Heather McGhee
Bestselling Author of The Sum of Us
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Keynote will be presented virtually. Registration details to come in September.
The Delaware Community Foundation is committed to building opportunity for all and advancing racial equity. Our community is stronger when we all have the opportunity to thrive, and for too long there have been — and continue to be — historic barriers, legal and cultural, to the full participation of Black and brown Delawareans.
On October 13, 2021, we are thrilled to host Heather McGhee as our featured Building Opportunity Keynote speaker, in partnership with Barclays US Consumer Bank. McGhee’s New York Times best-seller The Sum of Us captures her journey across our country, talking with Americans of all races along the way. McGhee makes a powerful case that racism has a cost to all of us, and that we can achieve real societal gains – higher wages, cleaner air, better funded schools – when we link arms and work together.
Join us in October for this virtual presentation, during which McGhee will explore how racism divides and devastates us, and how we can chart a path forward together—to create a just and equitable future for all.
As the former president of the inequality-focused think tank Demos, McGhee has drafted legislation, testified before Congress, and become a regular contributor on shows like Meet the Press and Real Time with Bill Maher. She also led Demos’ own racial equity organizational transformation, resulting in a doubling of the organization’s racial diversity and growth across all measures of organizational impact. McGhee’s riveting talks communicate this with passion and seriousness, “challenging the paradigm of racial competition in this country.” Racism doesn’t just hurt us on a personal level. It divides and alienates companies and their employees, employees and their clients, clients and brands. The trickledown, explains McGhee, is far-reaching. Her talks address this with clear takeaways, like how to make the process mission-critical, how to get buy-in from your teams, and how to do it all with joy.
McGhee holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. She is the Chair of the Board of Color of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organization, and serves on multiple other boards of trustees, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Demos. For the latest updates on Heather’s writing, speeches, and media appearances, visit www.heathermcghee.com.
Read The Book For Free!
In addition to the featured presentation, we will be supporting statewide Book Circles in the reading of The Sum of Us. We aim to inspire conversation by providing 500 free books to discussion groups across Delaware. Learn more.
Highlights from the 2020 Keynote
Thank you to Lead Sponsor:
