2025 Bobby Boyd Leadership Series featuring Bishop William J. Barber II

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work is pleased to welcome Bishop William J. Barber II as the guest speaker for the 2025 annual Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture Series on March 18, 2025.

With a career in activism spanning more than 45 years, Barber is the president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, executive board member of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, and Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School.

This event will be presented virtually and in person in the auditorium of the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building on UNC’s campus. The presentation starts at 12:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Participants are required to register for the event. A free lunch will be held in the TTK lobby for attendees beginning at 11:45 a.m.

Barber’s lecture will explore the need to address systemic poverty and inequality through collective action, compassion and truth. Barber will draw on historical and contemporary civil rights movements, including his leadership in the Poor People’s Campaign and Moral Mondays, to highlight the connections between racism, economic inequality and other social injustices. He will discuss ways to challenge harmful narratives and offer a vision for policies that promote fairness and equity in society.

One hour of continuing education credit will be offered to participants. Register online for the event.

Due to the level of interest in this event, we will be broadcasting the Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture on screens in additional first floor areas for those who are unable to find a seat in the auditorium, which seats 275.