Rebecca Walker Keynote Speaker

  • Popular Thought Leader and Diversity Speaker
  • Award-winning Writer and Cultural Ambassador
  • Named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential leaders of her generation

Rebecca Walker's Biography

Rebecca Walker was born to civil rights attorney Mel Leventhal and Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker in 1969 in the first integrated hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. Rebecca was raised under their tutelage in New York and San Francisco before moving to New Haven to attend Yale College, where she graduated summa cum laude with honors in African and African-American history. After graduation, she founded Third Wave Foundation, a non-profit designed to support young women and transgender youth working for social justice. Within two years, Time Magazine named her one of the most influential leaders of her generation.

It was during her senior year at Yale that Rebecca began writing her memoir, Black, White & Jewish, the first of seven books on issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and power. The book was a national bestseller, the winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association, and is now taught in high schools and universities across the world. This was followed by a book on changing masculinity, What Makes a Man, and then a second, critically acclaimed memoir, Baby Love, about the challenges of choosing motherhood within a feminist culture that prioritized less domestic pursuits.

Walker has received many fellowships, including residencies at Dartmouth, Yaddo, MacDowell, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the University of Linkoping in Sweden. She has addressed audiences on a variety of topics including intergenerational feminism, multiracial identity, contemporary shifts in the American family, the creative process, and more at over three hundred universities, writing conferences, and corporate campuses globally including Harvard, MIT, The Jaipur Literary Festival, Facebook, and JP Morgan Chase.

Her latest novel, Ade: A Love Story (2013) is a powerful tale of intercultural and interfaith love and loss set in East Africa, currently being developed by Bruce Cohen Productions (Silver Linings Playbook) with Madonna attached to direct. Walker’s current literary projects explore the relationship between women and money, and the coming of age of a young artist. She is simultaneously developing two television series based on Black White & Jewish, and her most recent collection: Black Cool.

Walker is a very popular speaker on issues of diversity, creativity, human evolution, and social change.

Read More

Videos of Rebecca Walker

TEDxLundUniversity: The Sovereign Self (2013)
TEDxLundUniversity: The Sovereign Self (2013)
Between the Lines: Rebecca Walker (2014)
Between the Lines: Rebecca Walker (2014)
Rebecca Walker Nordiskt forum (2014)
Rebecca Walker Nordiskt forum (2014)

Comments & Testimonials

Rebecca opened up a whole new dimension to the topic and her informal, candid style of speaking truly illustrated how the meaning of power should be redefined.
Catharina Hansson Editor-in-Chief, Leva magazine

Check Rebecca Walker's speaking fees and availability

    Sending your message…

    Please wait, this can take a moment

    Message sent…

    Close

    Please provide your details and we’ll get in touch as soon as possible.

    We can only respond to requests for professional speaking engagements. We are unable to respond to requests for autographs, shoutouts and personalized messages.

    View our related Speakers

    nally attar
    Nelly Attar Speaker
    Exclusive
    Nelly Attar
    Fitness ambassador across the Middle East
    Anil Seth speaking
    Anil Seth Speaker
    Exclusive
    Anil Seth
    World-renowned neuroscientist, bestselling author and TED speaker
    Stephen Trzeciak Speaker
    Exclusive
    Stephen Trzeciak
    Physician, Scientist and Professor
    Jeremy Myerson Speaker
    Exclusive
    Jeremy Myerson
    Expert on bringing inclusive approach to the future of work
    Carole Cadwalladr Speaker
    Exclusive
    Carole Cadwalladr
    Pulitzer-Nominated Investigative Journalist
    Anna Piperal Speaker
    Exclusive
    Anna Piperal
    Expert on Marketing and E-Governance
    adah parris headshot
    Adah Parris Speaker
    Exclusive
    Adah Parris
    Futurist, Keynote Speaker, Cultural Strategist; TED2019 Emerging Innovator
    Jillian Kowalchuk smiling
    Jillian Kowalchuk Speaker
    Exclusive
    Jillian Kowalchuk
    Award-winning Tech Entrepreneur, Keynote Speaker, Author
    David Wengrow headshot
    David Wengrow Speaker
    Exclusive
    David Wengrow
    British Archaeologist and Author of New York Times Bestseller, The Dawn of Everything
    Kevin Chesters Speaker
    Exclusive
    Kevin Chesters
    Leading Marketing Strategist and Co-Author of "The Creative Nudge"