Wes Moore to Speak at Innovations Conference in Philadelphia
Wes Moore, youth advocate, Army combat veteran, promising business leader, and national bestselling author of The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, joins an extraordinary line up of keynote speakers at the Innovations Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 4-7, 2012. Wes overcame a troubled childhood and early discipline problems to graduate Phi Theta Kappa as a commissioned officer from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations in 2001. He then completed a MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004.
Wes is recognized as an authority on the rise and ramifications of radical Islamism in the Western Hemisphere. He served as a paratrooper and Captain in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and spearheaded the American strategic support plan for the Afghan Reconciliation Program. A White House Fellow from 2006–2007, Wes served as a Special Assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Following his time at the White House, Wes was an investment professional in New York at Citigroup, focusing on global technology and alternative investments.
Wes is passionate about supporting U.S. veterans and examining the roles education, mentoring, and public service play in the lives of American youth. He is committed to helping young people to redirect their lives and to supporting the parents, teachers, mentors, and volunteers who care for and work with them. Pointing out that a high school student drops out every nine seconds, Wes says that public servants—the teachers, mentors, and volunteers who work with young people—are as imperative to national standing and survival as are the armed forces. “Public service does not have to be an occupation,” he says, “but it must be a way of life.”
Wes serves on Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America’s Board of Directors, Johns Hopkins University’s Board of Trustees, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (Baltimore’s Advisory Board), and is a Clinton Global Initiative Lead program Fellow. While a student at Johns Hopkins he founded STAND!, an organization that works with Baltimore youth involved in the criminal justice system. Wes was a featured speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the first 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. He has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Baltimore Sun, People Magazine, Essence, “Oprah,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” “Meet the Press,” “Charlie Rose,” “Tavis Smiley,” “The View,” and NPR among others.
The League's Innovations Conference is March 4-7, 2012, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The deadline to receive the early registration discount is January 28, and the deadline for reserving a room at the conference hotel, the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, at the special conference rate is February 10. For hotel and travel information, click here.
Join community college educators from across the continent at the Innovations 2012 Conference to hear his inspirational story and meet the man behind the book.
