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The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau

A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.

Activism & Humanitarianism

The Lavin Agency represents an inspiring body of activists: a group of artists and educators, authors and humanitarians, all working tirelessly for human rights and equity at home or abroad. Our activism and humanitarianism speakers are living proof of how change can be affected at all levels, from grassroots rallies to major lobbying initiatives.

31 Activism & Humanitarianism
Speakers
Angela Davis | Legendary Human Rights Activist

Angela Davis

Legendary human rights activist

We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.

Jelani Cobb

New Yorker Staff Writer | Columbia Journalism School Dean | Speaker on race, history, politics and culture in America

In the fight for racial justice, we must face the past to forge a better future.

Clint Smith

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of How the Word Is Passed and Above Ground | Atlantic Staff Writer

The legacy of slavery still shapes our cities, roads, and stories today. Understanding our history will help us make sense of our world—and fight for a better one.

Marcus Bullock | Founder and CEO of Flikshop | Justice Reform Advocate | TED Speaker

Marcus Bullock

Founder and CEO of Flikshop | Justice Reform Advocate | TED Speaker

How can we leverage personal challenges into positive social change?

Bill McKibben | New York Times bestselling author of The Flag, The Cross, and the Station Wagon, Falter, and The End of Nature | Founder of 350.org and Third Act

Bill McKibben

New York Times bestselling author of The Flag, The Cross, and the Station Wagon, Falter, and The End of Nature | Founder of 350.org and Third Act

The one thing that needs to be bigger than climate change is our movement to stop it.

Eman Mohammed | TED Senior Fellow and Photojournalist

Eman Mohammed

Award-winning photojournalist | TED Senior Fellow

We need to bring the other’s side into focus to recognize our shared humanity.

David Fleischer | Director of Leadership Lab | Community Activist

David Fleischer

Director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Leadership LAB | Deep canvassing pioneer | Community and political activist

There is a method to reducing prejudice. 15,000 conversations showed us how.

Megan Phelps-Roper | Former Member of the Westboro Baptist Church | Author of Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church

Megan Phelps-Roper

Former Member of the Westboro Baptist Church | Author of Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church

We must extend empathy and compassion to the people who show us hostility and contempt.

Bill Strickland | An Extraordinary Business and Community Leader

Bill Strickland

An Extraordinary Business and Community Leader

Give people the tools they need, treat them with respect, and they will perform miraculous deeds.

Reza Aslan

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot and An American Martyr in Persia | Distinguished Professor, UC Riverside

To protect our democracy, we must stand in solidarity with all people, everywhere.

Adam Harris

Author of The State Must Provide: The Definitive History of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education | Staff Writer at The Atlantic

Higher education could be a powerful force for equity and democracy—but it must face up to its history of racial injustice first.

Raquel Willis

Award-Winning Black Transgender Activist | Author of The Risk It Takes to Bloom | Co-Founder of the Transgender Week of Visibility and Action

Outdated ideas of gender are holding us all back. When we abandon them and fight for Black transgender liberation, we all flourish.

Margot Lee Shetterly

Author of Hidden Figures: the #1 New York Times bestseller and hit film

A greater diversity of voices in science, in the STEM fields, is key to the future of American innovation.

Emily Bazelon | Author of New York Times Bestselling Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration

Emily Bazelon

New York Times bestselling author of Charged | New York Times Magazine staff writer | Political Gabfest co-host

Justice in America is at a crossroads. We have the opportunity to forge a better, fairer future.

Shivani Siroya | Founder and CEO of Tala

Shivani Siroya

Founder and CEO of Tala

Radical trust is the currency driving the future of our financial institutions.

Jessica Green

CEO of Phylagen, Inc. | TED Senior Fellow

An unlikely ally in fairness—the microbiome—may hold the key to a more transparent business world.

Negin Farsad

Social justice comedian | Director of The Muslims Are Coming! | Author of How to Make White People Laugh

We can dispel Islamophobia—and other forms of hatred—through jokes.

Gabby Rivera

Author of Juliet Takes a Breath and the Marvel comic series America

Living a revolutionary life starts with joy.

Jeff Chang

Social Historian, Cultural Critic & Community Organizer | Author of We Gon’ Be Alright and Can't Stop Won't Stop

Real solidarity and racial justice begins when we bring community into everything we do.

Vijay Gupta

Founder of Street Symphony | 2018 MacArthur Genius | TED Senior Fellow

Music speaks to people—touches people—in ways words alone cannot.

LaToya Ruby Frazier

Award-winning photographer | Associate professor of photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago | MacArthur Genius

Art is a weapon. Photos can change society—our view of ourselves and our communities.

Jer Thorp

Author of Living in Data | Former Library of Congress Innovator in Residence | Former NYT Data Artist-in-Residence

The future of data is about to be written—and it’s up to us to imagine a more just data democracy.

Candy Chang

Urban space artist behind the "Before I Die" walls

With powerful public art, we can engage communities in real conversations.

Ashton Applewhite

Anti-Ageism Activist | Author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

Ageism is prejudice against our future selves. What if we were free of it?

Jessica Jackley | Co-Founder of Kiva, the microlending site, and Author of Clay Water Brick

Jessica Jackley

Co-Founder of Kiva, the microlending site, and Author of Clay Water Brick

The connection between two individuals is a powerful agent for social change.

Dr. Richard Heinzl

Founder of Doctors Without Borders, Canada

We live in a borderless world. Follow what you love—there is a world waiting for you out there.

Naomi Klein | Author of On Fire, No Is Not Enough, This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine, & No Logo

Naomi Klein

Internationally Bestselling Author of Doppelganger, This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine, and No Logo

The "Mirror World"—a dimension of Artificial Intelligence, doppelgangers, and misinformation—is changing not only our political landscape but also what it means to be human.

Shaun King | Activist | Founder & CEO of The North Star | Author of Make Change

Shaun King

Activist | Founder & CEO of The North Star | Author of Make Change

If you've ever wondered what you would do if you were alive in the Civil Rights Movement, now is the time to find out.

Waneek Horn-Miller | Olympian, Activist, and Speaker on Indigenous Health and Reconciliation

Waneek Horn-Miller

Olympian, Activist, and Speaker on Indigenous Health and Reconciliation

Your struggle is your motivation in disguise.

Minnijean Brown-Trickey

Civil Rights Legend who Helped Desegregate Public Schools | Member of the Little Rock Nine

When we challenge what we know to be morally wrong, we grow as a society.

Molly Crabapple | Award-Winning Artist and Journalist | Author of Brothers of the Gun

Molly Crabapple

Award-winning artist and journalist | Author of Brothers of the Gun

Beauty is survival, not distraction—a way of fighting, a reason to fight.