Tag: speaker news

It’s easy to give up on the fight for true diversity, but TED speaker WAJAHAT ALI says we can’t give in to cynicism — if we remain resilient and invest in hope, we can still create the future we want. His memoir Go Back to Where You Came From, a funny and deeply personal look into his experiences as a Pakistani-American Muslim, is out in paperback on January 24. In his talks, Waj merges inclusion with storytelling and laughter — “because boring an audience is a sin, I think, in all world religions!”

Wajahat Ali, a contributor to The New York Times, recognizes that diversity, equity, and inclusion can be hard to talk about, no matter how important it is. “People have seen the data and stats,” Waj says, “but storytelling, and specifically using an effective story, makes it real. It personalizes it. It connects with the audience.” Through his charismatic and thought-provoking talks, Waj offers practical advice on how leaders, organizations, and communities can create a diverse and inclusive culture that isn’t just mandatory diversity day initiatives. It’s advice that engages and demands for real, genuine connections and change. With time, he says, we can create not just a community, but a country where we can all be the superheroes of our own stories.

In this Lavin-exclusive interview, Wajahat shows why diverse stories are more important than ever in 2023.

For leaders, overthinking and negative self-talk can lead to decreased productivity. This is something that Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Chatter, is a leading expert in. He offers proven methods to take control of your inner voice, helping you transform your thinking to one that works for you, not against you. Last week, Ethan Kross, who teaches at the University of Michigan, was featured in The New Yorker article “How Should We Think About Our Different Styles of Thinking,” for his groundbreaking research on how to turn your inner critic into your inner coach.

Ethan’s national bestselling book Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness it looks at how our internal conversations shape us, and how taking control of harmful thinking helps every aspect of our lives. His work continues to help leaders all over the world learn how to talk to themselves constructively, ultimately improving their physical and mental health and deepening their relationships.

In the article’s exploration of Ethan Kross book, The New Yorker sums up one of Ethan’s many methods to improve your thinking:

“Kross’s bottom line is that our inner voices are powerful tools that must be tamed. He ends his book with several dozen techniques for controlling our chatter. He advises trying “distanced self-talk”: by using “your name and the second-person ‘you’ to refer to yourself,” he writes, you can gain more command over your thinking. You might use your inner voice to pretend that you’re advising a friend about his problems; you might redirect your thoughts toward how universal your experiences are (It’s normal to feel this way) or contemplate how every new experience is a challenge you can overcome (I have to learn to trust my partner). The idea is to manage the voice that you use for self-management. Take advantage of the suppleness of dialogue. Don’t just rehearse the same old scripts; send some notes to the writers’ room.”

Humanity’s impact on the planet, the urgency of the climate crisis, and our quest for positive change: award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky has spent more than 40 years documenting and bearing witness to our legacy on the earth. In his most ambitious project yet, he invites audiences to journey through images and films from his acclaimed career, enveloped by 30-foot screens and accompanied by a striking original soundtrack. 

In the Wake of Progress, Edward’s epic half-hour career retrospective, premiered outdoors at the Luminato Festival on June 11. It moves indoors this weekend, and is complemented by a gallery show of Edward’s photography and augmented reality works. In the Wake of Progress reveals humanity’s stark impact on the earth, and our quest to create a better future—in the spirit of positive change, it will be accompanied by a Change Station, where audiences will be presented with simple, tangible, and engaging calls to action from organizations that are answering the question of what we can do right now. 

Edward’s career has long focused on documenting large-scale social, political, and economic issues: his global industrial landscape photographs are included in the collections of over 50 major museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He challenges us to have a conversation about our legacy on this planet and the future implications of sustainable life on Earth. 

During his decades-long career at Nike, Greg Hoffman defined the brand’s identity through innovative storytelling. 

As Nike’s former Chief Marketing Officer, Greg pulled from his personal life to create strong emotional attachments between people and products. Named one of Business Insider’s most innovative CMOs, he refused to stay within his comfort zone—instead, embracing creativity and innovation. Now, he’s showing us how to do the same. 

Greg recently spoke to Steven Bartlett on the podcast Diary of a CEO, revealing key marketing strategies from his almost three decades at Nike. Steven said, “Greg’s knowledge, experience, and wisdom in this area are second to none.” 

Watch the podcast here: