Jane Elliott

Jane Elliott is a teacher and diversity trainer, widely recognized for her innovative "Blue Eyes–Brown Eyes" exercise. She developed this exercise in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, and first conducted it with her class the following day. The local newspaper published compositions from her students about the experience, which helped launch her career as a speaker against discrimination.

Elliott's exercise was filmed during its third iteration with her 1970 third-grade class, resulting in the award-winning documentary "The Eye of the Storm." This success led to the Emmy-winning retrospective "A Class Divided," which reunited the 1970 class members with Elliott 15 years later. Her work has also been featured in the documentary "The Angry Eye," which highlights the impact of racism on white American college students.

After retiring from teaching, Elliott has committed herself to full-time diversity education. She conducts seminars and lectures internationally, addressing the topics of racism, sexism, and ageism through her seminars such as "A Collar In My Pocket," which includes the initial discrimination exercise, discussion, film viewing, and evaluation. Her influential seminars and lectures, including "The Anatomy of Prejudice" and "Power, Perception & Prejudice," have made her a prominent figure in diversity training at colleges, universities, corporations, and civil service organizations. Elliott has been honored with the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education and has appeared on television shows like "The Today Show," "Tonight with Johnny Carson," "Donahue," and "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Additionally, she is the author of the book "A Collar In My Pocket: Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise."