Peyton Klein – Keynote Speaker

Peyton Klein is a fearless conversationalist and community builder. In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, Peyton, a then-15-year-old student in Pittsburgh, founded the Global Minds Initiative having witnessed discrimination against immigrant and refugee students at her school. It is a for-youth, by-youth movement working to combat cultural intolerance in schools internationally.

Global Minds operates as an after-school program that bridges English as a Second Language (ESL) and Native English Speaking (NES) students. In these inclusive and safe spaces, students can challenge frameworks of oppression and understand systems that threaten human rights. ESL Students gain valuable conversational English instruction through practice with their native English-speaking peers. This enables more students to contribute important global insights and perspectives on subjects such as human rights, diversity, sustainable development, and cultural identity.

Global Minds has now expanded into 25 schools across 2 countries, impacting over 10,000 students and raising over $1 million in donations, corporate grants, and sponsorships.

Peyton Klein’s incredible work has been recognised through several awards and honours. Her accolades include Forbes 30 under 30 2022, Teen Vogue’s 21 under 21, 2020 National Geographic Young Explorer, Bezos Scholar, HERLEAD fellow, and a Princeton Prize in Race Relation Awardee. Peyton continues to spread her message as a TEDx speaker.

Her work has been featured on the Today Show, Fox News, in Teen Vogue, and the New York Times. Currently, Peyton fulfils the role of Executive Director at Global Minds, as well as studying Human Biology at Stanford. She leads youth mental health research at the Teach for America Reinvention Lab, exploring the future of mental health ecosystems in K-12 settings.