On Nov. 18, 2010, Tina Tchen, then the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, took the podium at Akron Roundtable.
Nationally known for her work in the Obama administration, the Ohio native brought Washington, D.C., to the Rubber City with her engagement. It’s a perfect example of what the series — which brings interesting, accomplished speakers to Akron for lunchtime forums — aims to do.
“It’s summed up by … bringing the world to Akron,” says board member Pam Hickson-Stevenson, who recently retired from her position as executive director of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. “The goal is to inform, to provoke thoughtful conversation and dialogue.”
Started in 1976, the Akron Roundtable was born when the Kiwanis Club of Akron decided that the city needed a public forum. John S. Knight, editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, encouraged its formation, as did the Greater Akron Chamber — known, at the time, as the Akron Regional Development Board.
“Their goal was to bring relevant speakers to our community to help tell the stories of what was happening in the world,” says Joan Lauck, executive director at Akron Roundtable. “We’re trying to provide inspiration and connection, enlightenment.”
On May 6, 1976, C. William O’Neill — chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court — became the Roundtable’s first official speaker.
“In that first year, we had a candidate for Senate, Howard Metzenbaum, Carla Hills, who was the secretary of housing and urban development, the editor of the Beacon Journal, the publisher of Fortune magazine,” Lauck says.
On July 16, hear a talk from Akron filmmaker Ismail Al-Amin and Olympic track legend Butch Reynolds, who was born in the Rubber City. Also see artist Leandra Drumm, of Don Drumm Studios & Gallery, Oct. 15 and The Atlantic writer and The Project: How Project 2025 is Reshaping America author David Graham Nov. 19.
“It has provided opportunities for connection, for expanding one’s mind, for presenting points of view that attendees may not have considered or even heard of,” Hickson-Stevenson says. “Many people often say Akron always punches above its weight.”
Here are a few of the Roundtable’s most memorable speakers.
Wikimedia Commons
BOSTON MARATHON
Kathrine Switzer
Sept. 25, 2008
When she ran the Boston Marathon in 1967, marathon runner and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially do so. While running, however, Switzer was attacked by the race director for her participation. Photos were taken of the incident, which ended up in Time-Life Books’ 100 Photographs that Changed the World — and became a symbol of women’s resistance. “I found her story very interesting,” Lauck says, “the challenges she faced, how she overcame them.” Switzer went on to win the women’s division of the 1974 New York City Marathon. She also organized to bring the women’s marathon into the Olympics and more.
Akron Roundtable
Cindy Hohl
May 18, 2023
At the time, Cindy Hohl was a candidate for the presidency of the American Library Association, the treasurer of the Freedom to Read Foundation and the past president of the American Indian Library Association. “She came a few years ago, right as book banning, book challenges and censorship were increasing exponentially,” says Hickson-Stevenson, “and so to hear her come speak to the group about the importance of intellectual freedom, the importance of people having access to information that they want, even if other people disagree with it … it was really a thrill.”
Akron Roundtable
Paul Tazewell
April 7, 2026
Akron-born Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell — the first Black man to win the costume design Oscar — spoke to Roundtable guests about his career and Rubber City roots. Tazewell is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, Tony Awards and more — and has designed costumes for Broadway productions such as Hamilton and Death Becomes Her, as well as films such as West Side Story and Harriet. “He was very inspiring in talking about his art,” says Lauck. “It was so exciting to hear him talk about how Akron really made an impact on who he became as an adult and how important his family and growing up here was to his career.”
