St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Black Student Union announces Brittany Packnett as the Second Annual Elizabeth Barber Walker Lecture guest speaker. Packnett’s lecture, “Building Bridges: An Intersectional Approach to Activism,” will take place on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 4:30 p.m. in the Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary’s Hall on the College’s campus. The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Packnett is an award-winning national leader in social justice. Cited by former President Barack Obama as a leader whose "voice is going to be making a difference for years to come," Packnett is an unapologetic educator, organizer, writer, and speaker. A former teacher, policy expert, and non-profit executive director, Packnett has committed her life and career to justice. She currently plays many roles, all focused on freedom, including serving as Teach for America’s vice president of national community alliances, where she leads partnerships and civil rights work with communities of color. Packnett is also a Fall 2018 Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
She is a contributor to the Crooked Media network, most notably contributing to the weekly news roundup on Pod Save The People which earned the team two 2018 Webby Awards for Best News Podcast. Packnett is a video columnist for MicNews, and writes for many major publications. Recently, Packnett launched Love + Power, a hub created to inspire, empower, and outfit everyday people to seismically shift society.
Her popular TEDx talk, “It’s about Time to Value Women of Color in Leadership” exemplifies the passionate calls to action and personal storytelling she shares with audiences. She has graced the cover of Essence magazine, been named one of TIME magazine’s 12 New Faces of Black Leadership, and honored at the 2018 BET Awards as “one of the fiercest activists of our time.”
The Elizabeth Barber Walker Lecture Series honors St. Mary’s College’s first Black graduate, Liz Walker. The Inaugural Elizabeth Barber Walker Lecture Series featured guest speaker April Ryan in 2018.