Fierce Urgency of Now Opening Ceremony featuring Heather McGhee

We welcome you to join us for our 4th annual *virtual* Fierce Urgency of Now opening ceremony ft. Author and Advocate – Heather McGhee!

This year’s virtual ceremony will feature renowned expert and influential thinker Heather McGhee.

Heather McGhee is the author of New York Times bestseller, “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together ”. This powerful discussion comes during a time when we, as a community, as a region, and as a nation must continue to work together and hold each other accountable to ensure real, lasting change.

Be seen. Be heard. Be inspired. Be together.

Attendees will leave this festival kick off discussion feeling empowered and eager to participate in a week of events geared toward celebrating and elevating the diversity of Boston’s next generation.

We hope to have you with us for this impactful discussion that will provide us all with the tools we need to contribute to making Boston a better place where all people can thrive.

Thank you to presenting sponsors: Barr Foundation, John Hancock, P&G Gillette

AGENDA:

9:45am – 10:15am Networking

10:15am – 10:45am Moderated discussion

10:45am – 11:10am Audience Q&A

11:10am – 11:15am Closing Remarks

SPEAKER:

Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Her new book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together is now available from One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Her 2020 TED talk, “Racism Has a Cost for Everyone” reached 1 million views in just two months online. In the coming year, she will launch an original podcast on how to create cross-racial solidarity in challenging times.

Heather has testified in Congress, drafted legislation, and developed strategies for organizations and campaigns that won changes to improve the lives of millions. For nearly two decades, she helped build the non-partisan “think and do” tank Demos, serving four years as president. Through her regular media appearances, she elevates the concerns of working families on programs including NBC’s “Meet the Press”.

She is the chair of the board of Color of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organization, and volunteers for numerous other boards in the fields of philanthropy and social justice. Heather graduated from Yale University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and has honorary degrees from Muhlenberg College and Niagara University. She lives in Brooklyn with her urbanist husband, a twenty year-old cat and a chatty toddler.

THIS EVENT IS HOSTED BY: City Awake a program of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

City Awake is the Boston Chamber’s premier young professional platform that awakens and empowers the city’s next generation of thought leaders and change makers who are navigating Boston’s business, civic, and cultural communities. The next generation is our future and Boston is home to some of the most creative, most educated, and most diverse young professional population in the U.S. The Boston Chamber supports rising leaders as they embark on their professional journeys throughout Greater Boston and beyond.