WASHINGTON, May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc., the world's largest education technology company, today announced that Robert B. Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Kimberly Bryant, Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, will deliver the keynotes at BbWorld 2019, the company's annual conference. These leading voices will address the power education and technology have to shape our future workforce and increase opportunities for under-represented populations.
As one of the largest EdTech conferences in the world, BbWorld convenes policy makers, educators, administrators and education thought leaders from around the globe to discuss the most pressing challenges and game-changing advancements the education community and learners will experience in the years ahead. Attendees will have the opportunity to network, attend workshops on best practices, and hear from some of the industry's foremost thinkers on the future of education. The conference will take place July 23-25 in Austin, Texas.
"We are privileged to have such distinguished leaders in workforce development and technology inclusion share their perspectives on the future of education at this year's BbWorld conference," said Blackboard Chairman, CEO and President Bill Ballhaus. "As a company we are deeply committed to expanding access to education through the power of technology and are thrilled to have Secretary Reich and Ms. Bryant join us."
A staunch advocate for investing in education, Secretary Reich is one of the world's leading experts on work and the economy. Now Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, Reich has served under three Presidential administrations, including as United States Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. He also served on President Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board. The Wall Street Journal named him one of the nation's top ten thought leaders, and in 2008, TIME Magazine named him one of the ten most successful cabinet secretaries of the past century. Reich has authored over 15 books including two best sellers, The Work of Nations and Locked in the Cabinet and The Future of Success, which was ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek magazine as the #2 best-selling business book in 2002. In late 2003, Reich was awarded the prestigious Vaclev Havel prize in Prague, the Czech Republic for his original contributions to economic thinking.
Social innovator and technology inclusion advocate Kimberly Bryant is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, a global non-profit organization dedicated to "changing the face of technology" by introducing girls of color to the field of technology and computer science. Bryant is nationally recognized for her work in tech inclusion and bridging the digital divide for girls of color. Among her numerous accolades, in 2013 she was featured on Business Insider's list of "The 25 Most Influential African Americans in Technology" and in 2014 she received Smithsonian's 2014 American Ingenuity Award in Social Progress and Politico's inaugural Women Who Rule Award in Technology.
To learn more about BbWorld 2019, visit www.bbworld.com.
About Blackboard
Our mission is to partner with the global education community to enable learner and institutional success, leveraging innovative technologies and services. With an unmatched understanding of the world of the learner, the most comprehensive student-success solutions, and the greatest capacity for innovation, Blackboard is education's partner in change.
Contact:
Hillary Marder
press@blackboard.com
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
