[Music]
have you ever seen someone dream for the
very first time I believe it’s the most
beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
tell me do you know what it’s like to
have a dream maybe you’ve experienced a
dream coming true or maybe you’re
working towards your dreams right now
what’s it feel like when your dreams
come to life for as long as I can
remember I’ve dreamt of going to Africa
the people the culture the need has
always intrigued me I used to spend
hours researching organizations that
would take me to Africa I was young and
impatient I couldn’t wait I was also
young broke and still in high school but
none of that matter to me I had a dream
and I was willing to do whatever it took
to make it happen I dropped out of
school got a job and began applying to
volunteer with different organizations
finally I got accepted by one and began
fundraising I begged everyone I knew to
donate whatever they could so that I
could see my dream come to life and it
did at 17 I traveled to Swaziland I left
everything I’d ever known to work at a
home for abandoned babies I vividly
remember the first time I held a child
in Africa it was an ethereal experience
it was a moment I realized that I lived
in this American dream world filled with
comfort and ease roof over my head food
to eat clean water how could it be that
in that scene world was a child hungry
small fragile and he was forgotten it
was a moment I realized that these kids
are numbers on a page they aren’t
statistics and need to be changed this
is somebody’s baby
does anybody have a baby remember kids
this is somebody’s baby made up at the
same elements as me feeling the same
emotions as me meeting the same love as
me
it was a moment I realized that somebody
needed a fight for these kids and that
somebody was me I came home incredibly
burdened I had a need to learn about the
many and justices in the world human
trafficking hunger modern-day slavery
sexual exploitation social inequality
child endangerment my empathy for others
were stronger and I developed an a
revocable desire to be the change over
the years I’ve traveled all over the
globe still young still impatient still
broke so how did I afford it how did I
afford my dreams fund raising for me was
never asking people for money it’s
giving people an opportunity to be
involved in something bigger than
themselves
not everybody wants to travel all over
the world but by donating to me they’re
being a part of my adventures are part
of my mission I’ve spent time in rural
African villages educating on human
trafficking prevention I’ve heard
stories of men and women being tightly
packed in his shipping containers being
sent over seedy Yemen and the ship would
get too heavy some of the children would
then be thrown overboard to their death
the ones that survived would spend the
rest of their days enslaved each home
breaking my heart a little more as I
listened to mothers begged me to bring
their children home I’ve worked in
Thailand with underage girls who become
pregnant as a result of prostitution
some nights I would venture out to the
red-light district
these streets filled with young men and
women being raped for profit I filled my
time and I surrounded myself with a
reality behind the statistics that we
hear 66 million 66 million primary
school-aged children attend class hungry
across the developing world according to
the World Food Program forty point three
million people
our victims of modern-day slavery
according to the International Labour
office forced to work in homes mines
brothels with little to no hope of
freedom I’ve spent time with thousands
out of these billions of people each one
special with their own likes dislikes
dreams each one captivating my heart in
a different way and making me fall madly
in love with the idea that I could help
them me I could help them be more than
what these statistics say that they are
I chose this path not because I believe
I am capable but because I know I’m
incapable of just sending $35 a month to
a child in Africa donations like these
are amazing and they help fund programs
like mine but if you desire to
imagine it imagine your children
imagine your mothers your sisters
imagine that means height leap act in
those shipping containers outside your
door malnourished and hungry having to
sell their bodies each night what are
the links you would go to to help them
and why aren’t you making the same
effort for the billions of people
suffering today they need you
the first step to showing up is
unconventional compassion conventional
compassion is sending the $35 a month
it’s giving a homeless person on the
side of the road a couple dollars it’s
easy it’s forgettable it’s not bad it
unconventional compassion is breaking
the boundaries of poverty forget the
language barrier forget the distance
forget all the people that say you won’t
because there’s many forget the society
that says you can’t and just go for it
three years ago I started an
organization called The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club these are my babies
The Breakfast Club
as a nonprofit in northern Ethiopia we
feed 70 kids breakfast before school
we provide family support we cover their
medical expenses tutoring school
supplies uniforms
we provide showers for the kids that
will let us give them them we would
Bethlehem and your Adonis
that’s Jerry this past year we rescued
five boys once living on the street
this is muli a and tau at she’ll and
that’s my little so Liana in the middle
I had dinner with these boys a couple
months ago and I was listening to their
stories they were friends living on the
street boulier the one over here on my
