Discrimination is pervasive in America and latest FBI reports show hate crimes remain at heightened levels. The effects of racism are so bad that many cities have declared racism a public health crisis. Wale Elegbede is a transformative strategist, social justice leader, Distinguished Alumni, human rights commissioner and Director of Strategy Management Services who also happens to be a leadership and project management expert. A first generation American immigrant, Elegbede will soon add TED speaker to his long repertoire when his TED Talk debuts September 25th during TED@PMI: Action + Impact, a virtual event celebrating leaders in the project management community that are turning ideas into action and inspiration into reality.
Elegbede’s first-hand experiences and background have uniquely prepared him to take of society’s difficult and challenging topic of discrimination and racism. Born in Nigeria during a time military regimes gained power through coup d’état, Wale also lived in Lomé, Togo and observed the autocratic rule of a dictator who ruled a small West African country for thirty eight years until his death. He saw how prejudice and bias influenced decisions that marginalized certain groups over others, and heard rhetoric from dictators that when left unchecked led to ethnic and religious discrimination. “Discrimination is also very pervasive in the United States” Elegbede noted and mentioned that in Minneapolis, racism and discrimination contributed to the death of George Floyd.
He added “I believe discrimination plagues us because we have not made it our collective business. I believe that in order to get rid of discrimination which includes racism, Islamophobia, and hate crimes, we need to go from a state of “not my business” to “everyone's business”. My belief is that this will help cultivate a shift in perspective, and result in a changed mindset that will build and sustain connection, empathy and elevate opportunities for everyone.” Elegbede further mentioned “I imagine a world where there is no racism, hate crimes, Islamophobia, or Antisemitism Imagine the endless possibilities and opportunities that kind of world would offer to all of our children? When my TED Talk debuts, the key message that I really hope resonates is that discrimination is our collective problem and that our generation can solve it if we have the desire. I’m hoping my talk will inspire us to take action and make the changes needed to make that vision become a reality.”
Every year, TED works with a group of carefully selected organizations like the Project Management Institute (PMI) to identify their best inventors, connectors, and creators. TED@PMI is a celebration of that need to re-imagine those moments of inspiration and the mesmerizing experience of turning ideas into action. To learn more about Wale Elegbede and his TED Talk, visit www.waleelegbede.com or waleelegbede.com/tedtalk to access free registration link to the event.
About Wale Elegbede
Wale Elegbede is a transformative strategist who believes good, ethical leaders have a responsibility to bring positive change to their communities, organizations and families. He serves as director of strategy management services at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where he develops and executes strategy, project and program management, and business analysis. Elegbede is a Rada Distinguished Alumni of the University of Wisconsin La-Crosse, Human Rights Commissioner of Olmsted County, Vice President of Rochester Branch NAACP and Adjunct Instructor of Graduate Project Management at Viterbo University. He regularly speaks on leadership, community and social justice issues. Looking for a few words of inspiration from Wale, start here www.waleelegbede.com/words-of-inspiration
