Derreck Kayongo

Derreck Kayongo is a CNN Hero, social entrepreneur, and the founder of the Global Soap Project, an organization that collects discarded hotel soap and recycles it for distribution to communities in developing countries where lack of basic hygiene contributes to preventable disease and death.

From Ugandan Refugee to CNN Hero

Kayongo fled Uganda as a young refugee and eventually made his way to the United States, where he built a career in humanitarian work and social entrepreneurship. The idea for the Global Soap Project came from a simple observation: American hotels discard millions of bars of partially used soap every day while people in developing nations die from diseases that could be prevented with basic handwashing. His organization has collected and redistributed soap from thousands of hotels worldwide. He went on to serve as CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

Turning Observation Into Global Impact

Kayongo’s story is one of the most compelling examples of how a single observation can spark a movement. His journey from refugee to social entrepreneur to CNN Hero demonstrates the power of resourcefulness, empathy, and action. His keynotes deliver inspiring presentations on social innovation, purpose-driven leadership, turning everyday observations into world-changing ideas, and making a meaningful difference with the resources already available to you.

Harnessing Your Power to Create Change

As Founder of the Global Soap Project, Derreck Kayongo has built a multi-million-dollar venture which takes recycled soap and distributes it through global health programs to people who lack access to it around the world. Kayongo breaks down the key factors that have led to his success; Service, Education, Leadership and Faith (S.E.L.F.) He shares his account of life as a Ugandan refugee and the turning point, which led him to a brilliant transformation as a social entrepreneur. In this presentation, Kayongo challenges audiences to focus on personal accountability, to seek out opportunities to improve, and most importantly, to maintain faith in yourself and your team so that together you create an environment where everyone is empowered to thrive.

Reimagining Diversity & Inclusion: A Pathway to Courageous Conversations

Has anyone ever calculated the total cost of discrimination in the workplace? Derreck tackles the subject head-on by sharing how his organization found itself grappling with the issue. He takes his audience through an examination of how diversity and inclusion problems impact your corporate bottom line. From long-term harm to your brand and weakened stock prices to negative perceptions within the community, Derreck reveals the potential savings that come about when employees understand the cost of discrimination and the value of their fellow employees. He illustrates with eye-opening examples, how our upbringing and unconscious biases can become a net negative to organizational growth and have a negative impact on the bottom-line. The end goal of Derreck’s presentation is to birth into the bloodstream of the company’s culture what he calls a “Corporate Moral Aptitude,” an intriguing notion similar to Emotional Intelligence, but for corporations around cultural biases within the market place.

A native of Uganda and former refugee who worked his way up to become a CEO of a major American cultural institution, Derreck has a great and noble story to tell about diversity and inclusion from an outsider’s perspective that you don’t want to miss. From executives to rank-and-file employees, audiences will walk away inspired and positioned for success in today’s multicultural workplace.

Channeling Your Passion to Build a Legacy

In search of legacy therein lies your purpose. Derreck Kayongo’s Global Soap Project not only created change, it established a legacy—a lasting impact on the hotel industry and on global health. His innovation built this legacy where hotels now have switched to liquid soap canisters mounted on the shower walls to conserve and become more eco-friendly. So, every time you use that liquid soap in the hotel you are part of a legacy built by a simple but clever idea to recycle the wasted hotel soap.

Amidst many doubters, Derreck Kayongo remained true to his passion and in this speech, he shares the six cornerstones that anchored him in building this legacy that led to a global impact in the hotel industry.  His L.E.G.A.C.Y take aways are: Legendary Leadership;  Eagle-eyed focus; Unlocking your genius; Adaptability; