Eric Liu is an author, educator, and civic entrepreneur. His first book, The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker, was a New York Times Notable Book featured in the PBS documentary “Matters of Race." He is also the author of Guiding Lights: How to Mentor – and Find Life’s Purpose, the Official Book of National Mentoring Month, and is founder of the Guiding Lights Network, a mentoring advocacy organization. Eric's newest book Imagination First, co-authored with Scott Noppe-Brandon of the Lincoln Center Institute, explores ways to unlock imagination in education, politics, business and the arts. Eric also co-authored The True Patriot with Nick Hanauer, and together the two have created the True Patriot Network to advance the book's ideals of progressive patriotism. Eric served as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and later as the President's deputy domestic policy adviser. After the White House, he was an executive at the digital media company RealNetworks. In 2002 he was named one of the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders of Tomorrow.

Eric lives in Seattle, where he teaches at the University of Washington and hosts an acclaimed television interview program called Seattle Voices. In addition to speaking regularly at venues across the country, Eric also serves on the Washington State Board of Education, and on the boards of the Seattle Public Library, the League of Education Voters, Washington State Mentors and the SEIU Healthcare NW Training Partnership. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, and a proud Seattle Public Schools parent.