FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Alex Kotlowitz
BESTSELLING AUTHOR • JOURNALIST • DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER

A national bestseller, There Are No Children Here was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the 20th century. It has received many awards, including the Helen B. Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Carl Sandburg Award, and a Christopher Award. In 1993, it was made into a television movie starring Oprah Winfrey. It continues to be taught at high schools, colleges, and universities across the nation.

In his latest, An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago, which Wes Moore calls “revelatory and brilliant,” Kotlowitz returns a generation later to some of Chicago’s most turbulent neighborhoods to offer a spellbinding collection of intimate profiles of people and communities touched by gun violence. Kotlowitz previously examined the stubborn persistence of urban violence in his Emmy Award-winning documentary The Interrupters—a collaboration with Hoop Dreams director Steve James. It was praised by The New York Times’ A.O. Scott for its ability to “open up” the topic of urban violence and not limit the story to “the comforting clarity of easy conclusions.”

Kotlowitz’s work has regularly appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine and on This American Life (notably, the Peabody Award-winning “Harper High School” double episode). His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, and Granta.

For more information on Alex Kotlowitz, please visit alexkotlowitz.com.

PUBLIC POLICY SPEAKER:
Iheoma U. Iruka
DIRECTOR, EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND RACIAL EQUITY PROGRAM AT FRANK PORTER GRAHAM CHILD DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP AWARDEE, LEADERSHIP COLLOQUIUM SPEAKER:
Aisha Ray
PROFESSOR EMERITA: ERIKSON INSTITUTE

CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Jahmal Cole
CHAMPION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE • MY BLOCK, MY HOOD, MY CITY

Conference Schedule at a Glance