Cultural Diversity Roster

Find a Presenter

speaker

Leonard Pitts

Leonard Pitts

Award-Winning Columnist

A former writer for Casey Kasem's radio program "American Top 40," Leonard Pitts, Jr. was a pop music critic at the Miami Herald where he began writing about race and current affairs in his own column. Today, his Miami Herald newspaper column on pop culture, social issues and family life is syndicated in more than 150 daily newspapers. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, he won the top prize for commentary at the Scripps Howard Foundation’s National Journalism Awards in 2002. He is also the author of the bestseller, Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood, a poignant account of the nature and meaning of blac...

See Below for Full Bio

Categories :

Add To My Speakers List Request Availabilty
[Sassy_Social_Share]

Bio

Full Bio

A former writer for Casey Kasem’s radio program “American Top 40,” Leonard Pitts, Jr. was a pop music critic at the Miami Herald where he began writing about race and current affairs in his own column.

Today, his Miami Herald newspaper column on pop culture, social issues and family life is syndicated in more than 150 daily newspapers. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, he won the top prize for commentary at the Scripps Howard Foundation’s National Journalism Awards in 2002.

He is also the author of the bestseller, Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood, a poignant account of the nature and meaning of black fatherhood in the contemporary United States.

Pitts’ column has also won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, among others.

He is a three-time recipient of the National Headliners Award. In 2001, he received the American Society of Newspaper Editors prestigious ASNE Award for Commentary Writing and was named Columnist of the Year by Editor and Publisher magazine.

In 2002, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded Pitts its inaugural Columnist of the Year award. Also in 2002, GLAAD Media awarded Pitts the Outstanding Newspaper Columnist award.

Check Availability

MM slash DD slash YYYY
Check Availability for

Topics

Topics

Becoming Dad: Black Men and Journey to Fatherhood

Race in America

The Boundaries We Choose

Videos

Videos

The boundaries we choose - Leonard Pitts

Books

Please Contact Us For More Information

News

Please Contact Us For More Information

TESTIMONIALS

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

The American Psychological Association was thrilled to have Dr. Antonia Novello as our speaker for the 2024 APA Convention. Dr. Novello was fantastic, and her presentation was a tremendous success. Thank you, Peter, for all your hard work in making this event such a resounding success.

American Psychological Association

For our annual Native American Heritage Month celebration, PDA Group arranged for John Echohawk to join us for a virtual moderated discussion. The program was thoughtful, engaging, and highly impactful for our audience of lawyers and professional staff. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to working with them again.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

We have partnered with PDA Group on multiple successful events, including our charity luncheon with Lisa Edelstein and our Women’s Philanthropy Kickoff Event featuring Allegra Goodman. Their professionalism, expertise, and commitment to excellence make them an outstanding partner. Thank you for your exceptional work and continued support.

UJA-Federation

We have received so much fantastic feedback following our virtual event. It was an absolute success, and Sylvia Fowles was excellent. Thank you again to Sylvia and the entire team for your partnership!”

U.S. Bank

Kurt Warner was spectacular—he completely wowed the audience and solidified major leadership points. He was an amazing partner, and we will be talking about this experience for years to come. We will definitely leverage the PDA team for all of our speaking needs!”

Sysco Corporation

The events over the past two years went very well — everyone had a great time with Dr. Mark Esper in 2025, and Sam Hinkie led a very engaging Q&A with our Principal, Jean Reynolds, in 2024. Thank you for working with us these last two years; your support has been instrumental to the success of our programs!

Investcorp Strategic Capital Group

It was an absolute privilege to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta as our keynote speaker for the 2026 GME Leadership Conference. He delivered an outstanding address that resonated deeply and left a lasting impression on everyone in the room. The entire planning process was seamless and collaborative. It was a pleasure working together, brainstorming suggestions, and ultimately selecting the perfect fit for our event. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

HCA Healthcare

We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

Salt Lake Community College

It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

Western Michigan University

On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can’t wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

Ferris State University

GET IDEAS

1 Hour or Less
914-940-0075 "America's Entertainment Leader"