2021 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Mohamad Ali • Andrew Bacevich • Stéphane Bancel • Alondra Bobadilla
Eve Bridburg • Kaovanny • Lisa Mullins • Wesley Stace
Bina Venkataraman • Marquis Victor • Dr. Rochelle Walensky
2020 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Roseanne Cash • Sharon Castang • Anthony Febo • Regie Gibson
Vikiana Petit-Homme • Darrell Jones • Dr. Anne Klibanski • Margaret Low
Yo Yo Ma • Julia Mejia • Michelle Quirk • David Waters • Gladys Vega
emceed by Meghna Chakrabarti
Poems
Rosanne Cash Poem: “My Mother, My Mother” Luther Hughes; Song: Motherless Children
Sharon Castang “I Am Minority” (an original poem)
Anthony Febo “I’m Grown From” (an original poem)
Regie Gibson N/A
Vikiana Petit-Homme “The Tradition” Assata Shakur
Darrell Jones “Invictus” William Ernest Henley
Dr. Anne Klibanski “Second Coming” Yeats
Margaret Low “To Be of Use” Marge Piercy
Yo Yo Ma Morricone: The Legend of 1900: Playing Love
Julia Mejia “The 19th” Alondra Bobadilla
Michelle Quirk “Quarantine” Eavan Boland
David Waters “Perhaps the World Ends Here” Joy Harjo
Gladys Vega Common motivational phrase in Spanish; English translation of phrase translated by Gladys herself
2019 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Amanda Palmer • Beth Chandler • Colby Swettberg • David Leonard • David McCullough, Jr.
Dr. Peter Slavin • Elaine Zecher • Eric Lander • John Barros • Kara Elliott-Ortega
Karen Spilka • Neil Gaiman • Sydney Chaffee • Tony Tjan • Yvonne M. Spicer
Emceed by Meghna Chakrabarti
Poems
Amanda Palmer: “Empathy is Nothing” by Amanda Palmer
Beth Chandler: “Madam and the Census Man” by Langston Hughes
Colby Swettberg: “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes
David Leonard: “Let in the Light” by Danielle Legros Georges
David McCullough, Jr.: “Clam” by Mary Oliver
Elaine Zecher: “Psalm 15” (author unknown)
Eric Lander: “Human Family” by Maya Angelou
John Barros: “Displaced Soul” by Nelson Cunha
Kara Elliott-Ortega: “There Are Birds Here” by Jamaal May
Karen Spilka: “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Neil Gaiman: “The Mushroom Hunters” by Neil Gaiman
Dr. Peter Slavin: “When Giving is All We Have” by Alberto Ríos
Rebecca MacLean: “Soulless” by Rebecca MacLean
Sydney Chaffee: “Words” by Anne Sexton
Tony Tjan: “Newfoundland” by E.J. Pratt
Yvonne Spicer: “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
2018 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Governor Charlie Baker • Jonathan Bush • Jim Canales • Superintendent Tommy Chang
Ophelia Dahl • Carolyn De Jesus Martinez • Amanda Gorman • Maura Healey
Celeste Ng • Ambassador Samantha Power • Ayanna Pressley • Elias Rosenfeld
Hank Phillippi Ryan • Karim Sahyoun • Jenny Slate • Ron Slate • Rose Styron
Poems
Amanda Gorman: “On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou
Ayanna Pressley: “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
Carolyn de Jesus Martinez: “Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander
Celeste Ng: “Any Common Desolation” by Ellen Bass
Elias Rosenfeld: “Stuck” by Anonymous
Governor Charlie Baker: “If – ” by Rudyard Kipling
Hank Phillippi Ryan: “On Angels” by Czeslaw Milosz
Jenny Slate: “The Layers” by Stanley Kunitz
Jim Canales: “To be of use” by Marge Piercy
Jonathan Bush: “A Splendid Torch” by George Bernard Shaw
Karim Sahyoun: “To My Friends” and “Shema” by Primo Levi
Michael Maso: “The Prelude” by Matthew Zapruder
Maura Healey: “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Ophelia Dahl: “Imagine the Angels of Bread” by Martín Espada
Ron Slate: “Celestial Music” by Louise Glück
Rose Styron: “Fern Hill” and “The Hand That Signed the Paper” by Dylan Thomas
Ambassador Samantha Power: “A Song on the End of the World” by Czeslaw Milosz
Superintendent Tommy Chang: “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes
2018 Evening of Inspired Leaders in the News
January 18: Wicked Local Plymouth
January 26: Wicked Local Plymouth
February 5: Wicked Local Plymouth
February 7: The Boston Globe
2017 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Jabari Asim • Molly Baldwin • Roger H. Brown • Victoria A. Budson
Anita Diamant • Carol Fulp • Dr. Kerry Healey • Paula A. Johnson • Bryan J. Koop
Marianne Leone • Linda A. Mason • Nicco Mele • Eva A. Millona • Myechia Minter-Jordan
