Tony Weaver, Jr. is a writer and entrepreneur creating diverse stories that make young people feel seen and valued. In 2014 following the events of Ferguson, Tony embarked on a journey to create new media narratives for minorities that would challenge the status quo. What started as a school project became a national platform that’s landed him on the TED stage, in the presence of world leaders, and gained him recognition from the likes of Taraji P. Henson, Lebron James, and Lena Waithe at the age of 25.

He is the CEO of Weird Enough Productions, where he developed a program that uses comics and superheroes for literacy and social emotional learning in elementary, middle, and high schools. Through Weird Enough, Tony, developed The UnCommons, an award winning webcomic that engages over 40,000 young people monthly.

In 2018, Tony made history as the first comic writer to ever be selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30.” His work has also been recognized in outlets like NBC, The Huffington Post, Inc., HelloBeautiful, EdSurge, and Quartz. Tony received a Generation Titan Prize from Google, was named a Global Barrier Breaker by Marriott International, and awarded an Aspire Fellowship from AT&T. For his work bringing diverse comics and stories into classrooms, Tony has been awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship, The Camelback Ventures Fellowship, and the Peace First Fellowship.

The global philanthropy firm New Profit selected Tony as a millennial impact fellow due to his success working with marginalized students, and he was nominated for an Early Career Award by Innovation for Equity. He is a winner of the JMK Innovation Prize, and was named a New Narrative Vanguard Fellow by BMe Community, a national organization focused on improving the media narratives of black men.

Tony’s work has not only resulted in awards, but an international speaking platform. Earlier this year he served as a speaker for the American Federation of Teachers. He’s spoken at The State of Young People Summit at Facebook Headquarters, The Kennedy Center, The Youth Peace Summit, and The Martin Luther King Jr. Global Leadership Conference. Plus, he’s been invited to speak at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning National Conference.

He’s also brought his talents to education conferences like SXSW EDU, NYC Ed Tech Week, ISTE, The American Library Association Conference, Denver Pop Culture Con, C2E2, and SDCC. As the son of a teacher turned principal, Tony has a special connection with educators. He’s spoken at educational institutions like Columbia University Teachers College, Penn State University, Claremont McKenna College, San Diego Unified Schools, and The California AME Schools Conference.

Since founding his own education company at age 20, Tony has built a national platform that consists of support from large publications, numerous awards, a growing list of speaking engagements, and a cumulative online following of 15,000. That platform was built by sharing his story. By being open and vulnerable about his childhood experiences, and championing his belief that a hero lies in every student. Weirdo is an extension of that story. Ultimately, Tony’s career has not only given him the writing experience to make Weirdo a quality piece of work, it’s given him a platform that can get it in the hands of young people all over the world.