Keynote Speaker – Mr. Hill Harper
Hill Harper is an award winning actor, bestselling author and philanthropist. Hill is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Letters to a Young Brother, Letters to a Young Sister, and The Conversation. Letters to a Young Brother was named “Best Book for Young Adults” by the American Library Association in 2007. Hill currently stars on the hit television drama CSI:NY as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes. CSI is the most successful television franchise in history. To date, his collective writing and acting work has been recognized with six NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Literary Work: Debut Author (2007), Outstanding Literary Work: Youth/Teens (2007, 2008), and Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (2007, 2008, 2009).
Hill has also appeared in numerous prime-time television shows and feature films including For Colored Girls, The Sopranos, ER, The Game, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Lackawanna Blues, He Got Game, The Skulls, In Too Deep, The Nephew, and The Visit. He is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, dedicated to empowering, encouraging, and inspiring underserved youth to succeed through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs. Hill graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brown University (and was valedictorian of his department) and cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
He also holds a master’s degree with honors from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and honorary doctoral degrees from Howard University, Winston-Salem State University, Westfield State College, and Tougaloo College.
Hill travels frequently as a motivational speaker and resonates with a wide range of audiences including youth, adults, and couples. Named one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive, he lives in Los Angeles.