Speaker Bios

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege and leadership trainings and workshops.

Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers and educators, especially for his work with students K-16. His interview with Wisconsin Public Radio won the 2015 Wisconsin Broadcasters Association's Best Interview in Medium Market Radio, 1st Place [http://www.wpr.org/shows/newsmakers-december-4-2014], and he is featured in the film “I’m not Racist...Am I?”

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., currently serves as Director of The Privilege Institute (TPI) and The National White Privilege Conference (WPC), both founded under his direction to provide opportunities and possibilities for research, publications, speaking and collaborations by those committed to true social and institutional change. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa and under his direction and inclusive relationship model the White Privilege Conference has become one of the top national and international conferences for participants who want to move beyond dialogue and into action around issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership.

In 2014 Dr. Moore founded The Privilege Institute, which engages people in research, education, action and leadership through workshops, conferences, publications and collaborative partnerships and relationships. The non-profit umbrella organization now includes not only the White Privilege Conference but also a fully on-line peer reviewed journal, “Understanding and Dismantling Privilege,” of which Dr. Moore is a founding editor, a Speakers Bureau for speaker connections, research opportunities for social justice and collaboration opportunities through outreach and service-learning. The Black Male Think Tank meets yearly at The White Privilege Conference and is committed to being a visible and community-based asset to the lives of young black males and providing them with the Action, Serving, Healing, Innovating, Educating, Loving and Developing that “affirms their existence, cultivates their excellence, supports their development, raises their consciousness and protects them from white supremacy and other forms of oppression.”*

Dr. Moore is co-editor of Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories and the forthcoming on-line workbook, The White Women’s Guide to Teaching Black Males. Future working publications include an autobiography and a guide to those who wish to pursue opportunities as diversity consultants. He is committed not only to his personal message of building relationships through Understanding, Respecting and Connecting but to also working with those committed to issues of social justice and inequity finding their voice in the fight.

The leadership style essential to Dr. Moore’s mission is grounded in relationships, a commitment to lifelong learning, academic excellence, and garnering skills for living in a diverse society. He firmly believes we must work together as a team as opposed to in a system based in power. Relationships are born when people are personally involved in the outcomes and understand that everyone around them is also personally invested. Building character is essential and instilling in students, faculty and staff, administration, community members, organizations and society the strength to believe in themselves and their ability to impact on others is key. Engaging in community and service learning helps students and communities understand the world is not centered on them and they must take an active role in their community and the global community.

Pierce Freelon is a professor, director, musician, Emmy-Award winning producer, and former candidate for mayor of Durham. 

Born and raised in Durham, Pierce has traveled the world, building spaces for creative expression and social justice. He founded Blackspace, a digital maker space where youth learn about music, film and coding. He is the writer, composer and co-director of an animated film series called History of White People in America, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. In 2012 he co-founded Beat Making Lab, a PBS web-series, which took him from community centers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to making beats with environmentalist Jane Goodall. He is the frontman of the jazz and hip-hop band The Beast.

Pierce earned a BA in African and African American Studies at UNC Chapel Hill and an MA in Pan African Studies at Syracuse University. He has taught music, political science, and African American studies at both UNC Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University.

Pierce lives in Durham with his wife of 10 years and their two children.

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