Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture at Harvard

Darren Walker is the former president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first non-profit in U.S. history to issue a $1 billion designated social bond to stabilize non-profit organizations in the wake of COVID-19. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation. Previously, he was COO of Harlem’s Abyssinian Development Corporation. Darren co-founded both the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance and the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy.  In 2022, he was awarded France’s highest cultural honor, Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters, for leadership in the arts. 

In 2023, he was also appointed by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II to the Order of the British Empire for services to UK/US relations. He serves on many boards, including the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Committee to Protect Journalists, Ralph Lauren, Bloomberg Inc. and PepsiCo. In 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Darren the National Humanities Medal, which honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s engagement with the arts and humanities. 

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Sherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer and scholar. From 2013-2022, she served as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. She recently served as a Ford Foundation Fellow and as the Klinsky Visiting Professor for Leadership & Progress at Howard Law School. Ifill is currently the Vernon Jordan Distinguished Professor in Civil Rights at Howard Law School, where later this year she will launch the 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy. Ifill holds a fellowship at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Ifill’s tenure at the helm of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund was widely praised for elevating the profile, voice and influence of the organization, and for expanding and deepening its work across multiple areas of civil rights law. Ifill’s voice and analysis played a prominent role in shaping our national conversation about race and civil rights during a tumultuous period of racial reckoning in our country. Her strategic vision and counsel remains highly sought after by leaders in government, business, law, grassroots organizations, and academia.

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Loretta E. Lynch, the former United States Attorney General, is a partner in the Paul, Weiss Litigation Department. Ms. Lynch advises clients on government and internal investigations and on high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters. Ms. Lynch’s legal career has included both private law practice and public service, including three presidential appointments. Ms. Lynch served as the U.S. Attorney General from 2015-2017, where she was appointed by President Barack Obama. As Attorney General, Ms. Lynch oversaw more than 100,000 employees across numerous agencies and offices, including the 93 U.S. Attorneys; major investigative agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Prisons; the National Security Division; and the Office of the Solicitor General, among others. Ms. Lynch has been named one of Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation.” Additionally, Ms. Lynch has been recognized by Chambers in the Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (New York) category. Ms. Lynch received her J.D. and her B.A. in American Literature from Harvard University.

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Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, president emeritus of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County), works with college, university, K-12, government, and business leaders as a consultant, lecturer, and speaker on such topics as leadership, STEM education, workforce development, and civic engagement.

Dr.  Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. President Obama named him chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans in 2012. His widely viewed TED talk highlights the Four Pillars of College Success in Science. 

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