Welcome to the official page for the 2012 Building Michigan Communities Conference. The conference is being held April 23-25, 2012 at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Michigan.
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Monday Luncheon Keynote – Liz Murray
Liz Murray - Author, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
From homeless to Harvard . . . it is an unlikely turn of events. Liz Murray’s life is a triumph over adversity and a stunning example of the importance of dreaming big. Murray’s life as the child of cocaine-addicted parents in the Bronx was bitterly grim. There was never food in the house, everything was filthy, drugs were everywhere and the welfare checks were spent before they arrived.
By age 15, Murray’s mom had died and she was homeless-living on the streets, riding the subway all night and eating from dumpsters. Amidst this pain, Murray always imagined her life could be much better than it was. “I started to grasp the value of the lessons learned while living on the streets. I knew, after overcoming those daily obstacles that next to nothing could hold me down.” Determined to take charge of her life, Murray finished high school in just two years while camping out in New York City parks and subway stations.
Murray’s story is exhilarating and her delivery innocently honest, as she takes audiences on a very personal journey where she achieves the improbable. Her story sounds like a Hollywood movie-and it practically is. Lifetime Television produced a movie about Murray’s life story entitled From Homeless to Harvard, which premiered in April 2003. Murray is the recipient of Oprah Winfrey’s first ever Chutzpah Award. Her memoir, Breaking Night, was released in September 2010 and within a week landed on The New York Times Best-seller List.
Murray received her B.S. in Psychology from Harvard University in June 2009.
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Wednesday Luncheon Keynote – Bill Strickland
For thirty years, Bill Strickland has transformed thousands of lives, restored our faith in ethical leadership, and reshaped the business of social change. As president and CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation– an extraordinary jobs training center and community arts program — he and his staff work with corporations, community leaders, and schools to give disadvantaged kids and adults the opportunities they need to build a better future. (Centers are already running in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and San Francisco; many more are planned.) And for years now, in front of enraptured audiences, this MacArthur Genius has shared his unshakable message of leadership, self-worth and the intrinsic ability in all of us to achieve remarkable transformation in our lives. “Bill Strickland is a genius,” says former e-Bay president Jeff Skoll, “because he sees the inherent genius in everyone.”
Bill Strickland is also the author of Make the Impossible Possible, a recipient of The White House’s “Coming Up Taller” Award, and the founder of the Grammy-winning MCG Jazz, the most successful jazz subscription series in America.
Interested in exhibit or sponsorship opportunities?
Breakout sessions will be offered in the following tracks:
Assets – Organizational
Assets – Vibrant Communities
Housing – Multifamily
Housing – Homeownership
People – Homelessness
People – Assets
Mark Your Calendars
Future Dates:
April 28 – May 1, 2013
April 27 – 30, 2014
April 26-29, 2015
