Stephen Hammond- inspirational and motivational speaker biography
   
 
Today is:  Wed, 22 - May, 2013: 
This day in 1987...
Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion world tour  Read More...

Rick Hansen was 15 years old the summer of 1973 when an automobile accident left him a paraplegic. Despite the setback, Hansen went on to become a top wheelchair athlete, winning numerous international wheelchair marathons and three world championships. He even competed for Canada in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Hansen's greatest achievements, of course, were yet to come.

On March 21, 1985, Hansen and a crew left the Oakridge Mall in Vancouver, B.C. to start his Man in Motion world tour, designed to raise funds for spinal cord injury research, rehabilitation and wheelchair sport. For two years, two months and two days, Hansen wheeled his way around the world, covering 40,072 kilometres. During his trek through 34 countries on four continents, Hansen covered between 50 and 70 kilometres per day, repaired 126 flat tires, wore out 94 gloves and was robbed four times. Crowds greeted him everywhere he went - including 800,000 cheering people in Tianjin, China.

In August 1986, Hansen made it to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, ready for the cross-Canada segment that would bring him home... It is fitting that the 13,861 kilometres wheeled in Canada represented the longest distance he traveled in any country on his tour. On May 22, 1987, Hansen and his crew completed their tour in Vancouver, having raised more than $26 million for their causes. The tour's end marked the launch of the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation, with Hansen as the CEO.

 

 

 

Stephen Hammond- inspirational and motivational speaker biography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biography of Stephen Hammond - Keynote Speaker Human Rights, Diversity Awareness Motivational, Author, Educator

Stephen Hammond is an author, speaker, trainer and consultant in workplace human rights. He teaches managers, supervisors and staff how to prevent human rights disasters at work and how to deal with human rights problems when they arise. Stephen works with clients in the public and private sectors across Canada, to promote welcoming workplaces.

Since 1992, Stephen has trained thousands of employees, including staff, managers, and union stewards about Harassment, human rights, diversity, equity, and employee relations issues. He is passionate about politics, current affairs and human rights and loves to golf and ski.

Stephen learned about the importance of equality from his mother, a former Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and Cabinet Minister. His mother’s quest for women’s equality allowed him to see the importance of equal access for everyone. Stephen has been involved in politics since age 9 and became the youngest Executive Director of a political party of Manitoba in his mid-twenties. In the same decade, Stephen learned how simple freedoms of expression and political belief are taken for granted when he was arrested at a Solidarity rally in communist Poland for taking pictures of the police. Since that experience, he may disagree with what someone is saying, but unless it incites others to act in a hateful and hurtful manner, he feels compelled to protect a person's right to say it.

As a non-practising Lawyer and member of the Law Society of British Columbia, Stephen keeps up with all the relevant laws and cases in his field. He prides himself on applying these relatively new legal principles in understandable terms. He is a popular interviewee with television media.

Stephen has years of experience working as a Manager of Employee Relations with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and the Hudson’s Bay Company in Winnipeg and Toronto. He has been responsible for all aspects of employee relations and labour relations, with unionized and non-unionized workforces. Stephen has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1988.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Stephen has called British Columbia home since 1990. His volunteer time has included Big Brothers, the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Clean Air Coalition, Amnesty International, the West End Residents Association and the Tenants Rights Action Coalition. In his spare time, Stephen is on the steep and deep slopes of winter, while in the summer (in his words) he makes futile attempts to get a decent handicap on British Columbia's beautiful golf courses.


If you are going to introduce Stephen Hammond, you may want to use one of these paragraphs. Or you may mix and match. However, Stephen suggests keeping your introduction short…unless you want your attendees to fall asleep…before he speaks.

Stephen Hammond is an author, speaker, trainer and consultant in the field of workplace human rights. Since 1992 Stephen has rescued organizations from human rights disasters and enhanced businesses by encouraging them to change with the times. While Stephen is a lawyer by trade and still a member of the Law Society of B.C., he no longer practices law. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and in 2008 Stephen was one of 5 Canadians to receive the designation of CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), the International Speaking Federation’s “most prestigious earned designation for platform excellence”. Stephen's goal is to support welcoming workplaces.

At a relatively young age, Stephen Hammond’s life experiences shaped his views and passions regarding human rights. Between obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, Stephen was the executive director of one of Manitoba's political parties and was thrown into jail in communist Poland, accused of being a spy for the West. Stephen was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1988 and proceeded to work in the field of labour and employee relations both in the private and public sectors. Stephen's goal is to support welcoming workplaces

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