right ear lent he said you took us out
of darkness and you gave us light these
are boys that were abandoned they had no
hope
we had no one to care for them but with
that unconventional compassion now they
have hoped for their futures
last month we built a home for a family
who for 15 years was sleeping on a mud
floor now they have a three-bedroom
house I have a source of income they
have hope for their futures a couple
months ago I sat with one of our mothers
in a program she told me her story for
eight years she was prostituting herself
each night she would lock her two
daughters up with her blind mother so
that she could go sell herself to
strange men just so that she could feed
her children the next day I couldn’t
imagine leaving Ethiopia without helping
her The Breakfast Club provides micro
loans it’s a day her two girls are in
private school she was able to start her
own coffee shop and her dreams came to
life it was the most beautiful thing
I’ve ever seen when we stopped helping
in ways that are easy and comfortable
we’re able to make an actual difference
when you stop looking at people
differently when you look at people as
equals in every ass
you’re able to see the world differently
I’m 25 years old IRA lead a staff of
eight in a foreign country the majority
of my staff are men as you can see
normally they shouldn’t respect me in
their culture I hope they do my mother
70 children I’m responsible for five
orphan teenage boys at home in
California I run a business to support
myself when I’m not in Ethiopia I tell
you this because you need to know I’m
not qualified look at me I shouldn’t be
able to do this if I can do it you can
do it I’m very privileged to do what I
do there’s moments where I stop and I
look at my life and I think I can’t
believe that I get to love all these
people that these kids are mine I want
you to focus on that word privilege a
special gift a special right advantage
or immunity granted or available only to
a particular person or group if you’re a
young person here today you have an
incredible privilege of time you have
the time as saying no more no more
hungry children no more sexual
exploitation no more slavery no more
hate I look around this room and I see
many people I don’t know many of you I
don’t speak many who hear languages but
I know that each of you are capable of
making a difference in this world
there’s a quote that I love by William
whooping force he says you can choose to
look the other way but you can never say
that you did not know I’ve told you
today about my babies there’s a billions
of them around the world that need your
help they need you to show up think
about your dreams
think about what burdens you and pursue
it courageously show up don’t waste your
I show up imagine it seeing someone
dream for the first time thank you
[Music] [Applause]
have you ever seen someone dream for the
very first time I believe it’s the most
beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
tell me do you know what it’s like to
have a dream maybe you’ve experienced a
dream coming true or maybe you’re
working towards your dreams right now
what’s it feel like when your dreams
come to life for as long as I can
remember I’ve dreamt of going to Africa
the people the culture the need has
always intrigued me I used to spend
hours researching organizations that
would take me to Africa I was young and
impatient I couldn’t wait I was also
young broke and still in high school but
none of that matter to me I had a dream
and I was willing to do whatever it took
to make it happen I dropped out of
school got a job and began applying to
volunteer with different organizations
finally I got accepted by one and began
fundraising I begged everyone I knew to
donate whatever they could so that I
could see my dream come to life and it
did at 17 I traveled to Swaziland I left
everything I’d ever known to work at a
home for abandoned babies I vividly
remember the first time I held a child
in Africa it was an ethereal experience
it was a moment I realized that I lived
in this American dream world filled with
comfort and ease roof over my head food
to eat clean water how could it be that
in that scene world was a child hungry
small fragile and he was forgotten it
was a moment I realized that these kids
are numbers on a page they aren’t
statistics and need to be changed this
is somebody’s baby
does anybody have a baby remember kids
this is somebody’s baby made up at the
same elements as me feeling the same
emotions as me meeting the same love as
me
it was a moment I realized that somebody
needed a fight for these kids and that
somebody was me I came home incredibly
burdened I had a need to learn about the
many and justices in the world human
trafficking hunger modern-day slavery
sexual exploitation social inequality
child endangerment my empathy for others
were stronger and I developed an a
revocable desire to be the change over
the years I’ve traveled all over the
globe still young still impatient still
broke so how did I afford it how did I
afford my dreams fund raising for me was
never asking people for money it’s
giving people an opportunity to be
involved in something bigger than
themselves
not everybody wants to travel all over
the world but by donating to me they’re
being a part of my adventures are part
of my mission I’ve spent time in rural
African villages educating on human
trafficking prevention I’ve heard
stories of men and women being tightly
packed in his shipping containers being
sent over seedy Yemen and the ship would
get too heavy some of the children would
then be thrown overboard to their death
the ones that survived would spend the
rest of their days enslaved each home