Roshonda Ndebumadu • Linette Nieves • Lloyd Schwartz • Martin J. Walsh
Poems
Anita Diamant: I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman
I, Too by Langston Hughes
Biking to the George Washington Bridge by Alicia Ostriker
Revenge by Elisa Chavez
Bryan Koop: The Law of the Jungle by Rudyard Kipling
Carol Fulp: Theme for English B by Langston Hughes
Eva Millona: Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
Jabari Asim: Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall
Kerry Healey: The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
Linda Mason: To Our Countries by Rihan and Faia Younan
Linette Nieves: Justice The Broken System by Linette Nieves
Lloyd Schwartz: In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop
Marianne Leone: Always, Sometimes by Jesse Cooper
Martin Walsh: Boston (A reluctant love poem)by Regie O’Hare Gibson
Michael Ansara: Chorus from The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney
Mitch Roberts: The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole
Molly Baldwin: The Rhythm of Time by Bobby Sands
Myechia Minter-Jordan: Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Nicco Mele: Could This Be It? by Eamon Grennan
Paula Johnson: Marta Alvarado, History Professor by Marjorie Agosín
Roger Brown: The Journey by Mary Oliver
Ronnie Millar: Everything Is Going to be Alrightby Derek Mahon
Roshonda Ndebumadu: The Dream Deceivedby Roshonda Ndebumadu
Victoria Budson: Summons by Robert Francis
2015 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
David McCullough Sr. • Diane Patrick • Robert Pinsky • Julie Burros
Andre Dubus III • Jody Adams • Ed Harding • Margaret McKenna
David McCullough Jr. • Charles Kravetz • Michael Brown • Joan Wallace-Benjamin
Larry Weber • Peter Wolf • Tom Ashbrook • Yvonne Tran
Poems
David McCullough Sr: “The Listeners,” Walter de la Mare
Diane Patrick: “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes
Robert Pinsky: “Sailing to Byzantium,” W.B. Yeats
Julie Burros: “Praisesong for Boston,” Danielle Legros Georges
Jody Adams: “Peeling Onions,” Adrienne Rich
David McCullough Jr: “When I Heard The Learn’d Astronomer,” Walt Whitman
Michael Brown: “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus
Julianna DeVasto: “not an elegy for Mike Brown,” Danez Smith
Peter Wolf: “For Rhoda,” Delmore Schwartz
Joan Wallace-Benjamin: “I Dream A World,” Langston Hughes
Larry Weber: “Diving into the Wreck,” Adrienne Rich
Andre Dubus III: “Dawn Walk,” Edward Hirsch
Yvonne Tran: “Eros Turannos,” Edwin Arlington Robinson
Charles Kravetz: “Summer Day,” Mary Oliver
Ed Harding: “Those Winter Sundays,”Robert Hayden
Margaret McKenna: “To Be Of Use,” Marge Piercy
Tom Ashbrook: “The Future,” Billy Collins
2014 Evening of Inspired Leaders
Speakers
Honorable Governor Deval Patrick • Robert Pinsky • Jackie Jenkins Scott
Paul Grogan • Gerald Chertavian • Joshua Bogar • Robin Young
Reverend Barbara Harris • Michael Maso • Bill Littlefield • Giles Li
Reverend Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D. • Derek Lumpkins • Edward Davis
Ron Walker • Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS • Porsha Olayiwola
Poems
Honorable Governor Deval L. Patrick – “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
Robert Pinsky – “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
Jackie Jenkins Scott – “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
Paul Grogan – “To be of use” by Marge Piercy
Gerald Chertavian – “Risk” by William Arthur Ward
Joshua Boger – “The Goat” and “Alzheimer’s Monkeys” by Christopher Millis
Robin Young – “To be of use” by Marge Piercy
Reverend Barbara Harris – “On Love” by Khalil Gibran
Michael Maso – “Attack of the Crab Monsters” by Lawrence Raab
Bill Littlefield – “Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits
Giles Li – “Self-Help for Fellow Refugees” by Li-Young Lee
Reverend Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D. – “Honey, I Love” by Eloise Greenfield
Derek Lumpkins – “Harlem Night Song” by Langston Hughes
Edward Davis – “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ron Walker – “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS – “Shoulders” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Porsha Olayiwola – “An Untitled Piece” by Latasha Snider