We are excited and honored to be helping nonprofit client HopeWorks promote their third annual fundraiser breakfast, "A Morning of Hope with Bill Strickland" on Saturday, March 5, 8:30 a.m., at the Woodland Hills Event Center in Cordova, Tenn. We're especially excited because this year's keynote, Bill Strickland, is a dynamic speaker with a story and resume too lengthy to recite here.

Rising out of the inner-city Pittsburgh neighborhood of Manchester, Strickland — inspired by a high school art teacher and a potter's wheel — created an after-school program called the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, which now serves nearly 4,000 youth each year and has led to the Manchester Bidwell Corporation, providing market-driven career education for disadvantaged kids and adults through partnerships with leading local industries.

Strickland is recognized nationally as a visionary leader who authentically delivers educational and cultural opportunities to students and adults within an organizational culture that fosters innovation, creativity, responsibility and integrity. Throughout his distinguished career, Strickland has been honored with numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to the arts and the community, including the coveted MacArthur "Genius" Award. He was recently tapped to serve on President Barack Obama's new Council for Community Solutions, a group of 25 who the President describes as "impressive men and women (who) have dedicated their lives and careers to civic engagement and social innovation."

Strickland is also the author or "Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary", which includes his story of how a kid from Pittsburgh's ghetto would go on to lecture at Harvard and serve on the National Endowment of the Arts board. Fast Company magazine's Alan M. Webber calls the book, "Passionate. Inspirational. Hopeful. Optimistic. Powerful. Compelling....the cure to what ails this country."

Most recently, Strickland is featured in the documentary  "Waiting for Superman" directed by Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim (for "An Inconvenient Truth"). The film shows the challenges of the American education system and suggests that partnerships between the public, community and organizations like Manchester Bidwell Corporation can yield outstanding results.

Because of Strickland's success and inspiring stories of helping disadvantaged students and adults, it's no surprise to see him interviewed for the documentary. And a perfect match for promoting the message of hope, hard work and self-reliance intrinsic in the HopeWorks personal career development program.

For more information, download the brochure or purchase your tickets online today.