Every February, people across Canada host events in celebration of Black History Month. Choosing the right keynote speaker can set the tone for meaningful dialogue and reflection.
Meet some of our most requested speakers for Black History Month. Their keynote presentations offer unique perspectives on Black history, culture, and the ongoing fight for equity, ensuring your event not only educates but also inspires.
Whether you’re hosting a corporate gathering, community event, or educational forum, these speakers will leave a lasting impact. Contact us to learn more and to book a speaker for your February event today.
Inclusive Leadership
Inclusive leadership is crucial to fostering diverse, equitable workplaces where everyone can thrive. These speakers offer powerful insights on leading with purpose and inclusion.
Masai Ujiri
Leadership and Social Justice
One of the most influential leaders in the NBA, Masai Ujiri is an active voice in the social justice movement and a strong advocate for equality. His very public experience with racism during the 2019 NBA Championships sparked national and international headlines, and lead to his Humanity movement.
Masai speaks passionately about the fight for equality, and how we can, as leaders, lift up those around us and work together to build a future without discrimination.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Leadership Through Change
The world — and workplaces — are changing at a rapid pace. Leading an organization through transformational change, is no easy feat.
An internationally renowned speaker on unconscious bias and transformative leadership, Yassmin Abdel-Magied expertly combines personal experience and research to inform leaders on the tools of transformative leadership, the common mistakes leaders can make, and how to be a just and empowering leader for the 21st century.
Wes Hall
The Corporate World Reimagined
A CBC Dragon, Wes Hall’s climb to the top is an inspirational one — from growing up in rural Jamaica to founding one of North America’s most successful corporate advisory firms. Yet, as Wes climbed the corporate ladder, he noticed that fewer and fewer people looked like him at the top.
Wes founded BlackNorth Initiative (BNI) to help end systemic anti-Black racism. Drawing from BNI’s The Racial Equity Playbook, he shares concrete strategies to reduce anti-Black systemic barriers and foster equitable workplaces.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Cultivating diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace cultures requires intentional actions. DEI experts share actionable insights to help organizations create meaningful and lasting change.
Lekan Olawoye
Understanding the Black Experience and Becoming an Ally
Many corporate leaders would like to be an ally of the Black community, their employees and clients, but don’t know where to start. Lekan Olawoye — the founder and CEO of Black Professionals in Tech Network — helps audiences lean into this important conversation, providing historical context and insights into the Black experience and giving practical tools on how to become an intentional ally.
Audiences will learn how to hire and retain more Black professionals and build their organization so that it is seen as an ally.
Maydianne Andrade
Unconscious Bias and Challenges to Fair Assessment
Professor Maydianne Andrade’s distinguished career is marked by innovative leadership and actualizing best practices for inclusion in the workplace. She is the founder of the Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence, co-founder and president of the Canadian Black Scientists Network, and the Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs and Equity at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Maydianne shows leaders how to mitigate and resolve unconscious bias and systemic barriers and cultivate cultures of inclusion in the workplace.
Lloyd H. Dean
From Good to Great: The Strengths of a Diverse Workforce
Lloyd H. Dean is a prolific healthcare leader, who has dedicated his career to eliminating health disparities. In this compelling presentation, he debunks the age-old excuse of “We’ve tried and just can’t find ethnic and gender diverse talent” for the lack of diversity in leadership.
Addressing why candidate searches fail to identify ethnic and gender diverse candidates and why corporations fail to retain diverse candidates, Lloyd highlights how corporations with a diverse workforce can take to go from being “good” to “great.”
Motivational Speakers: Inspire Action
Through sharing their firsthand experiences, these motivational speakers inspire audiences to take meaningful action, empowering them to drive change and create new possibilities.
Martin Luther King III
You Are Part of the Dream
With a career in activism that spans decades, Martin Luther King III serves as an ambassador of his parent’s legacy of non-violent social change and strong leadership in the face of challenge.
Drawing on his wealth of experience as the driving force behind countless institutional, political, and social movements, this empowering keynote helps audiences embrace the role of being a difference-maker, showcasing how, regardless of where we’re from or what we do, we have the power to mobilize, speak out, and be a force for positive change
Karina LeBlanc
Race, Diversity, and Inclusion
In this intimate presentation, Olympian Karina LeBlanc explores her experiences of being a Black woman in today’s world. Her father told her at an early age, “You are a Black woman, that can either be two strikes against you or for you.” She has always approached life making sure people see her for WHO she is, not WHAT she is or what she looks like.
Karina speaks to race, diversity, and inclusion from her lived experiences. With her authenticity and honesty, she speaks from the heart on a conversation we all need to have to move forward.
Dr. Ivan Joseph
Fueling Success Through Inclusivity and Diversity
Dr. Ivan Joseph shares practical and proven strategies to build an inclusive culture. He moved to Canada at age five, and knows what it’s like to look and sound different. He has experienced the challenges and opportunities of being a designated hire. And he understands firsthand the complexities of creating an inclusive organizational culture.
Ivan speaks movingly from his own experience, sharing how he has overcome challenges, broken barriers, and led a DEI transformation in every organization he’s worked for.
Education
Bringing a depth of knowledge and understanding, these educational speakers offer valuable lessons on racial equity and anti-racist practices that inspire learning and growth. These presentations can be tailored for educators and corporate spaces.
Anthony McLean
Black History: Then and Now
In this inspiring Black History Month presentation, Anthony McLean surveys where we were and where we’re going when it comes to racial equity.
Anthony celebrates civil rights pioneers and highlights recent advancements, while giving audiences insight into what still needs to happen to create a world where everyone belongs. Upbeat and uplifting, this program celebrates the progress we’ve made while encouraging everyone to continue the journey toward racial equity.
Tyrone Edwards
What I Wish My Teachers Had Known
In this deeply moving keynote, Tyrone Edwards takes audiences on a journey through the educational system from the eyes of a little black boy.
From grade one to graduation, Tyrone shares personal stories from his life — stories of discovery and support, stories of discrimination and prejudice — to give educators greater clarity and insight into the students they teach, and how to best support them.
Sandy Hudson
Workshop: Understanding Anti-Black Racism
Engaging in anti-racist work for over 15 years, Sandy Hudson has developed a participatory teaching style that uses interactive activities, case studies, and audience participation to create the ideal atmosphere to learn about the difficult topic of racism.
As an anti-racist scholar and activist, Sandy tailors content to her audience, exploring strategies to tackle anti-Black racism at work and in your personal life.
Contact us to learn more and to book a speaker for Black History Month today.
