Human rights activist and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson will discuss her new memoir, Everybody Matters, at The Cooper Union. Robinson has spent her life in pursuit of a fairer world, becoming a powerful and influential voice for human rights around the globe.  Born in 1944 into a deeply Catholic family, she was poised to become a nun before finding her own true voice.  Ever since, she has challenged convention in pursuit of fairness—whether in the Church, in government and politics, or in her own family.  Everybody Matters will inspire all who read it with the belief that each of us can, in our own way, help change the world for the better.

Mary Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, president of Ireland from 1990-1997, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. Robinson has been honorary president of Oxfam International since 2002, and has chaired numerous bodies, including the GAVI Alliance, vaccinating children worldwide, and the Council of Women World Leaders (of which she was a cofounder). She is a member of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. A member of the American Philosophical Society, she is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Indira Gandhi and Sydney Peace Prizes. She is president of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, and lives with her husband, Nick Robinson, in Dublin and Mayo.

The event is free with seating on a first-come-first-served basis.