Introduced by Headmaster Rob Hershey as "someone who has dedicated her life to honor, to service to others, to moral courage," Edelman shared several lessons for life as part of her address, including the one she felt was most important - "never think that life is not worth living or that you cannot make a difference."

Edelman is the founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization dedicated to ensuring each child a healthy, head, fair, safe, and moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood. The first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she has worked with organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Poor People's Campaign, and Washington Research Project. Edelman has published eight books, for which she received the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, in 2000.

The Phillips Lecture on Integrity in Action was established in 2000 to honor former EHS faculty member Allen C. Phillips, renowned for his dedication to character, integrity and sacrifice.

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