Top Activist Speakers
Top Activist Speakers
Alanis Morissette
This Canadian songstress has sold tens of millions of albums and been nominated for and won scores of awards including Grammy's and Golden Globes during a decade-long career. But that's not enough for a woman who has spent years giving a voice to causes from global warming to disaster aid.
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin is a graduate of New York University (BFA-Tisch, 94) and was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from NYU in 2010. He last appeared on stage in the 2010 Guild Hall (East Hampton) production of Peter Shaffer’s EQUUS, directed by Tony Walton. Other stage includes the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2006 production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane, directed by Scott...
Alyssa Milano
Actress Alyssa Milano has spent almost her entire life in the public eye. A famous child actor, Alyssa has continued to work throughout her adulthood in both television and film. Alyssa has a history of starring in long running successful television series. She most recently starred on the hit WB series "Charmed" for nine years. The series' debut was the highest-rated premiere in the network
Andy Cohen
Andy Cohen is Bravo's Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Development. He is responsible for overseeing the network's current development and production slate including hits such as the Emmy and James Beard award-winning "Top Chef," “Top Chef Masters,” "The Real Housewives” franchises, "The Millionaire Matchmaker," "Million Dollar Listing," “The Rachel Zoe Project,"...
Betty Anne Waters
What would you do if your loved one was sentenced to life in prison – and you were 100% certain of his innocence? Betty Anne Waters – inspiration for the upcoming major motion picture Betty Anne Waters "Conviction" starring Oscar© winner Hillary Swank – lived that nightmare when, in 1983, her brother was sentenced to life without parole for a murder and robbery he swore he didn’t commit. When...
Bill Milliken
Bill Milliken has been a tireless advocate for disenfranchised youth and one of the foremost pioneers in the movement to connect schools with community resources to help troubled students graduate and succeed in life. In 1977, he and others developed a model organization, now known as Communities In Schools. He served CIS for more than 25 years as national president and currently is vice...
Cameron Sinclair
As the Executive Director and Co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, Cameron Sinclair is not only an architect, but an author, humanitarian and world-class visionary. During his studies at the University of Westminster and at the Bartlett School of Architecture, Cameron developed a passion in social, cultural and humanitarian design. His resulting postgraduate thesis focused on providing...
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate has endeared herself to audiences and received accolades for her strength and versatility in theatre, film and television. With her recent People’s Choice nomination for “Favorite TV Female,” and her recent Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy" for Samantha Who?....jpg)
Dan Savage
Dan Savage is a writer, TV personality, and activist best known for his political and social commentary, as well as his honest approach to sex, love and relationships. Savage’s sex advice column, “Savage Love,” is syndicated in newspapers and websites throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He is the Editorial Director of The Stranger, Seattle’s weekly alternative newspaper...
David Simon
David Simon, 49, is a Baltimore-based journalist, author and television producer. Born in Washington, he came to Baltimore in 1983 to work as a crime reporter at The Baltimore Sun. While at the paper, he reported and wrote two works of narrative non-fiction, Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the former an account of a...
Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black is a screenwriter, producer, director and social activist, having won the Academy Award® and two WGA Awards for Best Original Screenplay for MILK, the biopic of the late civil rights activist Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn. He is also a founding board members of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) which is leading the Federal Case against Prop 8 in CA with...
Eve Ensler
EVE ENSLER, playwright, performer, and activist, is the author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, translated into over 45 languages and performed in over 130 countries, including sold-out runs at both Off-Broadway's Westside Theater and on London's West End (2002 Olivier Award nomination, Best Entertainment.) Her experience performing THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES inspired her to create V-Day, a global movement...
Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone on November 23, 1980. When he was eleven, Ishmael’s life, along with the lives of millions of other Sierra Leoneans, was derailed by the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After his parents and two brothers were killed, Ishmael was recruited to fight as a child soldier. He was thirteen.
Jay Sean
Jay Sean is the international superstar behind songs such as "Down," featuring Lil Wayne, and "Do You Remember," chart-topping hits from his U.S. debut album All or Nothing, which helped catapult him into a league reserved for just a few. Now, he is gearing up for the release of his fourth album, the highly anticipated Cash Money/Universal Republic follow-up Freeze Time, with music, including...
Jeffrey Wright
Critically acclaimed actor Jeffrey Wright continually pushes the boundaries of his craft with inspiring and celebrated performances in an illustrious career that has spanned the worlds of theatre, film and television. In addition to acting, Wright is Vice Chairman of Taia Lion Resources and Chairman of Taia Peace Foundation. He also serves on the boards of directors of the Tribeca Film...
Kerry Washington
Winner of “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” for Ray at the NAACP Image Awards in 2005 and nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for “Best Actress” in the film Lift in 2002, Kerry Washington is a versatile and fearless actress who has built an impressive list of credits in a relatively short amount of time. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in The Last King of Scotland...
Kimberly Peirce
Kimberly Peirce staked her place as a director of singular vision with her unflinching debut feature, BOYS DON'T CRY, which became one of the most acclaimed and talked about films of the year, earning numerous honors including the Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for the film's star, Hilary Swank. Chloe Sevigny was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and...
