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TEDx
T.A.L.K.ing to Kids About Bias
How To Find Your Kilimanjaro
Having addressed numerous audiences of all sizes for both companies and nonprofits — including serving as keynote — get in touch to arrange for Simone Knego to bring her uplifting insights and message to your next gathering
We All Have a Story
How to Successfully Climb Past Your Own Self-Doubt
A survey from the Dove self-esteem fund found that 7 in 10 girls grow up believing they are inferior in some way. This includes their looks, their performance in school, and even their relationships with friends and family. It’s an all-encompassing yearning to be normal—to conform.
Additionally, only 4% of women worldwide believe they’re beautiful. It’s not a matter of fact—it’s a matter of belief. And if it’s simply about belief, we need to stop trying to change ourselves for the sake of conformity and change how we see ourselves instead.
Two-time TEDx speaker, resiliency expert, and worldwide adventurer, Simone Knego uses her experience climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to explore the impact of a simple shift in mindset. As a global keynote speaker, Simone elevates every chair in the auditorium to 19,000 feet by masterfully recounting her story of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Take every step with her and relive the mental exhaustion as Simone reminds us of the mountains we’ve climbed and forgotten and the summit we’re about to face.
Learning Objectives:
As a result of this program, attendees will:
- Push through the limiting beliefs that keep them stuck
- Overcome the fear of failure
- Experience freedom from social conformity
- Create positive and healthy mindset shifts
- Gain the courage to face the mountains in their own lives
- Develop a greater understanding of how extraordinary they are
Discovering the Power of One
Tikkun Olam is a Jewish concept that helps us recognize we have an important duty to repair the world. Our commitment to philanthropy and giving can make a real difference in the lives of children, in the lives of adults, and in the lives of families around the world. We can give hope to the hopeless; serve as a voice to the voiceless; and provide a family and community to those who were once alone.
People often think they’re too insignificant or too unimportant to make a difference in the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In Simone Knego’s heartwarming and inspiring keynote, she illustrates the impact that each and every person can make on the world simply by being who they are.
We each have the capacity to do something that will make a difference in someone else’s life. It doesn’t have to be much—smile at a stranger, laugh with a friend, give to those in need, speak to the silent and lonely.
Simone is the mother of six children (three biological and three adopted), and the wife of an amazing man who converted to Judaism after 20 years of marriage. With a firm belief in Tikkun Olam, Simone knows first-hand that the little things you do every day have the power to inspire and impact the people around you.
Learning Objectives:
As a result of this program, attendees will:
- Recognize the impact of giving (philanthropy)
- Gain a greater understanding of the good we can do
- Identify the good they can do to repair the world
- Explore the power of one and how it strengthens the collective
Important Conversations and How to Have Them
Children start becoming aware of gender, race, ethnicity, and disabilities between the ages of two and five years old, according to research conducted by the American Psychological Association. Yet so many adults wait to talk about diversity and bias with kids until they are much, much older.
Kids are like sponges. They absorb the things we do and say—our positive attitudes and our negative biases. They see and hear it all. Any kind of bias can create enormous obstacles to young children’s healthy development. In order to develop healthy self-esteem, kids must learn how to interact with different types of people.
As the mother of black, white, and Asian children, Simone understands first-hand, the need for adults to have these important conversations with kids. We live in a world of diversity. And the sooner we have these important conversations, the better this world will be for all of us.
In Simone Knego’s powerful and thought-provoking program, learn how to use the word T.A.L.K. to guide these important discussions with any child in your life.
Learning Objectives:
As a result of this program, attendees will:
- Realize and identify their own biases
- Recognize that kids are ready for difficult conversations
- Understand the importance of talking with kids about bias at a young age
- Learn a powerful tool that will help them get the conversation started
Simone’s story is compellingly inspirational and deeply moving.
Eric Fingerhut, President & CEO The Jewish Federations of North America
Simone’s ability to connect - really connect - whether you are an audience of one or thousands - is unparalleled. She is not merely willing to share her journey, but thrilled to. Simone’s passion is contagious - how often do you meet someone who inspires you, energizes you, reassures you, teaches you and challenges you.
Jenna Corman Mandel, Associate Vice President, National Women’s Philanthropy Jewish Federations of North America