Featured Speakers

Opening Speaker
JOHN LEGEND
Sunday, March 11, 5:00-7:00 PM

Recording artist, concert performer, and philanthropist John Legend has won nine Grammy awards and was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. In his Time 100 tribute to Legend, Quincy Jones explained "He is a genius…and we've seen only the tip of the iceberg. For all that he has already achieved in his career, it is going to be fun watching where he goes from here."

Throughout his career, Legend has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. In 2007, he launched the Show Me Campaign, an initiative that uses education to break the cycle of poverty. For his efforts, Legend was awarded the 2010 BET Humanitarian of the Year award, the CARE Humanitarian Award for Global Change in June 2009, and the 2009 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award by Africare.

Legend sits on the boards of The Education Equality Project, Teach for America, and the Harlem Village Academies, and co-chairs the Harlem Village Academies' National Leadership Board. He is the national spokesperson for Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a non-profit organization that assists the next generation of minority business leaders. In 2007, John was named spokesman for GQ Magazine's "Gentlemen's Fund", an initiative to raise support and awareness for five cornerstones essential to men: opportunity, health, education, environment, and justice. He is also a member of the board of directors of PopTech, a unique innovation network with a mission to accelerate the positive impact of world-changing people, projects, and ideas.

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Dan Choi 
Monday, March 12, 10:30 - 11:45 AM

On March 19, 2009, Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Iraq veteran fluent in Arabic, announced that he was gay on The Rachel Maddow Show. Because of three words – "I am gay" – Lt. Choi's life changed forever. Despite his extreme value as an Arabic speaker able to communicate quickly and clearly with the Iraqi people, one month after his announcement, Lt. Choi was notified that the Army had initiated discharge proceedings against him.  

At West Point, Lt. Choi recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught him to "choose the harder right over the easier wrong" and to "never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort. After serving for a decade under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that is why Lt. Choi refused to continue to lie about his identity.

After unsuccessful appeals, the military board discharged Lt. Choi for violation of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." The following year, on November 15, 2010, Choi attended the bill signing that would repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and restore the honor of service to millions of American veterans unjustly punished for their integrity. Lt. Choi continues to advocate for full LGBT civil rights and veteran's health.

Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch
Monday, March 12, 2:45 - 4:00 PM

For the last ten years Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch has dedicated her life to empowering a new generation of Hispanic leaders and has worked with more than one million children and their parents through Educational Achievement Services, Inc. (EAS), a company she founded in 1994.

Born and raised along the border in a small barrio in Laredo, Texas, Kickbusch is all too familiar with the challenges of poverty, discrimination, and illiteracy. Although she grew up without material wealth, she learned through valuable lessons taught by her immigrant parents that she was rich in culture, tradition, values, and faith.

The values she learned as a child were reinforced throughout her career in the U.S. Army, during which time she broke barriers and set records in the military, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the U.S. Army. After two decades of service, she retired, choosing to honor her mother's dying wish to get back to her roots and become a community leader. In 1996, Kickbusch dedicated her time to operating Educational Achievement Services, Inc. and fulfilling her mission of preparing tomorrow's leaders today.

In 1998, Kickbusch and a team of educators created the Family Leadership Institute (FLI)--a multi-faceted educational program focused on providing immigrant/migrant Hispanic families with knowledge, tools, and inspiration to help their first- and second-generation children succeed in school and in life.

Kickbusch's dedication has garnered her numerous awards and citations from educational institutions, government agencies, professional organizations, as well as the national media.  

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Trish Downing
TUESDAY, March 13, 10:15 - 11:45 AM

Trish Downing was always passionate about playing sports. Her professional life was immersed with sports, as well, as she earned a master's degree in sports management and worked at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was the press officer for the USA Table Tennis team at the 17 World University Games in Italy. On September 17, 2000, while training on her bicycle, Downing's life was changed forever when she was hit head-on by a car. Suffering a chest-level spinal cord injury, Downing was paralyzed from the chest down. When Trish was released from the hospital four months later, she knew she still had her whole life ahead of her, and she committed to live it to the fullest. 

As the second female wheelchair racer (and the first female paraplegic) to complete an Ironman distance triathlon, Downing remains a world-class athlete. While her injury changed the means through which she competes, it did not take away her desire to challenge her body and mind toward new achievements in sports and life.

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