The Closing Keynote Address is the capstone event of new student orientation experience for the Harris School.

The address brings conversations on timely policy issues and challenges through a dynamic lecture exclusively for the Harris community. The address challenges students to contemplate their role in complex global and social issues and craft a vision for the future of policy leadership and social change.

Hear more about Harris’ commitment to providing students with the resources and experience to drive effective social change and policy leadership, and examine personal and professional examples of commitment to rigor, fearlessness, and impact.

2024 Keynote Speaker: Trina Reynolds-Tyler

Trina Reynolds-Tyler, MPP, 20 is the Data Director at the Invisible Institute, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and a native of the South Side Chicago. She leads Beneath the Surface, a project employing machine learning to identify gender based violence at the hands of Chicago police. Trina works to document how communities unable to depend on the police are forced to create safety and accountability outside of the carceral state. As a data scientist, she centers the practice of narrative justice in her inquiries.

Trina is an abolitionist and trained restorative justice practitioner, an organizer with Not Me We, and is serving on a University of Chicago council attempting to measure the institution’s impact on local residents of the South Side. She developed the skills to use data science for real world problems as a Pozen Center for Human Rights intern with the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), and was a Pearson Institute Fellow. 

Previous Speakers

Past Closing Keynote Address speakers include:

  • Xavier Ramey | Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Justice Informed | 2024

  • Brea Baker | A skilled communications strategist, influencer engagement professional, and activist/organizer | 2022

  • Jamira Burley | Head of Youth Engagement and Skills for the Global Business Coalition for Education | 2020

  • Samuel Sinyangwe | An activist and data scientist focused on ending racism and police violence in America | 2019

  • Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi  | 8th District of Illinois | 2018

  • Valerie Jarrett | Former Senior Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama | 2017

  • David Axelrod | Harris Distinguished Senior Fellow, Director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics & Former Senior Strategist to U.S. President Barack Obama | 2016