AFTERNOON Speaker Series with Zach Anner, comedian, author, viral sensation

Fall Speaker Series, with Zach Anner, award-winning public speaker, host, author & viral sensation - Zach Anner

See details below:

This registration is for IN-PERSON attendance only.

This is for the AFTERNOON SESSION 2 TO 3 P.M. EDT - *Please note this session is for Peckham team members and staff only.

If you prefer to attend this event online, please visit this link: Speaker Series - Fall 2025 - Peckham

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Joyful Grit: How Embracing Obstacles Unlocks Optimism

An exclusive talk for Peckham staff and team members

About the Session:

In a time of change and challenge, this uplifting session with Zach offers a timely dose of encouragement and clarity. Through laugh-out-loud stories and the powerful legacy of disability rights activism, Zach will explore how optimism isn’t just a trait, it’s a practice. He’ll show how progress is fueled not only by bold trailblazers but also by everyday acts of kindness and courage.

As we navigate transitions, leadership shifts and the emotional toll of mission-driven work, Zach invites us to meet obstacles with humor, resilience and joy as our constant companion. This talk is a celebration of the grit that keeps us going and the joy that reminds us why we started.

About Zach:

Zach Anner is a comedian, author, television writer, public speaker, and YouTube personality. He grew up in Buffalo, NY, and somehow remained an optimist despite enduring seven-month winters and watching the Buffalo Bills lose four straight Super Bowls.

Zach’s YouTube videos have amassed over 100 million views and have helped change the conversation around disability. Zach hosted his travel series Rollin' With Zach on the Oprah Winfrey Network, becoming the first person with cerebral palsy to host their own television show.

He is an ambassador for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and has worked with United Cerebral Palsy’s Wheels for Humanity program to distribute wheelchairs to underserved communities in Nicaragua.

He published his memoir If At Birth You Don’t Succeed in 2016, and his work writing for television has been honored with 2017 and 2023 Sentinel Awards for outstanding depictions of people with disabilities on screen. In 2023, Zach was selected for Netflix’s Created By Initiative, and is a 2025 fellow for the Inevitable Foundation's Accelerate Program for screenwriters with disabilities.

Host or Publisher Peckham Youth Services