Rhodes Scholar | CEO & Co-Founder, Monumental
Kofi Hope is a Rhodes Scholar and has a Doctorate in Politics from Oxford University. He is the co-founder and CEO of Monumental; a new start-up focused on supporting organizations’ work towards an equitable recovery from COVID-19. Currently, Kofi writes a monthly opinion column for the Toronto Star newspaper and is an emeritus Bousfield Scholar and current adjunct professor at UofT’s School of Geography and Planning. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Wellesley Institute and is a board member at the Atkinson Foundation. In 2017 he was the winner of the Jane Jacobs Prize and, in 2018, a Rising Star in Toronto Life’s Power List. Kofi was the founder and former Executive Director of the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals. In 2005 he established the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence, which became a leading voice for advocating for real solutions to gun violence in Toronto and led to being named one of the Top 10 People to Watch in Toronto by the Toronto Star.
TOPICS
Creating an Anti-Racist Organization
Kofi Hope’s talk draws heavily on personal stories from his life and experiences from consulting organizations around anti-racism strategy including the University of Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission, CMHC (Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation), FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities), and a variety of private development firms.
Kofi will:
- Include a discussion on the importance of meeting our historical moment and the attributes of a culturally competent leader in 2021
- Provide the tools to help you start an anti-racism strategy in your company or organization
- Define some concepts of racism, identity, equity and intersectionality
- Discuss the importance of individual psychology and the role of bias and empathy, but stress that racism at its core is about power and systems
- End with a call to action to motivate the audience to do their part to make a change
Anti-Black Racism 101
In this educational lesson, Kofi brings his audience on a journey thousands of years in human history to present-day Canada. His “time travel” adventure will explain the historical origins of anti-Black racism and the beginning of anti-Black racism 500 years ago. Listen as Kofi highlights the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonial societies and scientific racism. Canadian-specific, your audience will learn the history and discrimination of anti-Black racism in Canada. Kofi finishes with a call to action that illustrates how specific interventions to combat anti-Black racism have impacted Canada!
Building Global Cities for All
How has COVID exposed some of the biggest failures in global cities? In this keynote, Kofi Hope discusses the failures around social inequality and how those failures have affected housing, public space, transportation and infrastructure. Using his expert research, he calls audiences to recognize the chance to build back better when some predict the end of urban centres.
How we build successful and diverse teams
A raw and authentic keynote. Kofi Hope speaks about his journey as someone who has sat at the intersection of various backgrounds. He has lived in rural, suburban and urban communities in Canada and internationally. A coalition-builder across cultures, Kofi will focus on the importance of:
- Having an open mind and using active listening skills to connect cross-culturally
- Authenticity – being aware of your own privilege when leading
- Importance of values as a universal language
- Trust – the glue that binds all teams
Values-Based Leadership in Your Organization
In this mindful keynote, Kofi Hope explores the elements of being a values-based leader, based on his own experiences leading in the community sector and also the stories of well-known leaders in history. Learn:
- Why values are important in leadership, from the level of psychology.
- How to develop and articulate your values through the use of narratives
