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As an executive, best-selling author, educator and speaker, Stedman Graham works with corporations, organizations and non-profits in the areas of identity development, leadership, diversity training, personal wellness, and personal / professional branding. Clients have included Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, Georgia Pacific, Pro-Line International, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Manpower, CNN, GlaxoSmithKline, Plains Capital Corporation, American College of Sports Medicine, YMCA, U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps, Credit-Suisse First Boston, Harvard and Wharton business schools and the U.S. Department of Education.

Graham has authored ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers, You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success and Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success. Graham’s new book, Identity: Your Passport to Success, published by Pearson Education, was released in 2012. Within two weeks of its release, Identity: Your Passport to Success reached number six on the Wall Street Journal Business bestseller list.

Stedman Graham is a former adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he taught a leadership course based on his Nine-Step Process. Graham also taught management strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Chicago, Illinois. He is a distinguished visiting professor at several colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Graham has shown a lifelong commitment to youth and community. In 1985, he founded AAD Education, Health and Sports (formerly, Athletes Against Drugs), a non-profit organization with over 500 professional athletes and other civic leaders committed to developing leadership in underserved youth. Graham serves on several boards, including Corporate Voices, the National Board of Junior Achievement (JA), the 7-Eleven Education Is Freedom Foundation and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

He is also actively involved in leadership efforts and programs in South Africa and is the Founder of Concerned Citizens of Whitesboro and Concerned Citizens of Lake Waccamaw, NC. Graham holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Hardin-Simmons University. He received a master’s degree in Education from Ball State University and an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Coker College, where he is also a distinguished visiting professor.

Stedman Graham has been honored to receive the following awards in recognition of his professional and community achievements:

  • Franklin Covey Humanitarian Service Award
  • National Urban League Community Service Award
  • Drum Major for Justice Award
  • American Advertising Federation Industry Influential
  • H. Naylor Fitzhugh Award of Relevance

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