Evening of Inspired Leaders In Past Years

2021 Evening of Inspired Leaders

Speakers

Mohamad Ali Andrew Bacevich Stéphane Bancel Alondra Bobadilla
Eve Bridburg
Kaovanny Lisa MullinsWesley Stace
Bina VenkataramanMarquis VictorDr. 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 WatersGladys 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 GaimanSydney 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