Category: Inspirational Speaker

Abdi Aden

Inspirational Speaker

Abdi grew up in Mogadishu until the outbreak of Somalia’s devastating civil war separated him from his family and home. He fled Mogadishu with 300 others and headed for the Kenyan border. On the way, death squads hunted them. Abdi and a group of other boys were caught and lined up to be executed. Miraculously the bullets missed Abdi but he fell to the ground and feigned death. Of the 300 who set out from Mogadishu, only five survived to reach Kenya.

From Kenya, Abdi’s journey took him to Romania, Germany and finally Australia. Arriving in Melbourne as a 15 year old asylum seeker, Abdi was penniless and homeless for a year, but he went on to put himself through university, become a youth worker, and forge a new life for himself and his family.

In 2012 he starred in Series 2 of ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’.

Luke Atkins

Inspirational Speaker

Luke specialises in areas of self protection, leadership and healthy study habits in his unique Active Learning sessions, drawing from his background in science and martial arts – a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemstry and Pathology and a 5th Dan Taekwondo Black Belt. Luke is an experienced Taekwondo instructor, having taught Taekwondo alongside fellow Booked Outer Tiffiny Hall for many years, and has also appeared on television competing with his Taekwondo demonstration team on Australia’s Got Talent.

Sophie Li

Inspirational Speaker

Sophie Li, daughter of renowned ballet dancer and author Li Cunxin was born profoundly deaf. Unable to benefit from regular hearing aids, Sophie became one of the first children in America to receive a cochlear implant, during the time when there was fierce scepticism in the US about its capability and success. With implants in both ears, Sophie worked hard on her speech and hearing, attending a mainstream school and pushing herself to extraordinary lengths – such as learning the violin, cello and piano, speaking in Mandarin Chinese and performing Ballet, Jazz and Tap.

Sophie inspires through her unique story of being deaf in a hearing world. She actively engages her audience about the challenges in life, the pros and cons of being the only deaf person in many situations, and reminding people that life can be funny sometimes!

Sophie works extensively with Hear For You – an organisation inspiring and assisting young people with cochlear implants and/or hearing aids.

Jamie Mackenzie

Inspirational Speaker

Jamie Mackenzie is one half of an intrepid duo who set out to see the entire world from the seat of a bicycle. Armed only with an open mind and a thirst for adventure, Jamie and his cousin departed their homes on a unique mission to cycle on every continent without the use of an airplane. They called the journey Free Wheels East. With little money and no training or know-how, they set out from England to forge an unbroken line around the earth’s surface…to everyone else it seemed like an impossible journey.

Tammy van Wisse

Inspirational Speaker

Marathon swimmer, Tammy van Wisse currently holds five World Records. She has swum the English Channel twice (the success rate is only seven percent), is the only person to have swum Bass Strait and spent three and a half months submerged in the mighty Murray River – just to mention a few of her milestones.