-selling autobiography "Kaffir Boy,"  In "Kaffir Boy," published in 1986, Mathabane told the true story of his coming of age under apartheid…

Daughter of Nelson Mandela and CEO, House of Mandela

Makaziwe Mandela is the daughter of the late former president, Nelson Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Mase. She was named after her older sister , who was born in…

Iconic Day-time TV Actress, Entrepreneur of Youthful Essence and Humanitarian

As the most famous face in daytime television history, Susan Lucci has held audiences spellbound for years as the sexy, sassy, beautiful "woman you love to hate," Erica Kane on…

Poet, Community Activist, Journalist, Media Personality & Politician

A two-time Emmy Award-winner for his reporting, Felipe Luciano was America's first Puerto Rican television anchor. He is the founder and chairman of the Young Lords Party, a member of…

Author of 18 books about World Hunger, Living Democracy, and The Environment

Frances Moore Lappé is the author or co-author of 19 books, including the 1971 Diet for a Small Planet. Frances was named by Gourmet Magazine as one of 25 people…

Educator & Social Justice Advocate

In the passion of the civil rights campaigns of 1964 and 1965, Jonathan Kozol gave up the prospect of a promising career in the academic world, moved from Harvard Square…

Pulitzer Prize-Winning New York Times Columnist

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof is an extraordinary thinker, human rights advocate, and chronicler of humanity. A seasoned journalist, he has traveled the…

Criminal Defense and Civil Rights Lawyer, Radio Talk Show, Host and Television Commentator

Ronald Kuby earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology and History at the University of Kansas in 1975 and earned his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1983. Mr. Kuby…

Civil Rights Activist & Sociologist

Sociologist Dr. Joyce Ladner is one of the nation’s pre-eminent thought leaders. Her career has been shaped through her first hand involvement with the civil rights movement in Mississippi and…

Internationally Acclaimed Speaker, Social Entrepreneur and New York Times Best-Selling Author. Co-Founder of the WE Movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day

Craig Kielburger is a social entrepreneur and the co-founder of a family of organizations dedicated to the power of WE, a movement of people coming together to change the world.…

Sports Icon, Social Justice & Equality Pioneer

Billie Jean King is the founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative and the co-founder of World TeamTennis. She has long been a champion for social change and equality.…

Minister, Attorney & Daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nationally and internationally known as one of the most powerful, motivating, and life changing orators and speakers, Bernice A. King leaves her audiences spell bound and challenges people to raise…

Award-Winning, Journalist, Social Activist, Columnist and the #1 International Bestselling Author of seminal books "The Shock Doctrine" and "No Is Not Enough"

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the international bestsellers, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate (2014), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism…

Professor at Harvard Law School

Randall Kennedy is Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School where he teaches courses on contracts, criminal law, and the regulation of race relations. He was born in Columbia,…

Lawyer, Business Executive and Civil Rights Activist

Vernon Jordan, a prominent attorney, political advisor to President Bill Clinton and the former president of the National Urban League. Vernon Jordan has devoted the major part of his life…

Maulana Karenga | PDA Speakers

Creator of Kwanzaa

Dr. Maulana Karenga, an internationally recognized activist-scholar.

Nationally Known Author and Lifelong Civil Rights Activist; One of the Founders of the New Left

David Horowitz was one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s and an editor of its largest magazine, Ramparts. He is the author, with Peter Collier, of…

Former President & Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group & New York Times Bestselling Author of Thrive

Arianna Huffington is the former chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books. In May 2005, she launched The…

Activist, Educator and Former Leading Member of the Black Panther Party

Ericka Huggins is a human rights activist, poet, professor, and former Black Panther leader and political prisoner. For the past 25 years, she has lectured throughout the United States, where…

Advocate for Peace and Forgiveness; Best-Selling Author "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust"

Immaculée Ilibagiza is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that took the lives of nearly one million Tutsi, including her entire family except for one brother. She survived by…

A Founding Member and Former Chief of Staff of the Black Panther Party

As chief of staff of the Black Panther party, David Hilliard was actively involved in every major activity of the best-recognized and most feared African American organization of the 1960's…

Advocate for American Indian Rights and President & Executive Director, Morning Star Institute. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama

Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee) is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate, who has helped Native Peoples recover more than one million acres of land and…

Known from her nationally syndicated television show "Judge Hatchett" and Child Advocate

Nobody gets results like Judge Glenda Hatchett. A visionary on the bench, she is renowned for her unique way of determining justice in an innovative, authoritative manner. Well known for…

African-American Attorney, Speaker, and New York Times Best-Selling Author

Lawrence Otis Graham a nationally known author, attorney and commentator on race, politics and diversity in America. A lecturer on governmental affairs and employment issues, Larry is chairman of the…

Acclaimed Actor, Humanitarian & Leading Social Activist

Actor, director, producer, and political activist Danny Glover has also become known for his community activism and philanthropic work. A San Francisco native, Glover trained at the Black Actors’ Workshop…

Nobel Laureate & Former President of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev has been one of the 20th century’s most pivotal leaders. As President of the Soviet Union, he ended the 50 years of nuclear brinkmanship known as the Cold…