Sandy Hook Promise CEO Nicole Hockley ’92 Announced as 2023 Commencement Speaker

Savannah Brooks ’26

News Editor

On Wednesday, April 5, Trinity College announced Nicole Hockley ’92 as the commencement speaker for the 2023 class. Hockley is the co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-gun violence non-profit organization that was formed in 2013 one month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Hockley’s youngest son, Dylan, was murdered in the shooting. Jake, another son of Hockley, was also attending Sandy Hook at the time and survived the shooting. 

Sandy Hook Promise champions programs that focus on educating about and preventing gun violence. These programs include “Start With Hello,” “Say Something,” and others that promote teaching young students how to reduce social isolation and to report any possible signs of a shooting. 

Hockley consistently speaks and writes about her experience and the importance of reducing school shootings for major news networks including NBC, the Today Show, and several others. She has appeared in the documentaries Newtown (2016) and The Price of Freedom(2021) and has presented several Ted Talks. She is a constant advocate against gun violence and helped create the viral commercials “Evan” and “Back-to-School Essentials,” the latter of which won an Emmy for Best Commercial of 2019. 

Hockley holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Fairfield and was named one of 25 Women Changing the World by People in 2016. She was also given the Alumni Achievement Award by Trinity in 2017. Before Sandy Hook Promise, Hockley worked in marketing for companies such as Norwich Union Healthcare and The Hartford. She currently works as a consultant at Netflix. 

Hockley will be speaking at Trinity’s 197th commencement. The baccalaureate speaker will be Sidnie White Crawford ’81. Crawford is a professor emerita of classics and religious studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The baccalaureate ceremony will be in the Trinity College Chapel on Saturday, May 20th at 4 p.m. and the commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 21st starting at 11:00 a.m. on the main quad.