Conference Keynotes Include Writers, an Academic, and a Professional Engager
Whether it is developing skills to ignite a sense of belonging or receiving an infusion of energy designed to identify opportunities for innovation and right-sizing, ACUI Annual Conference attendees will walk away satisfied from an opening keynote address by Rob Lawless, the man who spent one hour, 1-on-1, with 10,000 different people.
Lawless sees the world from an incredibly unique perspective. After earning a finance degree, working as a business analyst and transitioning to a sales role at a venture-funded startup, he began to miss the authentic connection he’d experienced in college at Penn State. As a result, he set off on a journey in November 2015 to meet 10,000 people for an hour each for no specific reason. The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and he began meeting people from diverse backgrounds. Lawless’s interactive and captivating keynote will take you through his experience and share how making meaningful connections can drive growth and innovation within your organization.
Lawless will welcome ACUI members to New York City in this opening keynote on Sunday, March 16. The next morning, Monday, March 17, will offer an all-conference session focused on resilience, learning, and determination as Anya Kamenetz and Mahogany L. Browne share stories based on their passions for storytelling and writing.
ACUI 2025 Keynote Speakers
From left: Rob Lawless, Anya Kamenetz, Mahogany Browne, Dr. Terrell Strayhorn
Kamenetz is an award-winning former correspondent for National Public Radio with a passion for the complexities of how we learn, work, and live in a rapidly changing world. Kamenetz is described as a futurist with a passion for the complexities of how we learn, work, and live in a rapidly changing world. A former correspondent at NPR coordinating education coverage online and on air, her reporting has appeared in The Guardian, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Oprah’s “O” Magazine, Slate, The Village Voice, WIRED, The Washington Post, and many others. She’s covered learning, technology, and educational transformation for two decades and in five books with a sense of empathy and a sense of humor.
Browne is a Kennedy Center’s Next 50 fellow and MacDowell Arts Advocacy Awardee, as well as a writer, playwright, organizer, and educator. Browne received fellowships from All Arts, Arts for Justice, Air Serenbe, Baldwin for the Arts, Cave Canem, Hawthornden, Poets House, Mellon Research, Rauschenberg, Wesleyan University, and UCross. Her books include “Vinyl Moon,” “Chlorine Sky,” “Black Girl Magic,” and banned books “Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice” and “Woke Baby.” Founder of the diverse lit initiative Woke Baby Book Fair, Browne currently tours Chrome Valley and is the 2024 Paterson Poetry Prize winner. Browne holds an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree awarded by Marymount Manhattan College and is the inaugural poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center.
Wednesday night’s closing keynote will feature a leading authority in the fields of education, psychology, and leadership—internationally known for his groundbreaking research and scholarship on sense of belonging. Dr. Terrell Strayhorn currently serves as professor of education and psychology at Virginia Union University, where he also works as vice provost, interim dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, director of research in the Center for the Study of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and principal investigator of The Belonging Lab. Authoring over 12 books, more than 200 academic publications, and dozens of op-eds, letters, and blogs, Strayhorn has dedicated his career to working with individuals from diverse, vulnerable, and system-impacted backgrounds.
