Extreme Inclusion Competition and Conference

Though time is tight, students at local colleges might want to submit a pitch for a product in the Extreme Inclusion Competition.

Those without a product to pitch, as well as all other blog readers, may want to attend the Extreme Inclusion Conference on May 2, a conference exploring the role and impact of financial services in reducing poverty and generating well-being for marginalized populations.  The conference will be hosted by Fletcher, in partnership with MasterCard Worldwide and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Here’s information from the conference organizers about the keynote speaker:

We are pleased to announce that Reverend James Lawson, Activist and Principal Strategist for the American Civil Rights Movement, will deliver the keynote address “Demanding Inclusion.”

We are honored to have Reverend Lawson underscore the civic and economic power of systemically marginalized groups to catalyze change as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.  Reverend Lawson is one of the extraordinary individuals profiled in A Force More Powerful.  The film, PBS Series, and book challenge the common misconception that violence is the ultimate form of power in times of conflict.  Martin Luther King, Jr. called Reverend Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”

Reverend Lawson will be introduced by David R. Harris, Provost and Senior Vice President, Tufts University and editor of The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist.

You can register for the conference here.