Commencement 2026 Keynote Speaker: Anna Palmer

When Anna Palmer ’07 sat where the Class of 2026 sits today, she couldn’t yet see the path that would take her from Eureka College to founding mission-driven ventures, investing in women-led companies, and bringing professional women’s soccer to Boston.

Returning to campus as the 2026 Commencement keynote speaker and a member of the Eureka College Board of Trustees, Palmer shared how her Eureka experience shaped every chapter that followed. Grounded in servant leadership and community, her address challenged graduates to live by three simple but powerful principles: show up, say yes, and invite others.

Below is Anna Palmer’s full Commencement address to the Eureka College Class of 2026:

“Congratulations, Eureka College Class of 2026. What an extraordinary achievement. It is a true honor to celebrate this day with you. 

In 2007, I sat exactly where you are sitting now- singing the Alma Mater one final time, cutting my piece of the ivy, and wondering what I would carry with me when I stepped out into the world. Today, I want to tell you what happened after I left these halls and share with your three actions that have guided my life as an alumnus of Eureka College;  

Show up. Say yes. Invite others.  

If you take anything from my speech today, I hope you’ll remember those six words. 

But before I get there, I want to start with a story. It was late August of 2008. I was seated in a lecture hall with ninety students- the kind of room you only see in movies: tiered wooden desks, endless rows, microphones that glowed red when you spoke. It felt worlds away from the classrooms I knew in Burgess Hall, where sometimes my classes would be just three of us and a professor gathered around a small table.

I was in my very first class as a graduate student at Harvard Law School. And I was terrified. This was a place that had educated some of the most accomplished legal minds in the country. I remember thinking: maybe they got it wrong. Maybe I got in, but I don’t belong here. Then class began. And the professor said: “Ms. Palmer, can you summarize the case?” My heart was pounding as I pressed the microphone button and did my best to explain what I had read. Then came a follow-up question. Then another. Then another. 

And for the next two hours—the entire length of the class—the professor spoke just with me. Only me. Asking questions, challenging my thinking, back and forth. But what should have been the most intimidating academic experience of my life became something else entirely. Because about fifteen minutes into our conversation, I noticed I had relaxed. This felt… familiar. I didn’t know how to disappear into a massive lecture hall. But I did know how to think out loud with my professor. I knew how to have a one-on-one conversation about our reading. And I knew how to voice my opinion, and sometimes how to change it. Because here at Eureka College, all that was just a normal day in the classroom. 

Afterwards, as many of my classmates came up to me expressing how they wouldn’t have known what to do, that moment became a defining one- the first of so many times I’ve found my time here at Eureka had prepared me for life, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Each of you will discover this on your own journey too, that the legacy of servant leadership, the uniqueness of a small campus that asks of you “if not me, then who?” and that the values and relationships you forged here, will continue to shape who you are far after you leave.  

Like that experience, there have been so many ways my time at Eureka College has equipped me for what lay ahead. But today I’ll focus today on three of these; Show up. Say yes. Invite others. My hope is that these words become a framework you can return to as a Eureka graduate when you’re deciding what kind of life you want to build. 

To illustrate the power of these words, let me take you back to a moment that changed my life.  

It was 4:35 on a Thursday afternoon, and I was sitting on my couch in Boston, scrolling through emails before heading out to a pitch competition to share the vision for my new company.  Life felt full in the best way. 

I had just graduated from law school and was starting an ecommerce business to turn the clothes in people’s closets into funding for charity. A local investor group had agreed to back it and so I turned down a job at a Chicago law firm to pursue my dream. That morning, I signed a lease for our first office in Boston and sent offers to two team members. Everything felt exciting- it was like the whole world was ahead. I heard a “ding” and an email came in from my investor group with the subject line: “Funding.” I assumed it was a routine question, so I opened it as I was getting ready to walk out the door. But it wasn’t. 

In a matter of seconds, everything changed.  My investors were pulling out. They weren’t going to fund my company.  

I couldn’t breathe. I was devastated, scared, confused. I remember thinking: How will I pay my team? What about our lease? What do I do now?  Every instinct I had was to disappear. To crawl back into bed- and shut out the world. 

But instead, I stood up. I put on my jacket. I got on the train. And I went to a Startup Competition to pitch a company I thought was already dead. 

That small decision- to show up anyway- changed the course of my life. 

A week later, a six-figure investment came through from even better investors than the ones who had walked away. All because on the judging panel that night was a director from a startup accelerator who saw my pitch, believed in it, and invited me into their program. The invitation from that night became a launchpad. It led to raising millions of dollars, processing hundreds of thousands of items, and funding over 2000 nonprofits across 36 countries. 

But more importantly, it taught me something I’ve never forgotten. 

I am standing here today because I showed up. 

I showed up because that is one of the powerful things Eureka taught me. When you’re a part of a small yet special community, you have to show up- whether that is in sports, in class, or campus activities, even when you don’t feel like it, because there is no one else to do the work for you.  

