Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Kal Penn

Emmy-Nominated Actor | Writer | Activist

Kal Penn Speaking Fee: $50,000 to $75,000

Emmy-Nominated Actor | Writer | Activist

Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Kal Penn
Speaking Fee:
$50,000 to $75,000

Travels From:
EWR - Newark, NJ

Primary Topic Category:
Asian & Pacific Islander

Secondary Topic Category:
LGBTQIA

 

Kal Penn Speaker Profile: At A Glance

Kal Penn is an actor, writer, producer, and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. In a talk that’s equal parts funny, eye-opening, and inspirational, Kal uses his own groundbreaking experiences and plenty of funny social context to debunk the myth that success requires you to pick one lane and stay in it. He shares his experiences balancing a number of careers with a life in public service, including plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from his time on R-rated movie sets to briefings in the Oval Office.

Kal Penn is an Emmy-nominated actor, and a writer, producer, and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is known for his starring roles in Designated Survivor, House, Mira Nair’s The Namesake, the Harold & Kumar franchise, and the Christmas comedy The Santa Clauses for Disney +. Kal most recently guest hosted two weeks of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show following the departure of Trevor Noah. From 2009 to 2011, Penn took a sabbatical from the private sector to serve in the Obama/Biden administration as the President’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community. In these three outreach roles, he worked on a team focused on issues that included the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Affordable Care Act, Pell Grants, the DREAM Act, and rapid response to the BP Oil Spill. Kal was a national co-chair for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and served on the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities, focusing on arts education and cultural diplomacy, including the first-ever US Government arts delegation to Cuba. Kal received his BA in Sociology with a concentration in Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Certificate in International Security from Stanford University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Penn has been an adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles. He recently Executive Produced & starred in Bloomberg Green’s climate change docuseries, Getting Warmer, and is in preproduction on the independent feature film, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor. His bestselling book & audiobook You Can’t Be Serious, about systemic change in Hollywood and politics, is on shelves now.
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