breaking my heart a little more as I
listened to mothers begged me to bring
their children home I’ve worked in
Thailand with underage girls who become
pregnant as a result of prostitution
some nights I would venture out to the
red-light district
these streets filled with young men and
women being raped for profit I filled my
time and I surrounded myself with a
reality behind the statistics that we
hear 66 million 66 million primary
school-aged children attend class hungry
across the developing world according to
the World Food Program forty point three
million people
our victims of modern-day slavery
according to the International Labour
office forced to work in homes mines
brothels with little to no hope of
freedom I’ve spent time with thousands
out of these billions of people each one
special with their own likes dislikes
dreams each one captivating my heart in
a different way and making me fall madly
in love with the idea that I could help
them me I could help them be more than
what these statistics say that they are
I chose this path not because I believe
I am capable but because I know I’m
incapable of just sending $35 a month to
a child in Africa donations like these
are amazing and they help fund programs
like mine but if you desire to
imagine it imagine your children
imagine your mothers your sisters
imagine that means height leap act in
those shipping containers outside your
door malnourished and hungry having to
sell their bodies each night what are
the links you would go to to help them
and why aren’t you making the same
effort for the billions of people
suffering today they need you
the first step to showing up is
unconventional compassion conventional
compassion is sending the $35 a month
it’s giving a homeless person on the
side of the road a couple dollars it’s
easy it’s forgettable it’s not bad it
unconventional compassion is breaking
the boundaries of poverty forget the
language barrier forget the distance
forget all the people that say you won’t
because there’s many forget the society
that says you can’t and just go for it
three years ago I started an
organization called The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club these are my babies
The Breakfast Club
as a nonprofit in northern Ethiopia we
feed 70 kids breakfast before school
we provide family support we cover their
medical expenses tutoring school
supplies uniforms
we provide showers for the kids that
will let us give them them we would
Bethlehem and your Adonis
that’s Jerry this past year we rescued
five boys once living on the street
this is muli a and tau at she’ll and
that’s my little so Liana in the middle
I had dinner with these boys a couple
months ago and I was listening to their
stories they were friends living on the
street boulier the one over here on my
right ear lent he said you took us out
of darkness and you gave us light these
are boys that were abandoned they had no
hope
we had no one to care for them but with
that unconventional compassion now they
have hoped for their futures
last month we built a home for a family
who for 15 years was sleeping on a mud
floor now they have a three-bedroom
house I have a source of income they
have hope for their futures a couple
months ago I sat with one of our mothers
in a program she told me her story for
eight years she was prostituting herself
each night she would lock her two
daughters up with her blind mother so
that she could go sell herself to
strange men just so that she could feed
her children the next day I couldn’t
imagine leaving Ethiopia without helping
her The Breakfast Club provides micro
loans it’s a day her two girls are in
private school she was able to start her
own coffee shop and her dreams came to
life it was the most beautiful thing
I’ve ever seen when we stopped helping
in ways that are easy and comfortable
we’re able to make an actual difference
when you stop looking at people
differently when you look at people as
equals in every ass
you’re able to see the world differently
I’m 25 years old IRA lead a staff of
eight in a foreign country the majority
of my staff are men as you can see
normally they shouldn’t respect me in
their culture I hope they do my mother
70 children I’m responsible for five
orphan teenage boys at home in
California I run a business to support
myself when I’m not in Ethiopia I tell
you this because you need to know I’m
not qualified look at me I shouldn’t be
able to do this if I can do it you can
do it I’m very privileged to do what I
do there’s moments where I stop and I
look at my life and I think I can’t
believe that I get to love all these
people that these kids are mine I want
you to focus on that word privilege a
special gift a special right advantage
or immunity granted or available only to
a particular person or group if you’re a
young person here today you have an
incredible privilege of time you have
the time as saying no more no more
hungry children no more sexual
exploitation no more slavery no more
hate I look around this room and I see
many people I don’t know many of you I
don’t speak many who hear languages but
I know that each of you are capable of
making a difference in this world
there’s a quote that I love by William
whooping force he says you can choose to
look the other way but you can never say
that you did not know I’ve told you
today about my babies there’s a billions
of them around the world that need your
help they need you to show up think
about your dreams
think about what burdens you and pursue
it courageously show up don’t waste your
I show up imagine it seeing someone
dream for the first time thank you
[Music] [Applause]
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