From homeless to Harvard…it is an unlikely turn of events. Liz Murray’s life is a triumph over adversity and a stunning example of the importance of dreaming big. Murray was raised in the Bronx by two loving but drug-addicted parents. She grew up in poverty, often without enough food, chronically absent from school and most of all, struggling to connect her education to a viable future.
By age 15, Murray’s mom had died, and she was homeless—living on the streets, riding the subway all night, and eating from dumpsters. Amidst this pain, Murray always imagined her life could be much better than it was. “I started to grasp the value of the lessons learned while living on the streets. I knew after overcoming those daily obstacles that next to nothing could hold me down.” Determined to take charge of her life, and with the support of an upstairs neighbor and trusted family friend named Arthur, Murray finished high school in just two years and was awarded a full scholarship to Harvard University,all while camping out in New York City parks and subway stations.
Murray’s story is exhilarating and inspirational. Her delivery is innocently honest, as she takes audiences on a very personal journey where she achieves the improbable.
Her story sounds like a Hollywood movie—and it practically is. Lifetime Television produced a movie about Murray’s life story entitled Homeless to Harvard, which was nominated for three “Emmy Awards”. Murray is the recipient of the White House “Project’s Role Model Award” and Oprah Winfrey’s first-ever “Chutzpah Award”. Her memoir, Breaking Night, is a New York Times best seller and an international bestseller published in twelve countries, in eight languages.
Today, Murray is a passionate advocate for underserved youth. As Co-Founder of The Arthur Project, a mentoring program that works intensively with at-risk youth through the duration of middle school, Murray is working to end generational poverty through relationship-based learning. She believes that when it comes to a child facing even the most extreme adversity, it is having a relationship with at least one caring, dedicated adult that can make all the difference.
Murray graduated from Harvard in 2009 and received her Masters degree in the Psychology of Education at Columbia University. She is passionate about speaking on the importance of personal motivation, transforming problems into opportunities, and what it takes to make a difference in people’s lives.
Robert Costa is a national correspondent for “CBS News Sunday Morning” and the chief Washington analyst for CBS News.
Costa’s work at “Sunday Morning” includes coverage of national politics, in-depth interviews with newsmakers, and features on culture, literature and the arts. As chief Washington analyst for CBS News, Costa offers reporting and analysis to the “CBS Evening News,” “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” “CBS Mornings” and CBS News 24/7 programs.
Costa has covered President Donald Trump for over a decade and interviewed him on numerous occasions, with conversations on Trump’s campaign plane and at Trump Tower during key moments in Trump’s political career. Politico once called Costa a “Trump whisperer” due to his close coverage of Trump’s rise to power, and Costa continues to report on the Trump White House, Congress, and the influence of Trump’s voters in American politics.
Costa was named a national correspondent for “Sunday Morning” in February 2025 following three years of contributions to the broadcast, including an exclusive sit-down in the White House residence with President Joe Biden in August 2024. It was Biden’s first interview since he announced his decision to not seek reelection. Costa and colleagues at “Sunday Morning” won an Emmy Award in 2023 for “Outstanding Recorded News Program.
Costa served as chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News from 2022 through 2024. He has been a guest anchor on the CBS Television Network for programs such as “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Weekend News” and “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Prior to joining CBS News, Costa was a longtime national political reporter at The Washington Post. During his time at the newspaper, Costa served as the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” on PBS and was a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. In 2021, he and Bob Woodward published “Peril,” a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
Costa holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame, where he is a former trustee, and a master’s degree in politics from the University of Cambridge. Since 2022, Costa has served as a non-resident scholar at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.