ELEVATE 2024: Speakers

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE: Become a Catalyst for Change

We strive to bring industry leaders to Elevate every year to share their experiences and expertise with the FACTS community – and this year is no exception. We’re proud to announce our Elevate 2024 keynote speaker is Erin Gruwell!

Erin Gruwell is a teacher, author, and activist who has been fighting for social justice for over two decades. She is best known for her unique teaching method that guided her 150 at-risk students, affectionally called the Freedom Writers, to graduate from high school and pursue higher education. In 1999, Gruwell and the Freedom Writers published The Freedom Writers Diary, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller and was later adapted into a major motion picture starring Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank. The success of this film brought Gruwell’s work to an even greater audience and has allowed her to use her platform to continue fighting for inclusion and equity through the Freedom Writers Foundation.

At Elevate, Gruwell’s keynote session will be “Achieving the Impossible: Become a Catalyst for Change,” where she will share more about the story recounted in The Freedom Writers Diary and how, as a first-year teacher, she encouraged her inner-city students to redirect their lives and rechart their futures. In a powerful presentation that leaves audiences cheering, Gruwell will show how her story can:

• help educators fuel transformational change
• develop an environment of trust and communication
• and harness their own personal power and determination