All of you are here graduating today because you learned the importance of showing up.  

I want to encourage you when you leave Eureka College to show up. Not just for opportunities- but for people too. For yourself. For friends. For family. For your community.  

If you want all that life has to offer; start with showing up. 

When you do that, something else happens. Opportunity often shows up too.  

This leads me to the next lesson I hope you take with you from your time here-  Say yes. 

In July of 2022, I got a last-minute invite to a breakfast meeting with the founder of Angel City FC, one of the pioneers of women’s professional soccer. We met outside at a cafe- it was one of those perfect sunny mornings where everything feels possible. Over coffee, she casually mentioned that Boston might have a chance to bid for a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team. 

Then she asked: What do you think? We started dreaming out loud—about what a team could mean for this city, what it could look like, where a stadium could be built in the heart of Boston. Then, as we were all rushing to our next meetings, she asked if I wanted an introduction to the investment bank running the process. I had every reason to say no. 

I didn’t know how to build a professional sports franchise. There was no stadium plan. The bid was due in months, while other cities had spent years preparing. It would take over $200 million dollars. And I had just taken my dream job as a venture investor- plus I had a one-year-old son at home. 

On paper, saying yes made no sense. 

But I said yes anyway. 

Not because I had the answers- but because I was open to what might come next. And what came next changed everything. Months later, after late nights, and joining forces with three remarkable co-founders, we won the bid to bring a professional women’s soccer team to Boston. And now that team, Boston Legacy FC, made its debut a few weeks ago to a crowd of 31,000 fans.  The most interesting chapters in my life have come from these moments of showing up and saying yes. The things on paper I had a million reasons to say no to. All of those started with something I learned here at Eureka College- say yes and see what happens.  

One of the unique things about time here is the opportunity to take on challenges, activities, and leadership roles you may have never considered, both because the EC community needed someone to take it on, or because someone saw something in you that maybe you didn’t even see in yourself- at least not yet. For me, this meant joining the cheerleading squad freshman year, even though I hadn’t cheered since Jr. High, writing an honors thesis, and spending two of my summers in DC.

Eureka taught me to say yes and trust my ability to figure things out.  

To live a life oriented around yes means that when something comes up...a chance to try something new, or apply to a job you didn’t expect…it means that you stay open to the idea of yes. Something may not fit your plan—but might fit your future. Show up. Say yes. And see what happens.

And when you do, Invite others to join you. 

While at Eureka I was working almost full time in politics- a passion that I carried with me through law school and beyond. The morning after one particularly tough election, I found myself struggling to process what I was feeling- and what so many people around me were feeling too. 

I spent the day talking, texting, scrolling—trying to do something to stay busy. On a whim, I created a Facebook group called Suit Up. The idea was simple: bring women together for conversation, connection, and action. I invited a few friends. They invited others. By that night, there were hundreds of members. By the next day, thousands. Within 48 hours, tens of thousands- across Boston, Boise, and even Belgium. 

I sent a text to two people I had campaigned with and soon we assembled an executive team working tirelessly to provide resources. Over the next few weeks we created a tool kit, organized hundreds of hosts for coffee conversations, and brought together over 25,000 people to propose solutions for more opportunities for women and girls in their neighborhoods.  

From those conversations came the idea for XFactor Ventures, a venture fund I co-founded to invest in women-led companies- now one of the most active funds in the US backing female founders, with over 106 investments spanning everything from hypersonic aircraft, to mobility solutions for Parkisons, to the wine you drink on Delta Airlines.  

All of this happened because of something I learned here at Eureka College- that being a leader doesn’t mean being on your own out front with everyone trailing behind you. Servant leadership means bringing people alongside you.   

There’s a well known maxim that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” But in my experience, I think that’s wrong- it should read “if you want to go anywhere at all, invite someone to go with you.” 

Show up. Say Yes. Invite others.  

To you, the Eureka College Class of 2026- I hope you carry with you what you learned in your time here. Not just the lessons in the classrooms. But those in the quieter moments that shaped who you will become. Those lessons on life long learning and servant leadership that helped you discover not just what you can do- but who you can be. 

As I wrap up today and you head out into the lives you will lead from this day forward- this is my challenge to you, the Class of 2026: 

Not advice. Not hope.  
A challenge for your lives ahead. 

I challenge you to: 

Show up. 
Even when you feel unready.
Even when you feel tired.
Even when the world tells you to wait. 

Show up. 
And let opportunity meet you. 

Say yes. 
To the challenge that scares you.
To the opportunity that interrupts your plan.
To the rooms that need your voice. 

Say yes. 
And let your life surprise you. 

Invite others. 
And be the person you once needed.
And widen the path for those who follow.
And make your success someone else’s beginning.

Invite others. 
And let connection sustain you. 

So go from here Class of 2026 and build a life of meaning. A life of courage. A life that matters far beyond you. A life where you show up, say yes, and invite people along with you.  

Congratulations, Eureka College Class of 2026. 

The world is waiting for you.”