Anindya Kundu

Anindya Kundu is an education researcher and student success expert who delivers insightful keynotes on supporting first-generation college students, educational equity, and helping all students complete their degrees. He speaks on the challenges facing first-gen students, creating inclusive campus cultures, evidence-based retention strategies, and ensuring higher education serves students from all backgrounds. Anindya’s research helps institutions improve student success and equity.

Dr. Anindya Kundu education keynote speaker the opportunity gap,  2-time TED Speaker, and the author of the award-winning book, The Power of Student Agency: Looking Beyond Grit to Close the Opportunity Gap (2020). His next book, The Power of Educational Leadership, will be out in 2025 (Oxford University Press). A sociologist who studies the contexts that allow young people to thrive,

Anindya is also an award-winning educator and coveted public speaker. Since 2020, Anindya has given many keynote presentations to large audiences across public education, higher education, education technology, and workforce and professional development sectors.

Anindya’s research is rooted in amplifying student voice in order to create more equitable systems and pathways to opportunity for all making him a true expert speaker the opportunity gap. His areas of expertise include K-12 achievement contexts, higher education equity, educational psychology, and inclusive workforce development. Anindya received his PhD at New York University (NYU) and taught courses including, American Dilemmas: Race, Inequality, and the Promise of Public Education, and Research in Urban Education. Anindya connects his research to practice for broad stakeholders, and his work has appeared in NPR Education, MSNBC, and his TED Talks have garnered more than 6 million views.

How to Develop Agency & Grit

Anindya’s most popularly requested keynote topic, this session offers primers on the concepts of grit and agency, showcasing how our psychological traits are cultivated through the right social, cultural, and environmental contexts. Anindya describes how organizations can create these contexts through culture building and learning from the lessons of underrepresented individuals who have achieved amazing things.

How Achievement is Actually About Our Positive Impacts on Others:

Anindya can help audiences work through the idea that our achievements are amplified with and through other people. Sharing unique stories of those who overcame immense obstacles, Anindya persuasively argues that true achievement and living up to our potential requires making a positive difference in others’ lives. This session involves big picture takeaways on how our efforts can help to improve our social cohesion, reminding audiences of their inherent power to make change, even as individuals.

Culturally Competent Leadership & Conditions for Achievement:

What does cultural competency look like and how can we embody it as leadership practice?

How can we build buy-in among stakeholders to promote the achievement of all students, staff, and service recipients?

How can we support public education in modern contexts?

Supporting Students & Staff with Diverse Backgrounds

Anindya shares the message that uplifting those who need the most help strengthens our social safety net. He shares stories from his qualitative research on how individuals have beat the odds stacked against them, through social support and cultural resources. An inspiring session, Anindya helps all of us to remember our commonality, while celebrating our differences.