Tony Wagner keynote speaker

A globally recognized voice in education, Tony currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, founded by Linda Darling-Hammond in 2015. Prior to this appointment, Tony held a variety of positions at Harvard University for more than twenty years, including four years as an Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director, for more than a decade, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His previous work experience includes twelve years as a high school teacher, K-8 principal, university professor in teacher education, and founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility.

Tony is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and a widely published author. His work includes numerous articles and seven books, including three bestsellers: Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for The Innovation Era, co-authored by Ted Dintersmith, was published by Scribner in 2015. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World was published in 2012 to rave reviews and has been translated into 19 languages, and has sold more than 125,000 copies to date. His 2008 book, The Global Achievement Gap continues to be an international bestseller, with more than 150,000 copies in print. Tony’s memoir, Learning By Heart: An Unconventional Education, was published by Penguin/Random House in 2020. He is currently at work on a new book, Mastery: The Future of Learning in Schools and The Workplace, to be published by Basic Books in 2024.

Tony served as the Strategic Education Advisor for a major new education documentary, “Most Likely to Succeed,” which had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and has since been shown in more than 10,000 communities around the world. He also collaborated with noted filmmaker Robert Compton to create a 60-minute documentary, “The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World’s Most Surprising School System.” Tony serves on the Board of several nonprofits, including the Mastery Transcript Consortium and Better World Ed. He also serves on the advisory board of Area 9 Lyceum.

Tony earned an M.A.T. and an Ed.D. at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.