[Applause]
[Music]
what breaks your heart
is it the 700 million people living in
extreme global poverty is it the 30
million people that are today are living
under the oppression of slavery is it
the 65 million people that are displaced
and without a home it’s the 150 million
people that are orphans
so the 280 million people that have a
serious mental illness or worse the
stigma associated with it it’s at the
780 million people that today suffer
from hunger or malnutrition or it’s at
the 350 million people that have a rare
disease that has limited funding for
advocacy or research for our cure or
have you already forgotten the question
that I asked you and you’re overwhelmed
by all of these numbers if that is the
case please come back to me these are
the facts that break my heart yes the
numbers are big but I have friends and
family near and far that suffer from
these realities God has given me a heart
for the suffering but be encouraged he’s
also given me a head for problem-solving
and I believe that we can solve these
challenges in my lifetime you see any
one of these challenges all we have to
do is understand what are the root
causes we define the formula or identify
the variables and then we map the curve
of change we increase the inputs we
redefine the trend line and we can
accelerate into progress and this is not
just about any one given person it’s
about collaboration we find the world’s
greatest engineers the economists the
doctors the diplomats and we link arms
together and we can make a difference
but if I’m really honest and if I show
my true colors these numbers are
overwhelming to me to 700 million people
living in extreme poverty that’s living
on less than $1 90 cents per day what
does that even really mean does that
happen in our world today seems like a
whole lot of people which is a little
bit of money for each day’s needs so
when I get overwhelmed I try to put
myself into a world that I can
understand so I take all my facts and
data and I put it to a simple bell curve
and so when I consider that bell curve I
find myself in the middle so there I am
right there at the top of the bell curve
you see I am really pretty middle I’m 41
years old so I’m middle-aged I live in
Peoria Illinois that’s the Midwest of
the United States I have been working
full-time for 20 years so I’m midway
through my career and I sit firmly in
middle management even today of your
speakers I’m the the middle presenter so
I am oh so middle and I have a lot of
middle thoughts
what’s a middle thought let me explain a
middle thought is when and how should a
red head go gray gracefully how can I
lean into my career Sheryl Sandberg
advises when all I really want to do is
lean back kick back and binge watch the
crown on Netflix at what price point and
what age would dave ramsey recommend
that i buy long term health care
insurance these are my middle thoughts
and none of them are inherently bad but
they are not the strategic thinking
that’s creating a sustainable solution
for extreme global poverty so I recently
took my middle state of affairs to a
vulnerable conversation with my mentor
and I told him that I was feeling really
mediocre average here in the middle of
the bell curve and and he told me very
calmly and wisely that yes Jada you are
in the middle the middle of the top 1%
if you allow yourself to sit in the
middle of the top 1% are you perhaps
being blind to 99% of the world
he very eloquently told me Jay to just
get over yourself
so I ponder data and I realized that he
was true and I knew he was true in my
own faith journey I have learned that
for growth to really happen I have to
take the perspective off of myself I
have to contemplate the works of God in
His Majesty and then I start to see the
people
around me in this world and I have a
love and a compassion for them but there
you have it my reality a mind that’s
desiring to be a problem-solver
addressing global challenges like
extreme poverty but also my thinking
that spends time calculating an
accelerating rate of gray hairs on my
head and so maybe you can recognize this
tension maybe you want to be a part of
global change but you also find moments
of being self-absorbed so today I want
to address this reality and address this
tension and give us a framework a very
simple formula it goes like this
we begin by pivoting perspective from
ourselves to others to make the world a
better place exponentially let me share
that again a pivot and perspective from
ourselves to others to make the world a
better place exponentially I know it
might be you might be a skeptic thinking
I am here a woman a privilege I don’t
know the realities of these global
challenges personally or maybe you’re
bringing some other challenge to this
audience today and you think that man I
don’t have that same baggage so it’s
easy for me to talk about giving to
others providing a perspective but I
believe that God has gifted each and
every one of us to love and regardless
of where we are in the spectrum on any
scale at the top or the bottom we all
together we can pivot our perspectives
to others and this is not a message
about doing more I want to remind you
that I live in the middle and the middle
can be a very busy place I do not need
new committees new initiatives more
brute force energy to solve a challenge
this is a message about doing less less
of ourselves and a prioritization of
others so to illustrate this I want to
introduce you to my friend Solomon
Solomon is 25 years old he’s an engineer
he’s an entrepreneur he lives in the
East African country of Tanzania and to
know Solomon as you can see in the
picture is to know love and joy and
happiness he’s an all-around fun guy he
is pure potential but this is not the
way you would have defined his life from
the beginning
he’s the youngest of seven growing up
things like health care education there
were sometimes an economic luxury for
him and his siblings they usually had
enough food but in seasons of droughts
even that was difficult to provide
speaking of water it was a three
kilometer walk for Solomon to access
safe drinking water he lived he grew up
and lived in a home that did not have
indoor plumbing at the age of eight his
trajectory of potential totally changed
he was invited to be a part of
compassion internationals holistic Child
Development Program he received a
sponsor the provided funding for his
education his health care his social
development and his spiritual formation
in addition to all of this his sponsor
would send correspondence he would
receive letters that would give him
words of encouragement that said Solomon
I believe in you
Solomon I know you will do well Solomon
I see your potential month over a month
over month year over year he received
these simple words of encouragement but
their impact was quite profound these
were the words of Solomon heard in his
ears as he would make the decision after
going the long distance to get water
than to persevere and go on to school
during the day give him the courage to
apply to University and give him the
stamina to finish his engineering degree
