Andrew Gordon

CEO and founder of Diversity Abroad 

Andrew is a social entrepreneur and CEO and founder of Diversity Abroad. With a passion for student success, global engagement, and social entrepreneurship, he founded Diversity Abroad in 2006 with a simple vision, that the next generation of young people from historically marginalized backgrounds are equipped with the skills, experiences, and networks to thrive in the 21st century interconnected world and globally diverse workforce. As an international advocate for student success through equitable access to global education, Andrew speaks and writes extensively on leveraging global education to support students’ academic success, interpersonal growth, and career readiness. He consults colleges and universities, non-profits, companies, and government agencies on developing, implementing, and monitoring diversity, equity, and inclusive practices, policies, and strategies in their global engagement operations.

Andrew is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese. He is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and has studied, worked and traveled in 56 countries.

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Name
Date & Time
Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Time
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM (PDT)

Esi Edugyan

Bestselling Author, Novelist, Essayist

Esi was born the daughter of Ghanian immigrants in Calgary, Alberta. Echoes of their experience can be found in her literary debut, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, which was shortlisted for the 2005 Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.

While on a fellowship in Stuttgart, Germany, Esi began research for what would become her stunning second novel, Half-Blood Blues which O, the Oprah Magazine named one of the best books of the year. It was awarded the Scotiabank Giller Prize and earned nominations for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award for English language fiction, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

She is also the author of Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home and 2018’s Washington Black, which received a rapturous reception, being named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Slate, TIME and Entertainment Weekly, was one of President Obama’s Favorite Books of 2018, and was a New York Times Bestseller. Esi lives in Victoria, BC with her husband, the novelist and poet Steven Price, and their two children.

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Name
Date & Time
Friday, June 25, 2021, 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Time
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM (PDT)