Keynote speakers Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Jeff Chang, Gabby Rivera, and Reza Aslan hail from the middle east to the midwest, but they all have one thing in common: an infectious desire to make the world a more peaceful and equitable place. 

Khalil Gibran Muhammad: Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School  

Khalil Gibran Muhammad is a professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. He is the go-to authority on the history of racial criminilization in the U.S., interviewed for the popular documentaries 13th and Slavery by Another Name, and featured in The New York Times, NPR, and The New Yorker, among others. His book, The Condemnation of Blackness is lauded by both academics and non for its vital inquiry into the nation’s most destructive and insidious racial trap.

Nikole Hannah-Jones: New York Times Magazine Staff Writer |  Winner of the National Magazine Award

Award-winning New York Times Magazine journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is well known for her acute and powerful observations on modern day civil rights, particularly as it pertains to the education system. Her widely-read articles on segregated housing and schools, as well as her deeply personal experiences as a black woman in America expose how racial inequality is perpetuated by government policy.

Jeff Change: Social Historian | Author of We Gon’ Be Alright and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop   

Jeff Chang’s We Gon’ Be Alright is a snapshot of modern American life in which the evidence of re-segregation is undeniable. What does diversity mean in an era such as ours, he asks. And in talks, he responds, moving from hip-hop to civil rights, police brutality to mass incarceration, Hollywood representations of race (or lack thereof) to the current administration, always with the sweeping authority of a seasoned social historian. 

Gabby Rivera: Author of Marvel’s America and YA novel Juliet Takes a Breath  

An outspoken creative force, Gabby Rivera is invested in inspiring radical creativity in others, especially young people from diverse backgrounds, and those in vulnerable communities. Her YA novel Juliet Takes a Breath helped open new dialogues with and about LGBTQ teens, and currently she’s taken the lead on the new Marvel comics series America—featuring the first queer, Latinx, teen-girl superhero ever—that’s catching headlines from the likes of The New York Times, CNN, and Vogue.

Reza Aslan: #1 New York Times Bestselling Author | Consulting Producer on The Leftovers 

With natural charisma and a near instinctive understanding of people and their traditions, Reza Aslan is dismantling Islamophobia’s foothold in America. He’s a religious scholar as well as a #1 New York Times bestselling author, who, after his two interviews on Fox News and CNN went viral, became a voice for Muslims and a wake-up call for all Americans to challenge hatred and discrimination. His brand-new, must-read book is God: A Human History.

To book speakers Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Jeff Chang, Gabby Rivera, Reza Aslan, or other college speakers, contact The Lavin Agency, their exclusive speakers’ bureau.