The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) will host author, entrepreneur, and activist Stacey Abrams as the keynote speaker for its annual Presidential Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. The event, the second in the series, will take place in the UMES Student Services Center theater and is open to the public.
As a high school student, Abrams rose from political campaign typist to a candidate speechwriter before arriving on the campus of Atlanta’s Spelman College. While at this HBCU, Abrams’ often one-woman voter registration drives encouraged her fellow classmates to go to the polls — a practice that would later prove critical in securing a slim democratic presidential victory for Joe Biden in conservative Georgia in the 2020—2021 election.
“Stacey Abrams has been working to ensure representation and voter rights since her days as an HBCU student,” said UMES President Heidi M. Anderson. “She has shown the power of people coming together to make a difference politically, and we look forward to the captivating discussion that she will bring to the UMES campus community.”
Abrams is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and producer, who served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives – seven as minority leader. She became the first black woman to be the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in U.S. History when she ran in Georgia in 2018 and 2022.
Abrams also served as the Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University and was a senior counsel to Rewiring America, a leading non-profit dedicated to tackling climate change. She has also co-founded several companies, including NOWaccount Corp., Insomnia Consulting, Nourish, Inc., and Sage Works Productions.
An Emmy nominee and three-time NAACP Image Award recipient, Abrams holds degrees from Spelman College, the University of Texas’ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and Yale Law School.
About the UMES Presidential Lecture Series
Dr. Anderson launched the Presidential Lecture Series in February 2025 with distinguished professor and cultural critic Dr. Michael Eric Dyson to engage students, faculty, and the community in conversation around social justice and black culture.
