Wes Moore’s life is both an inspiring story and a cautionary tale. As a troubled youth growing up in the inner-city, Wes’s life could have tumbled down a dangerous path. Fortunately a series of factors, including the transformative power of education coupled with faithful mentors, helped launch Wes into success and give him a powerful platform with which he can alter the lives of other troubled youth.

WHO IS WES?

Wes first gained notoriety after penning his first book, which became an instant NY Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller. This landmark publication, The Other Wes Moore, illustrates how decisions become destiny. The story takes readers into the neighborhood where Wes grew up, which just happened to have another boy of the same name. However, today the “other Wes Moore” is in prison serving a life sentence, while our Wes went on to be a host and Executive Producer of Beyond Belief on the Oprah Winfrey Network and the acclaimed Coming Back with Wes Moore on PBS.
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Today, Wes Moore’s mission is to help young people succeed and make the right choices through education and awareness along-side the support of their parents, teachers and mentors. Moore is the Founder and CEO of BridgeEdU, an innovative college platform that addresses the college completion and job placement crisis by reinventing the freshman year in a way that engages students in real-world internships and service-learning opportunities in addition to providing an academic foundation. He is also the author of The Work, to be released in January, which chronicles Wes’s journey to discover meaning in his work and how he found that meaning in service.

Drawing on his experiences as a military leader, his innovations in education and his business acumen, Moore now speaks on his compelling message that it is the vitality of leadership and the presence of committed support networks that leads to success – from the smallest school to the largest corporation.

Wes graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University. He has also completed an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and was granted a White House fellowship. A decorated combat veteran, he served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan. While a student at Johns Hopkins, he founded STAND!, which pairs troubled teens with college mentors. He has been featured by USA Today, People Magazine, Meet the Press, The Colbert Report, The View, MSNBC and NPR.

WHAT WES SPEAKS ABOUT

Wes customizes each experience based on industry and audience (e.g. managers vs. front-line employees). All of his keynotes are available in-person and in a variety of virtual formats.

THE OTHER WES MOORE

ONE NAME, TWO FATES

He transformed from being the kid in handcuffs to the man with a mic. His story is one of family, community, and education, but also a testament to the power of choice. All of our stories are colored by inflection points of pivotal decision-making that draw us nearer to life or death, freedom or bondage, joy or despair. Every action we make informs who we choose to become. In this deeply personal, edge-of-seat dramatic, and honestly reflective keynote, Wes moves audiences to feel accountable for their decisions and stirs a desire for growth that catalyzes the changing of lives.

We’ve all heard the quote “It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.” In this poignant and inspiring keynote, Wes Moore walks audiences through the story of his past and each hard, painful, or joyous decision that steered him away from a path predicted to lead to failure to one destined for greatness.

Wes was the absolute best! He did a fantastic job for us and was such a great person to have speak to our group. We hit a homerun with him, so much so that we would like to invite him back to speak at our Eastern Region Conference!

National Association of Electrical Distributors

Wes was a superb speaker. He captivated the audience from beginning to end with the compelling story of his personal growth, from being uninterested and unaware to being self-aware, determined and accountable for his actions. But despite his overcoming personal adversity, the audience really identified with his one degree of separation from the “other” Wes Moore. He was excellent, approachable and easy to work with. We got our money's worth and more. Thanks for coming through. He turned out to be the ideal speaker for our purposes.

PepsiCo

His timely keynote address provided a relevant and unique perspective on how inclusion is the first step to shrink the opportunity gap and enhance quality of life. With his involvement, we had one of the most memorable and successful conferences to date.

Detroit Regional Chamber

WES IN ACTION

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