Spencer West
- Climbed & Summited Mount Kilimanjaro Using His Hands & Wheelchair
- World Change Warrior who inspires us to "Redefine Possible"
- IDEA and LGBTQ+ advocate
In Person-Fee 🛈
Fee Range
$10,000 - $15,000
Virtual Fee:
$10,000 - $15,000
Travels From
Canada
Spencer West on Leveraging Talent With Different Abilities | Equality Summit
Spencer West Speaker Biography
The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities. His many accomplishments and lessons learned along the way led him to discover the techniques business leaders, professionals, educators, and young people can use to redefine possible in their own lives and careers.
Whether headlining corporate conferences, inspiring audiences at employee/client appreciation events, or mesmerizing audiences in 20,000-seat stadiums, Spencer’s charisma and dynamism captivate all. Sharing his journey from losing both legs as a child, to climbing – and summiting – Mount Kilimanjaro using his hands and wheelchair, Spencer’s words and actions have encouraged millions to stand up, face challenges and embrace change. Everyone leaves with pertinent lessons they can apply to redefine what their possible is.
Spencer’s incredible story is documented in both film and print. His journey is featured in the documentary Redefine Possible: The Story of Spencer West, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and in his book Standing Tall: My Journey.
As the opener on Demi Lovato’s 2014 world tour across North America, Spencer spoke to and inspired tens of thousands of her fans. He has spoken alongside luminaries and performers such as former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, Mia Farrow, Martin Luther King III, Jennifer Hudson, and Natalie Portman, to name a few.
He has appeared countless times in the media including, ABC News, Buzz Feed, 60 Minutes, CTV, BBC News, TMZ, CNN, Forbes, and The Globe & Mail, CBS This Morning, Bloomberg, was a featured guest on Season 2 of Karamo The Podcast, hosted by Karamo Brown and is a social media influencer with over 3 million TikTok followers.
Spencer’s inspiring words have reached millions of listeners around the world, including Virgin Atlantic, KPMG, Staples, Financial Institutions, Insurance, Microsoft, Universal McCann, Ministry of Education, Colleges & Universities, YPO/WPO, SickKids Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs, and more.
Infused with humor and humility, Spencer’s thought-provoking and genuinely enlightening experiences offer take-home tips and life lessons on how to find opportunity in every challenge, while instilling hope and empowering leaders to motivate others to create positive change.
Leveraging Talent with Disabilities Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility (IDEA) – can be customized for LGBTQ+ themes
Join Spencer West in this interactive, presentation/fireside chat where he will discuss not only why you should leverage talent with disabilities, but also how. The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities. From climbing the workforce ladder to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Spencer shares his insights on how bringing in talent with disabilities can have a very positive impact on your employees and customers. *20-30-minute talk with video/pp followed by a 10-20-minute Q&A moderated by the host + 10-20-minute moderated Q&A with the audience.
Redefine Possible: Lessons for Tackling Mountains in the Corporate World
Spencer West invites corporate audiences to experience the transformation that can occur when we “redefine possible”. With his trademark humor and humility, Spencer spins a spellbinding story of the challenges he faced after losing his legs from the pelvis down at age five, and the journey of discovery that ultimately enabled him to summit Mount Kilimanjaro using his hands and wheelchair. Spencer applies the insights gleaned from a lifetime of overcoming obstacles to help leaders and employees identify their own roadblocks and push past them. His inspiring message and tangible life lessons motivate business audiences to believe they can tackle any goal, whether personal or professional.