so today Solomon is an engineer and he
continues to invest in the program from
which he came he speaks to children in
the compassion international program and
he tells them that he also sees their
potential isn’t it amazing the
investment that his sponsor made in
Solomon’s life is now impacting the
children in Tanzania in an exponential
way but that’s not all Solomon at the
age of 25 he has written a textbook he
partnered with a PhD student from the
United States and they wrote an algebra
textbook to be used in rural Tanzania
Salman believes in the value of
problem-solving and logic and he wants
the young children in his country
have resources that he did not have my
husband and I we believe in the power of
holistic child development and we
sponsor six children in the developing
world we had the great opportunity to
meet two of them and these were two of
the best days of my life
we don’t have false expectations that
they will be heads of state or
high-impact leaders in their country but
we believe that they could be and we
encourage them and we tell them that but
it’s not just about what my husband and
I believe you see studies have shown
that there is a powerful impact through
holistic child development the children
are 27 to 40 percent more likely to
complete secondary school further
they’re 50 to 80 percent more likely to
graduate from college these are facts
that I am willing to bet on these are
the statistics that help me
problem-solve the challenges of extreme
global poverty so there you have it I
could end my speech today right there
pivot perspective from yourselves to
others through holistic child
development and make the developing
world a better place exponentially but I
believe my framework has power beyond
the developing world it has power in a
local way so let me tell you about where
I live
Peoria Illinois in 2015 Peoria Illinois
was evaluated as the sixth worst city
for blacks to live 2016 it was evaluated
as the worst city in America for blacks
to live this is a fact that breaks my
heart and let’s be real I don’t even
really understand the statistic clearly
I’m not black and my world in Peoria is
really quite small let me explain at the
top of the map you can see my house it’s
a 15-minute drive straight down the road
to my office every day 15 minutes to
work 15 minutes back and if you remember
I live in the middle so my middle I am
focusing on the affairs of my day ahead
at work on the way there and my affairs
at home on the way back so my world is
pretty small but I want
if I could pivot my perspective by 30
degrees to the right if change could
occur in Peoria so let’s try that
together let’s invite all of us now I
want you to look straight ahead eyes
focus straight ahead and now pivot your
perspective move your eyes by just
simple 30 degrees to the right and back
to Center we’re going to do it together
one more time 30 degrees to the right
and back to Center it’s really a pretty
simple exercise I didn’t see people
moving their chins or twisting their
shoulders or shifting their back it’s
simple and I believe that where our eyes
go over time our hearts and the
orientation of our love will go as well
and so in Peoria of every day when I
leave from work if I could pivot my
perspective from my home to 30 degrees
to the right
I would land in the center of zipcode
61605 what’s so unique about six-one 605
it’s just a few miles from where I live
but 61605 is a world apart from my
reality of my home six one six oh five
is the ZIP code in Peoria that has the
highest percentage of black residents
but more compelling is it also it is
also the zip code that has the highest
percentage of crime the lowest per
capita income and the lowest rate of
home ownership if we would drive through
portions of 61605 you would see that it
looks and feels like a food desert with
limited access to fresh food I don’t
understand the root cause of poverty in
6:1 605 but maybe I should you see I’m a
local leader in Peoria and I have the
hardware to show it I’m a 40 under 40
I’m a Peoria women 25 women in
leadership the YWCA has given me an
award for my community service but I
don’t understand the root cause of
poverty in 61605
so why did I even bring it up today I
don’t I have a framework talking about
how to make the world a better place
because I believe it’s true and I
believe it’s an opportunity for me to
start pivoting my perspective
understanding what are those things that
break my heart and putting my
perspective there
so what are those things that are
breaking your hearts maybe there’s a 6-1
605 in your world could we altogether
start to pivot our perspective you see I
believe that this is a framework that
can work in our places of employment in
our neighborhood in our cities in our
country in our world we begin by
pivoting our perspectives from ourselves
to others to make the world a better
place exponentially so to end I want to
illustrate all of this with it old
Jewish parable the story of our rabbi
who was escorted by an angel the old
rabbi wanted to visit both hell and
heaven and so the angel took him through
two doorways the first doorway that they
entered through opened up into a
glorious beautiful dining banquet hall
it was filled with dining tables long
dining tables covered with a delicious
meal a wonderful smell and the angel
looked over to the rabbi and said rabbi
this is he’ll surprised by what he was
seeing the rabbi took a second glance
and on a second glance he noticed that
the people in hell were thin hungry
moaning in their starvation he also
noticed that each person had a long
wooden spoon they also had these awkward
splints on their arms that kept it so
that they could not bend at the elbow so
both arms were straightened of course
they were hungry because they had these
odd utensils and they couldn’t bend
their arms so they couldn’t feed
themselves the rabbi was overwhelmed by
the misery in this room and so he asked
angel please take me out of here
so they left hell and they probably went
to the second doorway and as they
entered in it it appeared to be the same
beautiful banquet hall very ornate gold
on the walls and in the same long dining
tables was a beautiful meal on the
tables the same wonderful smell and and
the angel said rabbi this is heaven the
Rebbe I didn’t expect heaven in hell
that looks so similar but on second
glance said the rabbi notice that the
people in heaven they were plump there
were rosy cheeks they were laughing they
were enjoying each other’s company he
looked again and he noticed that they
also had the same long wooden spoons and
the awkward splints on their arms that
kept them from
bending at the elbow but you see the
people in heaven they had taken their
broken selves their limited resources
and they took their odd spoons and they
they took their food and they pivoted
their perspective to feed one another so
isn’t that really the opportunity that
we all have today understand what is the
thing that’s breaking our heart taking
our resources pivoting our perspective
to others and making the world a better place exponentially thank you