Robin Hood CEO and Best-Selling Author Wes Moore to Deliver Hudson County Community College 2021 Commencement Keynote Address

May 19, 2021

May 19, 2021, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will welcome Wes Moore as the keynote speaker for the College’s virtual Commencement Ceremony. Mr. Moore’s speech will premiere Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 12 noon on https://www.youtube.com/user/HudsonCountyCollege, and will continue to be available for viewing after May 20.

Wes Moore is the Chief Executive Officer of Robin Hood, one of the largest anti-poverty forces in the nation. He is also a best-selling author, combat veteran, and social entrepreneur.

 

Wes Moore

 

Mr. Moore’s first book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, a perennial New York Times bestseller, focused on the fine line between success and failure and was optioned by Oprah Winfrey and HBO to be made into a movie. His other best-sellers include The Work, Discovering Wes Moore, and This Way Home. His latest book, Five Days, explores the 2015 Baltimore riots through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, and examines the root causes of violence and poverty.

Growing up in Baltimore and the Bronx, Mr. Moore was raised by a single mom, and overcame challenges to achieve higher education and career goals. He graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College and Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Moore earned a Master of Letters degree from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He later served as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. He was also a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Prior to becoming Robin Hood CEO, Mr. Moore was the founder and CEO of BridgeEdu, an innovative tech platform addressing the college completion and job placement crisis by reinventing freshman year for underserved students. He also worked as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in London and Citigroup in New York.

Mr. Moore has served on numerous nonprofit and social-impact boards, and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

HCCC will honor graduates with a combination of virtual and in-person 2021 Commencement celebrations. In addition to Mr. Moore’s appearance, the pre-recorded Virtual Commencement will include speeches by HCCC President Chris Reber, and HCCC 2021 Valedictorian Pedro Moranchel. In-person Grad Walk events will take place Monday, May 24 through Thursday, May 27, 2021 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 to 6 p.m., at the HCCC Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City.