Liz Murray

Liz Murray, the child of drug-addicted parents who routinely ate from dumpsters and sought refuge at all-night subway stations to survive, was homeless at age 15—and fending for her life. Determined not to be defined by her circumstances, she recognized education as the key to a fresh beginning and a whole new way of living. Murray earned her high school diploma in just two years and won a scholarship to Harvard University that would turn her bleak circumstances into a future filled with limitless possibility.

With sincerity, maturity and graciousness, Murray takes audiences along on her personal journey from street smarts to classroom triumphs, instantly becoming an inspiration to both student groups and business audiences alike in need of the motivation to overcome their own obstacles. She is the author of "Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard," which became the film "Homeless to Harvard" and was nominated for three Emmy Awards.

Murray graduated from Harvard in 2009, and went on to receive her Masters in the Psychology of Education at Columbia University. Today, as co-founder of The Arthur Project, Murray is a passionate advocate for under served youth, working to end generational poverty through relationship-based learning.