Hill Harper

Hill Harper Speaker Biography

Award Winning TV & Film Actor, NY Times Bestselling Author, Education and Youth Advocate

Hill Harper is a humanitarian, an award-winning actor, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and he was the first African American Democratic US Senate Candidate from Michigan in nearly three decades. Harper starred in ABC’s #1 television drama, The Good Doctor, as well as in numerous television and film projects including CSI:NY, He Got Game and Lackawanna Blues.

Affiliations

Harper has served as the National Spokesperson for several leading social justice organizations including The Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, The Innocence Project, One Fair Wage; and Big Brothers Big Sisters. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Black Bank Fund and was named Honorary National Co-Chair of the Redevelopment of Black Wall Street. President Obama appointed Harper to the President’s Cancer Panel, where he contributed to shaping cancer policy recommendations to the White House.

Books

Additionally, Harper has authored four New York Times bestsellers: Letters to a Young Brother, Letters to a Young Sister, Letters to an Incarcerated Brother, The Conversation and his awardwinning book, The Wealth Cure. that addresses ways to solve the racial wealth gap. Letters to a Young Brother and was named “Best Book for Young Adults” by the American Library Association. Harper has been recognized with seven NAACP Image Awards, for his writing and acting. As an extension of his empowerment books, Harper founded the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation and has established The Pierce and Hill Harper Arts Foundation.

Education

Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and was named Valedictorian of his department. Harper then graduated with a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, as well as with a Master’s Degree with honors from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He holds ten honorary doctoral degrees including doctorates from Howard University, Providence College, and Dillard University. Harper is a proud Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Entrepreneur

As an investor and business owner, Harper owns The Roasting Plant, a successful coffee franchise in downtown Detroit. He is co-founder of A-Frame Brands and is co-owner of the award-winning New Orleans hotel, International House. He sits on the Board of Directors of LOVED01, John Legend’s successful skincare brand. Harper owns several commercial and residential rental properties in Detroit, Los Angeles and Newark, NJ.

Keynote Speaker

Hill Harper’s unwavering commitment to individual empowerment, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and social and economic justice has made him a highly sought-after speaker on the global stage. His passion for uplifting others and creating lasting change continues to place him at the forefront of these crucial conversations. In 2004 and 2014, People Magazine named him one of their Sexiest Men Alive…he is anxiously awaiting the call for 2024!

Hill Harper Speaking Topics

Manifesting Your Destiny & Conquering FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)

Fear is the number one thing that holds the vast majority of us back from living our best lives and truly manifesting our destiny. Inspired by Nelson Mandela's philosophy "...that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it,” Harper will explore fear and the limitations that fear puts on the individual's potential. Harper helps develop the tool kit we need to identify our most debilitating fears and sharpens our self-awareness to enable us to conquer them. By reinforcing his personal philosophy that we all have our own unique and purposeful driven destiny, Harper's speech teaches us about the critical value of perspective in order to live fulfilled and lives at home, school, or in the workplace.

Black Lives Matter and the Legacy of King

In this speech, Hill Harper encourages the audience to find their purpose and lean into it just like King. Hill Harper first realized how much industry and money affects incarceration when he joined the Innocence Project, an organization that works to exonerate individuals who it claims have been wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reform the criminal justice system. According to Hill, you can’t have social justice without economic justice. He finds it imperative that the wealth gap in this country is something we need to look at and deal with. We need to see how it’s completely linked to the situation of incarcerated people. Referencing the destruction of the Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921 where a flourishing community of Black-owned businesses was looted and bombed by a white mob, Harper envisions a new Black Wall Street that cannot be torn down. Technology will allow us to create our own virtual Black Wall Street. Harper, who is currently working on creating a platform that would facilitate this ideal, connects his work to the Black Lives Matter Movement and legacy of King. He hopes that formerly incarcerated individuals will be able to use the platform to find employment.

The Blueprint: Being an Active Architect of Your Own Life

We all have the potential to create the life we desire. Harper compares the individual's ability to build his or her own life, to an architect's design skills. An architect starts with a blueprint. The building shown on the blueprint is gradually erected and the structure is built. Harper explains how we can develop blueprints with the plans for our own lives. His speech coaches us to be active architects of our own lives, with a few simple tools. Harper leaves his audience inspired to both seek and create opportunities that empower them to use their unique creative skills and abilities.

Energy & Innovation in the Workplace: Reinvigorate Your Mind & Ideas

Harper uses principles from physics and a powerful analogy about energy to explore why many of us experience energy and creativity blocks in the workplace. He explores the power of energy and how critical it is not to let what is going on around you, change what is going on inside of you. Harper will offer a number of methods to stay on course and maximize our highest potential.

The Conversation-- Male/Female Relationships Now and Beyond

Harper presents his findings from his #1 bestselling relationship book The Conversation with an interactive discussion between men and women regarding love and relationships. He offers guidance for how men and women can fortify their relationships with clearer and more consistent communication. Harper not only analyzes the misunderstandings that plague men and women in their interactions, but in his presentation he encourages a real time conversation among the audience. The goal of this conversation is to stimulate both active listening, and self-discovery. The audience will leave with key tips for leveraging honest and direct communication to build new loving and lasting relationships, and to protect and strengthen existing relationships.

Manifest Your Destiny

Hill Harper, the author of Letters to a Young Brother and Letters to a Young Sister, shares the tenets of his acclaimed series of empowering books. Giving practical guidance to young African Americans, he shares his personal story, and in particular, why education is the ultimate stepping stone to success.