The 56th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast
Monday, January 19, 2026
The Westin Copley Place Ballroom
We’re proud to be part of MLK Boston Weekend in partnership with Everyone250, Embrace Boston, Boston Children’s Chorus, and Project 351.
Keynote Speaker
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Speaker on Democracy, Civil Rights, and American History | Pulitzer Prize-Winning Creator of The 1619 Project | Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-Winning 1619 Project Hulu Docuseries | MacArthur Genius
On Monday, January 19, 2026, we gathered as the Beloved Community for the 56th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast.
This year of commemoration, celebration, and activation carried additional historical resonance: 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s founding. In this milestone year, we remembered Dr. King’s call to shape not only a more perfect union, but also a radically just and compassionate society.
So we gathered boldly inspired and galvanized by the theme “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Revolutionary Love, Liberation, and Joy.” The 2026 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast was an opportunity to reflect on this revolutionary spirit — past, present, and future.
Our keynote speaker was Nikole Hannah-Jones. A MacArthur Genius, one of TIME‘s most influential people in the world, and a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Ms. Hannah-Jones is a leading voice on our democracy, our civil rights, and how our country’s history can help us strengthen both. She created The 1619 Project (the #1 New York Times bestselling book and Emmy Award-winning Hulu docuseries) and is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. As we look to the path ahead for our country and our democracy, Nikole helps us to understand the history we need to know — and the future we’re fighting for.
Video replay to come.
Become a Sponsor
Become a Sponsor
Become an Institutional Partner
Being an Institutional Partner reserves a full table (10 seats) and will get your institution's name printed in the Breakfast program booklet.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Legacy Sponsors — $20,000
MathWorks
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission
Inspire Sponsor — $15,000
The Denny, Miles, and Streat Families
Lead Sponsors — $10,000
Cabot Corporation
Carl and Bridget Long
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
Fidelity Investments
Keolis Commuter Services
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Massachusetts Convention Center Authority
Mayor Michelle Wu, City of Boston
New Commonwealth Fund | Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Rise Sponsors: $5,000
Boston Medical Center Health System
Dollar Tree, Inc.
Justice Resource Institute
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
Reparations Task Force and Equity & Inclusion Cabinet of the City of Boston
Spencer Preservation Group
The Boston Foundation
TJX Companies
William Monroe Trotter Institute at UMass Boston
Hope Sponsors — $2,500
AFT Massachusetts
Boston Teachers Union
Care Access
Home Care with Grace, LLC
Trinity Church in the City of Boston
UHM Properties
Dream Sponsors — $1,000
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
Advocate Sponsors: $500
National Black MBA – Boston Chapter
Preachers’ Aid Society of New England
Equity Sponsors: $150
Boston City Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune
Kelley Chunn & Associates
Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association
Massachusetts Health Council
Trial Court, Suffolk Probate & Family Court, Office of the Registry
Sustainable Business Network of MA
Media Partners
Boston Neighborhood Network
WCVB
Institutional Partners
1199SEIU
Action for Boston Community Development
Babson College
Boston College
Boston College High School
Boys & Girls Club of Boston
Boys & Girls Club of Boston – CareerLabs
Bridgewater State University, Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice
Cambridge Housing Authority
Celebrity Series of Boston
Commonwealth Kitchen
First Church Boston
Green Ribbon Commission
Massachusetts Port Authority
Massachusetts Teachers Association
MissionSAFE: A New Beginning, Inc.
National Society of Black Engineers – Boston Professionals
New England Conference of the United Methodist Church
Reparations Task Force and Equity & Inclusion Cabinet of the City of Boston
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Old South Church
Roxbury Community College
Stone & Company
Tufts Medicine
United Methodist Foundation of New England
YMCA of Greater Boston