Laura Dern
Three-time Golden Globe Award winner LAURA DERN is born from Hollywood royalty and appeared in such iconic films as JURASSIC PARK and RAMBLING ROSE for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination. Currently, Laura stars in the award-winning and critically acclaimed HBO series “Enlightened,” which she also co-created and executive produces. Laura has proven to....jpg)
Lauren Bush
Lauren Bush is the CEO, Creative Director, and Co-Founder of FEED Projects, a charitable company with the mission to create good products that help feed the world. Each FEED bag sold supports various organizations like the UN World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, Millennium Villages and others. Lauren started her work as an Honorary Spokesperson for the WFP in 2004, when she helped to launch...
Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage's play, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark,enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (Lily Award, Drama Desk Nomination). It can be seen at The Geffen Playhouse and Goodman Theatre. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined, which involves the plight of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre (OBIE...
Marcellus Wiley
Marcellus Wiley is a sports broadcaster and radio host for ESPN and ESPN LA Radio. Wiley joined ESPN in 2007 as an in-studio NFL analyst. Since then, his duties at ESPN have expanded across all platforms. In January of 2011, Wiley was named co-host of "Max & Marcellus" on 710AM ESPN Radio in Los Angeles. In 2010, the animated and charismatic Wiley was named co-host of the hit show Winners...
Oliver Stone
OLIVER STONE has been credited with writing and or directing over 20 full-length feature films, earning him a well-respected place in cinematic history for some of the most influential and iconic films of the last two decades. Throughout his long career, which began at a young age writing short plays for his family, Oliver has served as director, writer and producer ...
Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis is the award-winning filmmaker who, in 2006, became the first screenwriter to write two Best Film Oscar winners back-to-back – Million Dollar Baby (2004) directed by Clint Eastwood, and Crash (2005) which he himself directed. For Crash, he won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The film also received an additional four nominations including one for....jpg)
Paul Rieckhoff
Paul Rieckhoff, 35, is the Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), America’s first and largest organization for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. A nonpartisan, nonprofit founded in 2004 with over 200,000 members in all 50 states, IAVA’s mission is to improve the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and their families. From 2003 to 2004, Rieckhoff...
Sylvia Earle
National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence Dr. Sylvia A. Earle, called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine, is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for a number of corporate and non-profit....jpg)
Wyclef Jean
Haitian-born Wyclef Jean is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter/musician/producer, humanitarian, Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti, and founder of Yéle Haiti. A founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Fugees and prolific solo artist, Wyclef has effortlessly crossed genres, generations and geographic boundaries with his music. Wyclef's musical journey began in Haiti where he sang in his...
Viola Davis
Classically trained, award-winning actor, VIOLA DAVIS has conquered every medium from stage to television to film. From her Tony Award winning performances in “King Hedley II” and “Fences” to her Academy Award nominated performances in THE HELP and DOUBT, Viola has burst through every barrier to become one of the most accomplished and celebrated actors today. In THE HELP, Davis...
Sean Penn
Two-time Academy Award® winner Sean Penn has become an American film icon in a career spanning nearly three decades. Penn has been nominated five times for the Academy Award® as Best Actor for DEAN MAN WALKING, SWEET AND LOWDOWN, I AM SAM, and won his first Oscar® in 2003 for his searing performance in Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER and his second Oscar® as Best Actor in 2009...
Melissa Etheridge
Songwriter, pioneer, environmentalist, and cancer survivor are just a few ways to describe MELISSA ETHERIDGE. But she will always be known first as a rocker. Her career leapt forward in 1986, when Island Records signed her. Her fourth record, Yes I Am (1993), launched her into rock stardom with the two giant hits: "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window." Etheridge, who..
More Speakers
- Christina Applegate
- Alec Baldwin
- Ishmael Beah
- Dustin Lance Black
- Lauren Bush
- Andy Cohen
- Viola Davis
- Laura Dern
- Sylvia Earle
- Eve Ensler
- Melissa Etheridge
- Paul Haggis
- Wyclef Jean
- Alyssa Milano
- Bill Milliken
- Alanis Morissette
- Lynn Nottage
- Kimberly Peirce
- Sean Penn
- Paul Rieckhoff
- Dan Savage
- Jay Sean
- David Simon
- Cameron Sinclair
- Oliver Stone
- Kerry Washington
- Betty Anne Waters
- Marcellus Wiley
- Jeffrey Wright
Activist
Activist
Even though the 1960's have long since passed, college and university campuses are still a hotbed of political activity and social activism. Activists are popular college speakers because they share the same passion and dedication to their causes as the young people who line up to be a part of their audience.
Their causes span the spectrum of grass roots movements and include: environmental issues, global social causes, awareness regarding repressive regimes and other important global happenings.
Activists are leading the way for real change, and as CAA Speakers they spread their message to audiences of all ages - at colleges, universities and special events around the country.
Make a difference with your next on-campus event. Book an activist speaker from CAA Speakers.