IMS is pleased to welcome Ms. Katie Koestner to speak with faculty and students about “Diversity and Difference.” The goal is to learn more about diverse backgrounds, areas of discomfort, respect, common language, working together, and managing outside our comfort zones. She will hold a workshop with faculty on Monday, November 26 and will host a webinar with students on Friday, November 30.

Ms. Koestner is a national expert on student safety and teen relationship culture. She has appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine, The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC Nightly News, CNBC Talk Live, CNN, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, Later Today, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight and other national television programs. She is the subject of an HBO movie and has lectured at over 1700 schools in North America. Her audiences have included the incoming classes at MIT, Brown University, West Point, the US Naval Academy, Amherst College, Williams College, the top 200 officers of the Department of Defense, and the American Association of School Administrators. In 2010, the US Ambassador to India invited Katie to keynote and lead a 19 day campaign in India to raise awareness about Violence Against Women. In 2011, Ms. Koestner’s Foundation, Take Back The Night, was chosen by the TV Show, The Good Wife, as their charity of choice for their Celebrity Golf Tournament. Most recently, the Girl Scouts of the USA selected Katie, Katie Couric, and a handful of others as honored women to present for their 125th Anniversary Celebration. She has assisted the US Department of Education in developing and providing programs to women in high risk communities. Her testimony on Capitol Hill was instrumental in the passage of federal student safety legislation. In 2007, Coe College awarded her an honorary doctorate for her extensive work on student safety and public service.