The Spirit of ‘76 Speaker Series will launch in January 2026 and continue through July 2026, exactly 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. All events are FREE to the public, but registration is required. For more information, call 440.322.6300.
Jan 20th 2026 JOHN KASICH, Former Ohio Governor. Author ofTwo Paths: America United or Divided
TOPIC: IT’S UP TO US
Lorain County Community College, stocker arts center | 6:00 PM
Feb 23rd 2026 ALEX NOWRASTEH, Immigration Policy Analyst, CatoInstitute
TOPIC: Open Immigration Yea and Nay!
Lorain County Community College, stocker arts center | 6:00 PM
Mar 18th 2026 CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT, CEO of FeedingAmerica. Listed as TIME 100 Women of the Year.
TOPIC: New Tools to End Hunger
Elyria High School, Performing Arts Center | 7:00 PM
APR 9th 2026 SIMON KORNBLITH, Ph.D., Technical Team Member at Anthropic, Creator of Claude AI. Lorain County Native.
TOPIC: Artificial Intelligence: Do No Harm
Lake Ridge Academy, Bettcher Convocation Center | 6:00 PM
May TBD 2026 BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II, Professor at Yale Divinity School. Activist. Founder of Moral Mondays.
TOPIC: Public Theology and Public Policy
Location announcement coming soon
June II 2026 MAJORA CARTER, MacArthur Fellow. Entrepreneur. Founder of Green For All. Author of Reclaiming Your Community: You Don’t Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live In a Better One
TOPIC: IT’S UP TO US PT. 2!
Location announcement coming soon
To r e s e r v e y o u r s p o t , v i s i t w w w . L o r a i nC o u nt y . c o m / e / s p i r i t o f 7 6 o r u s e t h e Q R C o d e