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University of Pennsylvania Hosts “A Conversation with Stacey Abrams”

February 09, 2021

This virtual event is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Annenberg School for Communication, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, and the Penn Provost’s Office and will be moderated by Benjamin Todd Jealous with featured remarks from Penn President Amy Guttman.

The University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce it will host “A Conversation with Stacey Abrams,” on Friday, February 19 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, the Annenberg School for Communication, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, and Penn Provost’s Office, this virtual event will be moderated by Benjamin Todd Jealous with featured remarks from Penn President Amy Guttman.

Stacey Abrams is an author, serial entrepreneur, non-profit CEO, and political leader. After serving 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Minority Leader, in 2018, Abrams became the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia. Abrams was the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States.

After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every Georgian has a voice in our election system. The impact of Fair Fight led to Abrams being named to the Forbes list of World’s Most Powerful Women in 2020. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the 2012 recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, and a current member of the Board of Directors for the Center for American Progress.

Benjamin Todd Jealous comes to Penn as the Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Law School and a Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication. He is former National President & CEO of the NAACP, former Executive Director of the National Newspaper Publisher’s Association (NNPA), and for more than half a decade, has been investing in social impact startups.

In 2008, Jealous was chosen as the youngest ever president and CEO of the NAACP, and in 2013, the Baltimore Sun named him “Marylander of the Year,” honoring his work on marriage equality, death penalty abolition, and DREAM Act advocacy. He was also a partner at Kapor Capital and previously served as director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International.

The event is open to the public. Registration is free and required: https://www.asc.upenn.edu/abrams