Past Speakers

Barack Obama Nancy Pelosi Bill ClintonCampus Progress works to bring experts, prominent professionals, and creative performers to college campuses and communities across the country. The speakers listed below have either spoken at past Campus Progress events or are interested in speaking at upcoming events. Speakers at our events have included Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, John Lewis, Russ Feingold, Trent Lott, Van Jones, Majora Carter, Tim Russert, Samantha Power, Seymour Hersh, Ryan Gosling, and Talib Kweli.

Speaker Categories

Click on a category to see a list of past or potential speakers to get ideas about who you can bring to your own event.

  • Activists – Poets, writers, organizers, and executive directors who are addressing and challenging a wide range of issues.
  • Communications – Speakers who are specialists on communications such as the Senior Editor of Facebook.com or John Podesta who is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress.
  • Creative Artists – Musicians, cartoonists, rappers and radio hosts who are spreading the progressive message through their own creative art forms.
  • Economic Justice – Speakers who address economic issues including the president of Goldman, Sachs and Company or the managing director of Forest Ethics.
  • Elected Officials – Senators, judges and U.S. state representatives such as speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
  • Environment – Speakers who address climate change and environmental sustainability from organizations such as Energy Action or the Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Films – Directors, filmmakers and producers.
  • Health – Speakers who discuss issues regarding reproductive health and the universal health care debate.
  • Immigration – Speakers who address topics that effect immigration in the U.S. from organizations such as Voto Latino and the National Immigration Forum.
  • International Relations & National Security – Bring speakers from the State Department, the United Nations Foundation, Genocide Intervention Network, or the Center for Strategic and International Studies to your campus.
  • Journalism – Journalists and bloggers from popular progressive publications such as The Nation, Mother Jones, and The American Prospect.
  • LGBTQ – Speakers who are journalists, policy experts, and outreach directors on issues concerning the LGBTQ community.
  • Scholars – Professors from America’s leading universities who teach issues of social justice, foreign policy, civil rights, law, and more.
  • Social Justice – Explore issues of social justice with professors from leading universities, political directors, and senior fellows from the Center for American Progress.
  • Spoken Word – Artists who use poetry to achieve progress on a wide range of issues.
  • Women's Rights – Speakers who address womens issues, both internationally and in the United States, from organizations such as the National Coalition of Abortion Providers and the Global Fund for Women.

If you have any additional questions or concerns please email us at: speakers@campusprogress.org.