Dr. Daniel Jean

Dr. Daniel Jean was raised in abject poverty and rose from a 1.9 grade-point average to become an author, consultant, motivational speaker, swagger trainer, playwright and poet. Dr. Jean has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, NJ.com, Black Enterprise, Ebony, The Hechinger Report and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. He is the CEO of Wordstravel LLC, a consulting, edutainment and empowerment agency that provides services in undergraduate and graduate scholar recruitment, retention and graduation; antiracist and equity initiatives; strategic planning; value and identity development; professional growth planning; outcome formation; and performance enhancement.

Dr. Jean is the founder of PhinisheD/FinishEdD, the WhoGotNext resource community for more than 23,000 doctors and future doctors, and has presented more than 700 seminars and keynotes for higher education professional associations including NASPA, ACPA, CSRDE, N-CORE, APLU and NACADA. He has shared expertise at MIT; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Baruch College; the Fashion Institute of Technology; Northwestern University; the University of South Florida; Western Kentucky University; Rutgers University; Meharry Medical College; and Clemson University, and for several nonprofits and companies including PSE&G and McDonald's. As a college administrator at Montclair State University, Dr. Jean’s retention initiatives resulted in a 91.9 percent first-year retention rate and a 61 percent increase in the four-year graduation rate of a so-called special admit population. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in consulting, student development, transformative leadership and hip-hop culture. He is the chair and founder of three statewide college access and awareness conferences and the Richard Wilson/Jason James Mentorship Program. His play, "Til Death Do Us Part?," ran off-off-Broadway in New York City to sold-out shows.

Dr. Jean is the author of three indie books, including the book, "I Am…I Will…," an action-based interactive framework designed for the reader to proclaim their identity, declare their desired outcomes in the present and develop time-referenced action plans for the future. He serves on the board of the Three Doctors Foundation and has received numerous accolades, including citations from the New Jersey and New York legislatures; Educator of the Year awards from Zeta Phi Beta Incorporated and Uprising Stars LLC; the ACPA Educational Excellence Erica Holloman Award; and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the African American and New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Jean seeks to directly assist 100,000 future graduates and deliver 1,000 seminars and keynotes.