Global icon, advocate and former US First Lady Michelle Obama is set to speak in Australia next year, in two events presented by The Growth Faculty.
Obama’s visit coincides with the launch of her new book, The Look, which explores her style journey and how she’s used the intrigue of fashion to draw attention to her message of self-expression and inclusion.
Her memoir, Becoming, was published in 2018 and sold over 15 million copies worldwide, as well as spending more than 130 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list and winning a Grammy Award. Her follow-up book, The Light We Carry, also became a bestseller, offering readers insight on resilience and hope.
Next year from 19-20 May, live audiences in Melbourne and Sydney will have the chance to see “In Conversation with Michelle Obama”, presented by Sydney-based business events and ideas business The Growth Faculty.
It’s not the first time Obama has headlined with The Growth Faculty, having attended speaking events with her husband and former US president Barack Obama in 2019 in Singapore.
“Michelle Obama is one of the most influential women of our time. As a lawyer, First Lady, mother of two and global role model, her extraordinary story is one that fascinates and inspires people everywhere,” Growth Faculty founder and chief executive Karen Beattie said, ahead of Obama’s visit to Australia.
“It’s an incredible honour to bring this exclusive event to Australia, and to be working with Mrs Obama again after a successful event in Singapore in 2019.”
Growing up on the South side of Chicago, Obama was the daughter of a city water-pump operator and a stay-at-home mom. She excelled academically and attended Princeton University before earning her law degree from Harvard in 1988.
At a Chicago law firm, she met and later married Barack Obama in 1922 and had two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Obama made history in 2009 as the first African American First Lady of the US. She used this platform to emerge as an applauded and dynamic national presence, respected for her advocacy efforts. She launched several initiatives, including to tackle childhood obesity, support military families and advocate for girls’ education. Since leaving the White House, Obama has remained a powerful voice in American public life.