Sally Kohn
Sally Kohn is one of the leading progressive voices in America today. A frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, Sally’s first book THE OPPOSITE OF HATE was published in April 2018. Sally is a popular keynote speaker at business conferences and college campuses talking about political division, hate, otherizing, diversity and identity — and how we can solve the deep problems of our past and present.
A regular columnist and commentator, Sally’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, New York Magazine, Time, and many other outlets. She is on the Board of Contributors for USA Today and a contributing editor to Afar magazine. Sally is also a TED Curator and her three hit TED Talks have been viewed more than 6 million times. Sally’s work has been highlighted by outlets ranging from the Colbert Report to the National Review. Sally is a popular media trainer and public speaking coach, helping build the skills of everyone from grassroots leaders to C-suite executives.
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How To Address Hate in Your Institution and Yourself
Based on her book The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity, Sally shares stories from her own life and around the world plus insights on how institutions and organizations can either harbor hate or combat it, as well as what each of us can do to be part of the solution. This is a provocative yet ultimately uplifting talk, filled with proactive takeaways for every employer and every employee.
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Agitating and Organizing 101
It’s a new day in American politics and culture. The cultural advances we’d assumed were set in stone are being challenged again and advances toward equity are being rolled back. Suddenly, in the some of the most unlikely places and ways, people and brands are standing up: from breath mints making political statements, to groups of ordinary citizens writing to their local legislators every single week, and to millions of Americans marching for justice in the mass largest mobilizations in history. How can you be part of the resistance? How can your brand find a bold voice in this moment in history? How can you help push for inclusion and fairness in your own workplace? How can you be a strong ally to communities that are under attack? In this customized talk, Sally shows the way.
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Insert Your Issue Here
Get a customized breakdown of the playing field for your industry or area of concern. Sally is uniquely able to give your organization or business an overview of the landscape with respect to your area of focus. Delivered with a good dose of humor, she’ll also give you the brass tacks on how your issue is playing in Washington and among the American people, forecasting where the political debate is heading and how you can get ahead of it.
See Sally Kohn in action.
Still willing to give civility a chance.
Before joining the media, Sally was Senior Campaign Strategist with the Center for Community Change, a 45-year-old hub of grassroots organizations nationwide. Sally served as co-director of ideas and innovation for the Center, helping lead the pioneering Campaign for Community Values, producing a nationally televised Presidential candidate forum in 2008, developing a new media organizing project on health care reform in rural communities and spearheading several other initiatives.
Before that, Sally held a program fellowship at the Ford Foundation, helping to manage more than $15 million in annual grants to social justice organizations nationwide. She was also strategic advisor to the Social Justice Infrastructure Funders, a private network of 25 top program staff from some of the nation’s most prominent foundations, working to identify a shared strategy and coordinate grantmaking. Before that, Sally served as Executive Director of the Third Wave Foundation, the leading young women’s organization in the country. She was also a distinguished Vaid Fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, where she published a groundbreaking guidebook for organizing campaigns to win domestic partnership benefits. Sally also worked as a consultant with the Urban Justice Center, publishing a report on the experiences of gay youth in the New York juvenile justice system.
Sally received a joint degree in law and public administration from New York University and was a Root Tilden public service scholar at the New York University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from George Washington University in D.C. Originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sally now resides in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner Sarah Hansen and their daughter Willa.
Still abuzz from the energy Sally elicited in the alumni today! Sally is truly remarkable and I feel blessed that we had this time with her, thankful for her work and message, and hopeful about the ripple effect this will have for those we serve. Sally, thank you for so brilliantly fanning the flame of public service and being f’n RAD!!!
