Soldier, Rhodes Scholar, Author & Youth Advocate Wes Moore to Speak in RI
Monday, October 03, 2011
Few young men can tell a story as compelling as Wes Moore. And it is the good fortune of Rhode Islanders that Moore will be in Rhode Island on October 21 to deliver a keynote address at "The Other Side of Learning," the 2011 Lights on Afterschool Breakfast of Champions sponsored by the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance (RIASPA).
The event is open to the public.
Moore, a youth advocate as well as an armed forces veteran, Rhodes Scholar, businessman and author, was recently featured on the cover of Time. His memoir, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, chronicles the remarkable parallel of his life with another Wes Moore in his community, similarly aged, similarly challenged in childhood, and how their lives eventually—and dramatically—diverged when adult involvement and devotion helped steer Moore in a new and successful direction.
Moore, a strident youth advocate, will speak about the role mentoring and the roles adults play in the success of youth. He will also provide a workshop specifically for RI youth at the end of the breakfast event at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet.
Breakfast of Champions
The theme of the 9th annual event for RIASPA, themed "The Other Side of Learning," demonstrates the impact high-quality afterschool and summer learning programs can have on youth, especially when these programs have connections in the community and to the school day.
"High-quality afterschool and summer programming is wide-ranging, innovative, and responsive to needs of youth," says Adam Greenman, Executive Director of RIASPA. "It offers a brilliant canvas on which students can express their creativity, curiosity and passion."
The breakfast will not only feature Moore's address, but honor exemplary afterschool practitioners, programs and advocates and feature youth performances.
More about Moore
Moore graduated Phi Theta Kappa as a commissioned officer from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. At Johns Hopkins, he was honored by the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame. He completed a master of letters (MLitt) in international relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004.
Moore was a paratrooper and captain in the United States Army, serving a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan with the elite 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005-2006. He spearheaded the American strategic support plan for the Afghan Reconciliation Program that unites former insurgents with the new Afghan Government. He is recognized as an authority on the rise and ramifications of radical Islamism in the Western Hemisphere.
A White House Fellow from 2006-2007, Moore served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Following his time at the White House, he became an investment professional in New York at Citigroup, focusing on global technology and alternative investments. In 2009 he was selected as an Asia Society Fellow and was named one of Crain’s New York Business’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars;” two years prior, he was selected as one of Ebony magazine’s “Top 30 Leaders Under 30. (For more information on Wes Moore, please visit www.apbspeakers.com.)
"The Other Side of Learning," 2011 Lights on Afterschool Breakfast of Champions, October 21, 7:15am. Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, 60 Rhode Place, Cranston, 785-4333. For more information on how to register, go here.
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