- top speakers
How do you keep living and working with people across the political aisle?
A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
Someone is going to step up and make a change in your community. There's no reason it couldn't be you.
If you have a vision for yourself and your community, never stop fighting for it, says Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “Acting like failure is not an option: that is the way to launch forward into your dream.” Stephanie served as mayor of Baltimore for six years, as only the second woman to hold that position, and guided the city through the 2015 Freddie Gray protests. At the end of her tenure, she left the city with the highest bond rating in over 40 years. Today, she chairs the Airbnb housing council, which advises the company on how it can help spur housing supply, and leads her own strategic consulting firm, where she helps people bring innovative new ideas for cities to the table. In talks, Stephanie draws on her deep experience leading the city of Baltimore, offering unique stories and dynamic lessons on racial justice, urban leadership, empowering the next generation, and much more.
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake launched her political career at the age of 25, when she became the youngest person ever elected to the Baltimore City Council. She then won a citywide election to become City Council President, where she served for three years before becoming mayor. She has also served as president of the United States Conference of Mayors—the first Black woman to hold the post.
As mayor, she led Baltimore through the 2015 protests which were sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, who was arrested and sustained fatal injuries while in police custody. She also created Baltimore’s first long-range financial plan, putting Baltimore on track to reduce homeowner property taxes by more than 20% over a 10-year period. She developed and adopted several innovative programs and projects, including the Climate Action Plan, Homegrown Baltimore Urban Agriculture Plan, and the Green Network Plan (an initiative aimed at reclaiming vacant land to create green space). Her Vacants to Value initiative, targeted at reducing vacant structures, won the Urban Land Institute’s Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Awards and was recognized by the Obama administration, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and The Financial Times, to name a few.
Today, Stephanie serves on the Airbnb Housing Council, which convenes housing experts, elected officials, and academic institutions across the country to advise the company on initiatives it can support to help resolve the issue of housing supply. She also runs her own consulting firm, SRB & Associates, where she works with people who are finding innovative solutions to the unique challenges cities face. Her past clients include national players like Hudson News and MasterCard.
Founder of the "I Matter" Poetry and Art Competition Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Honoree Winner of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Author, We Refuse to Forget and BLACK MOSES Contributing Writer, The New York Times Magazine Associate Professor, Northeastern University
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton 2024 "Top 40 Under 40" Business Professor Author, Femonomics (Forthcoming)
County Public Health Director Author of Healing Politics and Medicare for All Host of America Dissected
Founder of #SickNotWeak Former host of TSN's Off The Record
Award-Winning Toy Designer of the World-Renowned Rigamajig Founder and Principal Designer at Toy Company Heroes Will Rise
Founder of the "I Matter" Poetry and Art Competition Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Honoree Winner of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations
World-Renowned Artist Winner of the US Department of State Medal of Arts Guggenheim Fellow
Author, We Refuse to Forget and BLACK MOSES Contributing Writer, The New York Times Magazine Associate Professor, Northeastern University
Author of Grit, the #1 New York Times Bestseller | Pioneering Researcher on Grit, Perseverance, and the Science of Success
2024 Nobel Prize Winner | 3rd Most Cited Economist in the World | MIT Institute Professor | Bestselling Co-Author of Why Nations Fail and Power and Progress
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Creator of The 1619 Project | Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-Winning 1619 Project Hulu Docuseries | MacArthur Genius
Nike's Former Chief Marketing Officer | Author of Emotion by Design
CEO of The Atlantic | Former Editor-in-Chief of WIRED
We can all find a way to improve our communities, says Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. If we want our campuses, cities, and country to live up to their full potential, we need to step up and figure out the unique ways that we can all help.
Drawing on her long career in public service, the former mayor of Baltimore offers dynamic anecdotes and lessons for anyone looking to improve their community: from K-12 students to business leaders, and everyone in between. She explains how to combat impostor syndrome, how to build consensus with people who might think differently from you, how to create wins for people so that they’re more willing to support your cause, and much more.
“Running for office is just one way to make a difference,” she says. “There are so many organizations that need volunteers, so many associations that need people to raise their hands and say, ‘I’ll help.’ I hope audiences leave my talk knowing that it’s possible to leave a legacy of good in their community.”
America’s cities aren’t problems to be solved. They’re opportunities to be seized.
In this inspiring talk, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake offers an insider’s look at the unique landscape of cities today, and reveals why an investment in our cities is an investment in the vitality of our metropolitan areas—and the nation as a whole. Stephanie draws on her own experience as the former mayor of Baltimore, including her award-winning civic initiatives, to offer solutions and advocate for investment in urban areas. She discusses the challenges that cities face today, from economic inequality to decaying infrastructure, and shares case studies from Baltimore and other cities that have successfully implemented policies to address these challenges.
This galvanizing, accessible talk is a must-listen for urban policymakers and planners, community builders and advocates, and anyone interested in social issues. Stephanie offers a new vision for America’s cities: one where investing in them is the necessary first step to building a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future.
“We need to get justice right in this country,” says Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “Not getting it right isn’t an option. And getting it right will require everyone to step outside of their normal way of doing business.”
As mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie led the city through the 2015 protests sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, who sustained fatal injuries while in police custody. She later requested a DOJ investigation into police practices, underscoring her commitment to racial justice and police reform. In this empathetic, insightful talk, she reveals what she learned from that experience, and how other communities can leverage her experience to build a better dialogue around these topics. She explains how leaders can start to encourage both sides to start to see the humanity in one another and open up to the possibility of having a sincere and mutually beneficial conversation. “We need to work past the historic problems to start relationship-building,” she says.