Recent Talks
I've given lots of talks; some informal, some formal, and some that I remember to write down in this list below. (Note: if you'd like to invite me to speak at your event, please fill out this form.)
- One Lesson in 10 Years (Nov 2009)
Talk at the Bade Museum, by AHIMSA in Berkeley.
- Spirit of Service (Oct 2009)
A talk at the Jain Temple in Cherry Hill, NJ.
- Transformation Driven Design (Oct 2009)
Keynote at Bioneers by the Bay, to about 1500+ folks. Some stories from that New England trip.
- Spirit of Service (Oct 2009)
A high school Economics class, at Mission High in Fremont.
- Generation Now Retreat (Sep 2009)
With Michael Beckwith and friends in San Diego.
- Being The Change (Sep 2009)
Peace conference, with Unity in Marin, in Marin. :)
- Servant Leadership (Aug 2009)
Presentation to Deepak Chopra and his dream team in Whistler, Canada.
- Evolutionary Leaders Retreat (Jul 2009)
- Generation G (generosity) (Jul 2009)
'Science of Mind' convention in San Diego, along with talks to couple of smaller groups.
- Stepping Up The Kindness (Jul 2009)
Two talks at Jaina Convention in LA, three talks at Patel convention in Virginia, one panel in New York, and a retreat in Malibu. 7-days, 5-cities, 8 talks. :)
- Service-Hearted Design (Jun 2009)
Couple of talks at London Business School, around spirit of service. [stories]
- DNA of a Social Entrepreneur (May 2009)
Speaking at TIE, on applying gift economy principles to social entrepreneurship.
- Making It Cool To Be Kind (May 2009)
Spoke to the assembly of 400 Freshmen at Los Altos High School, on why it's cool (and challenging) to give.
- Being The Change, Changes the Being (May 2009)
Talk to several hundred people at Pacific Medical Center, on the impact of altriusm.
- Santa Fe Retreat (Apr 2009)
Spontaneous invite to share two presentation on two days, to a like-hearted Bread for the Journey group.
- Nonviolence in Action: Gift (Apr 2009)
Spoke to the PACS class at UC Berkeley on practicing non-violence.
- Practicing Generostiy of Boddhisattvas (Apr 2009)
Talk at DRBY, on how being invisible leads to the power of small.
- Do good, Be Good, Have Fun (Apr 2009)
Talk at iGurukul, as a chief guest of their annual culture show.
- Long Tail of Love (Mar 2009)
At Stanford, the talk was about the myth of the scarcity of talent.
- India Trip (Jan-Feb 2009)
Lots of talks, sometimes couple a day. more
- Greening Our Minds (Nov 2008)
Speaking a major youth conference, called Chain-Reaction, alongside the likes of Richard Branson! :)
- Greening Our Minds (Nov 2008)
In Washington DC, speaking at the Green Festival about the powers of activism that's rooted in inner-change.
- Vision To See (Oct 2008)
To Lions Clubs, at a fundraiser for blindness prevention in Nepal.
- Soul Force of the Gift-Economy (Oct 2008)
At the AHIMSA Center, a talk on leveraging new principles of organizing forr building soul force. (Gift of t-shirt).
- Spirit of Service (Oct 2008)
A high school senior assembly at Los Altos High School hears about lessons I learned in high school.
- Six Billion Paths (Oct 2008)
At a student run class at UC Berkeley, on the importance of small steps to be-the-change.
- Spirit of Service (Oct 2008)
At my grandma's local temple, with 400 of her friends, on the value of practical spirituality.
- Birthing a Gift-Economy (Oct 2008)
Speaking to 700 people at Agape in Southern California, about birthing a gift-economy.
- Let's Not Forget Mrs. Hale (Sep 2008)
A award-reception speech at ICA, about the nuances of being the change, and working with a resource deeper than money.
- Gift of Abundance (May 2008)
At the Global Abundance Alliance, on powers of service.
- What My Mother Taught Me About Giving (Apr 2008)
At Marin Story Swap, a story-sharing session on my mother's birthday, about what I learned about giving from my mom. :)
- Power of Social Capital (Apr 2008)
Keynote to a bunch of systems thinkers, complementary currency advocates and economists gathered in Seattle for the unMoney conference.
- Being The Change Changes The Being (Apr 2008)
Speaking to a progressive Sausalito Presybetarian Church, about the power of internal change and how it ripples out.
- Birthing a Gift Economy (Apr 2008)
Speaking to a group organized by the Pachamama Alliance in SF.
- Helping, Building, Serving (Apr 2008)
Speaking to a conservative, Bay Area Unity Church, with lots of youngsters. (San Leandro)
- Simplicity, Service, Serendipity (Mar 2008)
To a small group of sincere yoga practioners in Milpitas.
- Three Kinds of Service (Mar 2008)
Speaking to UC Berkeley students, in San Jose. :)
- Karma Yoga: Art of Giving (Feb 2008)
Speaking to couple hundred interfaith folk, at Dominican Univ.
- Design Principles of Self-Organizing Society (Feb 2008)
Speaking to 'Design For Free Society' class. Nice Flyer. :)
- Values of CharityFocus (Feb 2008)
Talk to Professor Srikumar Rao's class at Columbia.
- Finding Gandhi Within You (Jan 2008)
Innaugurating Stanford's Sarvodaya club.
- Power of Small Acts (Dec 2007)
Talk to a class at Los Altos High School.
- Smile! It's contagious. (Dec 2007)
Talk to a charter school in downtown Oakland.
- Power of Gift-Economy (Nov 2007)
Keynote at TimeBanks conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
- The New Heroes (July 2007)
Keynote at Jaina convention in New Jersey.
