As a Black father of six, entrepreneur Jelani Memory wanted to talk to his kids about race and racism. So, he wrote a book: A Kids Book About Racism. As a top diversity, equity and inclusion speaker, Jelani shares his unusual entrepreneur's journey; A Kids Book About Racism has now evolved into a powerful media company that’s disrupting the publishing industry, creating brand new bold stories for kids across audio and video, and above all, empowering a generation of kids with diverse stories. Jelani reveals how passion, vulnerability, and good business sense can lead to true innovation — the kind of innovation that can create a brighter, more inclusive world and why this is so important.
Jelani Memory delivers his highly rated keynotes as a diversity, equity and Inclusion speaker through his own unique personal experience and storytelling. An innovative and engaging thought leader, Jelani has an unparalleled ability to move audiences at all levels through his illustration of what diversity, equity and inclusion means, and why it is so important. In 2019, he launched a media company A Kids Book About with his now-bestselling book, A Kids Book About Racism. Through this groundbreaking and one of a kind book, Jelani communicates simply and clearly the essence of what racism is. Although the book was made for children, everyone would benefit from a copy of this book and the wisdom shared within its pages.
Prior to starting his kids media company (now known as A Kids Company About), Jelani co-founded Circle Media Labs, Inc., a hardware/software company where he served as the Chief Product Officer. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and six kids.
In moving talks, Jelani shares how difficult conversations with kids about racism and other hard-to-explain topics can impact the way we view the world. His talks are current and will elevate every diversity, equity and inclusion team at any organization that is willing to listen, reflect and address challenges proactively.
It was a total joy working with HELL YES to bring Jelani Memory to our team. We're always looking for ways to keep our team inspired, underline the importance of empathy and storytelling and Jelani delivered BIG TIME. We loved his engaging, clear storytelling style and his message around vulnerability resonated so deeply with those present. He graciously answered all of our questions and left us with so much to chew on. Personally, my favorite quote was "Trust happens when vulnerability is present." Snaps to that!
Jelani was completely amazing. Hi sthoguht process blows my mind. I have a 4 year old son and he’s so spot on with how much they pick up regarding the world around them. I would love to find another way to work with him in the future. He was truly the most inspiring and raw speaker we’ve ever hosted. He seems like a wonderful person inside and out. His creative thinking on topics that matter so much to our next generation is super inspiring.
Thank you again for your wonderful talk! It was really moving and inspired with the focus on down-to-earth heroes. I received a ton of emails telling me how glad they were that you were chosen to be our keynote speaker. I'm also pleased to report that we had over 700 attendees tune in live for today’s opener. That's as many as we get when the meeting is live!
Jelani was great! On top of the professional benefits, I just really enjoyed connecting with some new folks in a really unique way. --- LOVED this session! Jelani was so interesting and presented amazing info/exercises that I’ll def take with me and use in my work and personal life! Time well spent! --- Really appreciated this session. It was a breath of fresh air. --- Such a refreshing and vulnerable session!
Thank you SO MUCH for presenting a wonderful and personal keynote, and just being awesome to work with! I heard so much praise about your speech, and I feel so lucky that we got to work with you!
That was fantastic! Jelani, that was the most exciting day we have had all year! We are so incredibly grateful! Thank you for making genuine connections, for really listening and sharing your story. We'll be building on this momentum and using other kids books about... You're doing important work and it is resonating!
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