About Me

Brandon P. Fleming is a renowned speaker, nationally acclaimed educator, and author of MISEDUCATED: A Memoir. His triumphant story of struggle, success, and service has captured the heart of national media and inspired millions of people around the world. An at-risk youth and college dropout turned award-winning educator, Fleming is a former debate coach at Harvard University and Founder & CEO of the Veritas School of Social Sciences in Atlanta, GA.

In 2017, Fleming was recruited to become an assistant debate coach at Harvard University at the age of 26.  Fleming soon made history at Harvard as the founder of the first Black pipeline program called the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, which was designed to increase Black enrollment at Harvard’s residential debate program where hundreds of gifted young scholars from over 25 different countries study and compete in an international debate competition.  

Over five years, Fleming has raised millions of dollars to enroll more than 150 students of color into Harvard’s summer debate residency on full scholarship.  But there was one challenge that Fleming faced: How would he take Black youth from mostly under-resourced schools in Atlanta, who had never been exposed to the rigors of academic debate, and prepare them in just one year to compete against some of the most elite debaters from across the globe?  Fleming created a transformative curriculum that is designed to build intellectual capacity, accelerate learning, and ultimately level the playing field for Black students.  And it did.  For five consecutive years, since the program’s inception in 2017, every cohort trained by Fleming has won the international competition. News of the achievement went viral and broke national headlines, being featured on CNN, Good Morning America, the Steve Harvey Show and many more. The organization has gained the financial backing of Fortune 100 companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and many more.

Fleming’s story represents the transformative power of equity.  The equity model Fleming has built to close performance gaps is one that academic and corporate institutions have highly sought to replicate.  As a renowned speaker, Fleming has keynoted for international governmental organizations such as the United Nations General Assembly.  Fleming has spoken at the nation’s most prestigious colleges, universities, and K-12 conferences.  Fleming has also keynoted conventions for corporate executives at the nation’s largest brands such as Walmart, FedEx, T-Mobile, KPMG, the Federal Reserve Bank, and many more.  At the age of 29, Forbes Magazine named Fleming to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.  In 2020, The Root Magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the United States.  And in May 2021, North Carolina Wesleyan College bestowed upon Fleming the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Fleming has received numerous awards for his work in education and social entrepreneurship.  The Georgia Center for Nonprofits selected Fleming as a 2016 recipient of the Georgia ’30 Under 30′ award for emerging nonprofit leaders.  In 2017, Fleming was inducted into Outstanding Atlanta – an annual award for 10 of Atlanta’s most accomplished leaders.  In 2018, Fleming was inducted into LEAD Atlanta – Atlanta’s premier network of emerging leaders.  In 2018, Fleming was also honored by Power 30 Under 30 and selected by the Atlanta Regional Commission as one of 50 community leaders to join the Regional Leadership Institute.  Also, in 2018, Fleming was among the 50 world leaders selected by the Schusterman Foundation to converge in Israel for a global leadership program. Atlanta Tribune also recognized Brandon as an Atlanta Gamechanger in the 2018 edition of Who’s Who in Black Atlanta.  In 2019, Fleming received an honorary resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives, as well as a community leadership recognition from the Atlanta Hawks and Crown Royal.  He was also named the 2019 Modern Man of Distinction by Black Enterprise.  He received the Education Advocate Award from Urban League of Greater Atlanta, was featured on the cover of Georgia Trend Magazine as a 40 Under 40 inductee and was featured on the cover of Simply Buckhead Magazine as one of Atlanta’s Rising Stars. Notably, Fleming made history as an elected speaker for the inaugural International Day of Education at the United Nations General Assembly and was named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.