- Let-go And Let-come (June 2007)
Keynote at Pratham Gala in Dallas, Texas.
- Awakeing a Heart of Service (March 2007)
A story-telling session at the Brahma Kumari's Wisdom circle.
- Applied Joy (March 2007)
A talk to AHIMSA folks on how we can tap into our own creativity, find ways to serve, and express our innate joy.
- Tipping Point Network (January 2007)
A conference of thirty innovative leaders, talking about creating a tipping point.
- Internet and Inner-Net (Dec 2006)
A Puerto Rico conference by Alliance for New Humanity with three Nobel Peace Laureates and more. I did a workshop on Internet and Inner-net; it was really well received so I did another follow-up version during the breaks.
- Web of Change (Nov 2006)
A Vancouver conference of technology pros trying to use the Internet for social benefit.
- Be The Change (Oct 2006)
Rutgers University talk about how small acts of service can give you a new world view. (The the bouquet act after the talk was memorable.)
- My Life is My Message, Not Yours (July 2006)
A youth convention of 800 Jains in Connecticut.
- Power of Service (May 2006)
An audience of "life coaches", looking to integrate philanthropic mindset into their work.
- W-A-L-K: Walking the Talk (April 2006)
A conference for scholars and educators, gathered to promote the principles of non-violence.
- Pilgrimage (2005)
Guri and I took off to India, to walk the walk. But we also ended up talking the walk in many villages and schools that we visited.
- Impossible Times (Sep 4, 2004)
After AZ governor presents the North-South Foundation Role Model award, I address 1000+ folks on taking the power of impossible thinking to infinity.
- You've Been Tagged! (July 2004)
Address to national Jain convention, day after my wedding, to hundreds of youth. Read about my experience.
- Smile (April 2004)
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Ukiah
To the boys school, girls school and then the main assembly. Stories about act of kindness and the principles underneath the covers.
- Service and Hinduism (Feb 2004)
Church, Tiburon
Perhaps service is the most sacred sacrament. Religion in action. To an incredible community to open minded seekers of Truth.
- Social Justice (Feb 2004)
NSALSA, Seattle
National conference of young lawyers, trying to maintain their ethnic values and individual priorities while immersed in an ambitious legal world.
- Out-of-the-box (Jan 2004)
Berkeley
Addressing a social entreprenuers group at Cal, the talk was about coming to a space of emptiness for manifesting true innovation.
- Authentic Leadership (Jan 2004)
TiE, Santa Clara
To a large group of entrepreneurs, seniors execs and VCs, a talk about leading by example.
- Compass of Compassion (June 2003)
AIF, Oakland
With international speakers like Kiran Bedi, the talk was on social change in the India context.
- Various Talks (Nov/Dec 2002)
West and South India
While visiting various CharityFocus chapters, many talk were presented on different forms of service.
- Generation Fix (Oct 2002)
Geneva, Switzerland
Presenting at the World Youth Conference, with youth (18-30) from 80 countries! The talk was simultaneously translated in different language and kids ended up loving the spontaneous talk. :)
- Ancient Wisdom, Modern Application
(May 2002)
Santa Fe, NM
To a diversely distinguished crowd of a Nobel laureate, ex-Surgeon General of the Navy, famous authors, World Bank economists, philanthropists and innovative thinkers ... talking about power of a be-the-change volunteer model.
- Meditation in Action (Apr 2002)
UC-Berkeley, CA
Addressing a meditation class of couple hundred students, the focus of this talk was on how service is really meditation in action.
- CharityFocus in Focus: Service (Mar 2002)
Northern Arizona University
Professor Johnson was inspired by CharityFocus and started a similar program at NAU. This talk was to bring home the lessons of service from an organization students had always heard of.
- Jefferson Award Acceptance (June 2001)
Washington D.C.
Addressing an influential crowd, this talk presented CharityFocus as instrument for the divide between the inner-net and the Internet.
- Understanding Service (May 2001)
Vedanta Center, Olema
At the youth forum, covered the five basic tenants of self-understanding that manifest as service.
- Spirituality In Action (March 2001)
Sacred Heart High School
A talk similar to the previous one at Berkeley, but with kids who are exploring the concepts of community service.
- Karma Yoga and Hinduism (Feb 21, 2001)
UC Berkeley, Poetry For The People
Spoke on the concept of Hinduism and how Karma Yoga means service with whatever you are currently doing.
- Service In Each Moment (Nov 00--Jan01)
Various places in India
Unintended and completely random, but ended up speaking to various schools and gatherings on how green goggles makes everything look green.
- Ending the Violence Within: A Perspective on Service (October 21, 2000)
Berkeley, AHIMSA
On the panel with author Huston Smith, physicist Geoffrey Chew, professor Michael Nagler, speakers shared perspective on Violence.
- Service in the dot-com era (Sep 4, 2000)
CNN International
On Q/A show with Riz Khan, talking about CharityFocus and perspectives of service.
- United In Service (Aug 16, 2000)
CA Dept of Education
Addressing over 1000 leaders from across the state, this keynote talk spoke on the importance of making internal changes to affect external changes.
- Volunteer Panel (June 15, 2000)
San Francisco Foundation Center
How to increase volunteerism in the community.
- Zen at Work (May 27, 2000)
Vedanta Center Youth Forum, Olema
A guest speaker at a forum on incorporating giving in daily life.
- Kid at Heart (May 5, 2000)
Menlo Middle School
Twenty minute talk addressing a middle school assembly about giving.
- True Millionaires (April 25, 2000)
Craigslist Forum on Philanthropy
Five minute address to philanthropists on: "you really only have what you can give".
- Spirit of Service (Feb 29, 2000)
Berkeley Buddhist Monastary
Two hour talk on personal experience of giving.
