Mandela Fellows Summit Keynote 2024 Christine Ntim Version C

[Applause] well hello well before I begin we're going to need to make some introductions so when I ask you to say your name I need you to scream as loud as you can your god-given name you ready what is your name good the introductions are in order so I am so excited to be standing here with all of you today my heart is so full and I will say that I understand that as we celebrate in this war that we're living in I'll be honest with you I recognize that right now we are living in very unique Economic Times many of you are aware that even with artificial intelligence and exponential Technologies they did not deliver the promise of a societal Utopia that we expected right and for many of us we know we can reach anyone in the world within an instant but yet why do some of us still feel so alone and more disconnected than ever before you see the world that we expected to be in today is not the one that we're living in right now and many of you in your frustration you might ask where are our leaders where are they where are the leaders that promise to end Global poverty where are the leaders that promise to end homeless where are the leaders that promise to tackle climate change and where are the leaders that promise to give this generation a future better than the one that they received where are they in fact as I stand here today this is the first generation to inherit less than their parents as you search for these leaders I know many of us as powerful as we are as excited as we are today we are frustrated because the leaders the faces of leadership that we see today no longer inspires us because quite frankly things didn't really get as better as we expected it to did it maybe the faces of leadership has changed Maybe I'm Wrong maybe the faces of leadership looks like this Global influencers millions of followers billions of subscribers or doesn't by your laughter you know that's what they want you to believe because I like to challenge those of you who are skeptical to understand this that the leaders that truly make history were always the ones we did not see coming when you think of someone like Malala she did not apply to become a global icon she made a brave decision that not only rocked the conversation of education for women and girls in her country but around the world many of you are inspired by Dan goti Africa's leading billionaire but tell the truth would you have entertained him in your office if he came to you for funding at the age of 20 when he started Den goate many of you probably know Prime rum Ghana's first president and one of the many faces of the panafrican movement in his early 30s he launched a panafrican conference on American soil that rocked the entire region that we know today before he became president and how can I forget the infamous Nelsa Mandela who for his Nam sake we are gathered in this room for the 10th anniversary of the N Medela of Fellowship many of you recognize and know his legacy as South Africa's president the face of peace and prosperity during a tulous time but a lot of you don't know how he started at the age of 26 he launched the first activist youth movement in his country each one of these examples that still Inspire us today we did not see coming will they see you when it's your time what is your [Applause] name I can hear some of you but some of you have the audacity to stay silent the pure audacity you see there's power in a name there are Generations that was waiting for you to be born that bless you with god-given talents and you have heard your name so many times you actually take it for granted you need to believe in the power of the name that was given to you because quite frankly all the movements that you see around the world since time and Memorial they started because one name stood up it reminds me of a quote it ain't what they call you it's what you answer to how many of you know your mission how many of you is actually serving a vision many of you don't even recognize that you're actually lost and confused I don't blame you cuz many of you were told what what leadership and success side they hammered it to you every single day by your parents your family the leaders that we quote unquote titled yes I recognize that we were told what success looked like but I am challenging you to really break free from it I am asking you for the sake of future Generations waiting for you to deliver the promise that was given to you on the day you were born break free from traditional stories and branded leadership that we have today break free from it and I'm speaking from experience you could tell I'm speaking from my heart because I did it once you see the image you see there on the screen that is the last day of me working as a banker and let me tell you on that day when I told my parents I was quitting banking they act like somebody died today on that day and you know to be honest with you something did die what died was me trying to fulfill the meteor expectations of what I was supposed to be that's what died and many of you are trying to achieve mediocre expectations I knew something was was calling me I knew something was telling me I need to be more different and tap into something greater it took me here and many of you recognize this place because this image this place was all over the news over a decade ago this place that I love called Haiti I for many of you you probably don't know that this is where I grew up all my best childhood memories happen in this country this place where alongside my grandmother I used to sell street foods with her alongside my mother who's the first in my family to not only sell Haitian artwork in the streets of Haiti but also in the streets of New York City and there is right there an image of Me by the way I'm an ivory League graduate at this point gate scholar successful Banker in the streets selling and engaging with Street vendors around the world you see a lot of you think that on your path to Greatness it's supposed to look a certain way many of you are sad many of you are