Wes Moore CEO, THE ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION
Liz Murray INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER & AUTHOR
Wes Moore is the CEO of Robin Hood, one of the largest anti-poverty forces in the nation. He is also a bestselling author, a combat veteran, and a social entrepreneur. Moore's first book, The Other Wes Moore, a perennial New York Times bestseller, captured the nation’s attention on the fine line between success and failure in our communities and in ourselves. He is also the author of the bestselling books The Work, Discovering Wes Moore, and This Way Home. Moore's latest book, Five Days, explores the uprisings in Baltimore in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody through a kaleidoscope of perspectives and examines critical questions about the deeper causes of violence and poverty. Moore grew up in Baltimore and the Bronx, where he was raised by a single mom. He graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He earned an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004. Moore then served as a captain and paratrooper with the u.s. Army’s 82nd airborne, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. He later served as a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Formerly homeless, Liz Murray transformed her life of despair into an inspiring journey of determination, hope and hard-won success. The child of drug-addicted parents who routinely ate from dumpsters and sought refuge at all-night subway stations to survive, Liz Murray was homeless at age 15—and fending for her life. Amidst this pain, Murray always imagined her life could be much better than it was. “I started to grasp the value of the lessons learned while living on the streets. I knew after overcoming those daily obstacles that next to nothing could hold me down.” Determined not to be defined by her circumstances, she recognized education as the key to a fresh beginning and a whole new way of living. She earned her high school diploma in just two years and won a scholarship to Harvard University that would turn her bleak circumstances into a future filled with limitless possibility. Murray received her Bachelor of Science degree from Harvard University. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Psychology at Columbia University. Today, as co-founder and Executive Director of The Arthur Project, Murray is a passionate advocate for underserved youth, working to end generational poverty through relationship-based learning.
GROWING UP & OUT OF POVERTY: WHY HOUSING MATTERS • 11
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