Manuel Scott, Ph.D.

Speaker, Author, Original Freedom Writer

Many superintendents are struggling to keep their teachers motivated. Dr. Manny Scott's keynotes inspire teachers to renew their commitment to education, so that students succeed in school and graduate prepared for work and life.

An original Freedom Writer whose story is told in part in the hit movie, Freedom Writers, Dr. Manuel Scott has energized more than two million educators, students, and leaders worldwide in person with his authentic, inspiring messages of hope.

On the road up to 300 days a year for the past 20+ years, Dr. Scott has delivered over 2,000 presentations, and is the speaker of choice for convocations, conferences, and conventions.

Dr. Scott has a gift: the ability to connect with, hold the attention of, and energize all kinds of audiences. From inner-city youth to business executives, he has learned to speak, and command, the language of his audiences with relevant, riveting, and compelling messages, moving them from cheers, to laughter, to tears, and go-forward determination.

By age 14, Dr. Scott's story was almost over:

His father was incarcerated, he missed 60-90 days of school annually from 4th to 9th grade, he dropped out of school at age 14, he lived in 26 places by age 16, and his best friend was brutally murdered. Sensing that the end of his life was near, Dr. Scott sat down on a park bench, and considered how he would make others feel the depth of despair and anger roiling in his soul. He says, "When I look back, I now see that I was heading down a path that would have destroyed me."

But Something Powerful Happened

Several loving adults came into his life and inspired him to turn the page and write a different story—create a new life.

Freedom Writers Cover

Original Freedom Writer

He returned to school with a new attitude and purpose, and ended up in the back of Erin Gruwell’s English class—a group now known worldwide as the Freedom Writers, portrayed in the hit MTV movie.

In his journal, Dr. Scott began writing—and dreaming about—new, more fulfilling chapters in his life- chapters filled with healing, hope, perseverance, and possibility.

Through very hard work, and the loving help of teachers and others, Dr. Scott went from being a high school dropout to a Ph.D. Now, he is happily married to his college sweetheart, a doting father of three, and one of the nation's most in-demand education speakers.

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The Scott Family

Scott Family