confused many of you have given up right before your greatest gift is supposed to be shine onto the world what did I do to get here well I had to go back to Ground Zero I had to go back to the beginning you see many of you don't realize that sometimes s you need to take a couple steps back in order to accelerate yourself forward for many of you going back feels like failure you're embarrassed you don't want to take the chance cuz too many people are watching who is watching that matters because the only person you should answer to Is to you and your God but for some of you in this room going back means taking a bold step toward W your future when I took this step when I broke free within two years the company I launched helping Street vendors around the world not only made the Forbes list within two years then the media came and then Forbes came and then Harvard came and the billionair came and the icons came these leaders who I once held that I wanted to meet now wanted to meet me now let me tell you as you're progressing please don't confuse progress with completion right cuz many of you in this room have accomplished so much that you think your resume means that the work is done it is not [Applause] done I knew that the vision I had for the narrative and the story of my home country whom I love still looked like this for a lot of people when I wanted them to see this I wanted them to see the culture I wanted to see the food the music the people the Legacy that the first black Republic in the world has put in the history books that's what I wanted them to see and I knew I didn't know how I didn't know when but I knew if I was going to do this I had to do it my own way and not what the experts told me how it needed to be done in 2017 I launched Haiti Tech Summit now obviously Haiti and Tech doesn't make sense in the same sentence now does it all the experts all the naysayers all the most powerful influencers who have quotequote done it before say it would not work logistically is impossible in Haiti you won't get people to come people won't understand there's too much to figure out let me tell you experts will always tell you how it should not be done that's why you have to follow your truth because you will create new paths that even the experts could not see coming so I went against every rational sense of advice was given to me I was stubborn and I know many of you know what real fighting energy looks like I said I'm going to move forward even if one person shows up that's all I needed to improve and so I did and on that day not only did We Gather 100 Global speakers from around the world hundreds of people flu into be in this place on that day when we went live we made 82 million social media Impressions when you Googled Haiti on that day you did not see the images that I didn't want you to see you saw images of Haiti is people celebrating progress that's what happened on that day and obviously one thing I will say when you start to show people what your potential truly looks like the train starts to go and everyone wants to hop along the media came the Partners came the networks came influences of every kind came and we took them to Ghana we took them to Kenya we took them to Ethiopia we took them to Egypt within months we were around the world across the middle east across the Caribbean across Europe across Africa and to imagine when they say who started this movement it was a young little girl who grew up in the streets of Haiti that launched the largest accelerated platform in the r that's who did it and one thing that I learned when you're tapping into your potential you don't take traditional routes you don't search for the right degrees you don't try to network with the best family lames you don't try to execute on leadership formulas that are outdated no when you are tapping into your potential you my friends are unstoppable you start to tap into energy you didn't even know you had you start to Showcase resilience you didn't know you had the capacity for you start to take a leap of faith in yourself that your confidence becomes magnetic who amongst you will answer the call When someone tells you to show up what is your name [Applause] that is the name that one day will be spoken in many rooms like this one and I'm so honored to be in this room with all of you because a lot of you right now you smile but I know there are times you are crying I I know there are times you are sad I know there are times where you feel like this challenge I've given up I've Surat too many odds oh my dear the seeds of your greatness is right there you just need to tap into it you just need to really really trust your gut don't trust what seems obvious trust what your heart tells you because I stated before the challenges that we are facing in today's society will need transformational grounded authentic leaders who are proud of where they come from proud of their Journey proud of what they've been through who do not care those things that you are embarrassed to tell people will become your biggest weapons of progress don't be shy where you come from where you ate when you went to school who your family is because I would tell you as I stand here today I would never had imagine that being honest and true that my family didn't have a great name my family didn't come from the best of means but I was proud of where I come from how many of you are proud of where you began if you are then you are legendary because as this quote says be yourself because everybody else is already taken so one more time I want to ask you what is your [Applause] name now you're so loud even future Generations are excited to meet you I hope that you find inspiration and not chasing and copying the Cadence and the Styles and the strategies of previous traditional leaders that you create new forms of leadership showcase new versions of leadership showcase new powerful stories and Journeys that more people can be inspired about and I hope that when you heard that voice calling for your name ladies and gentlemen I hope you answer the call thank you thank you so much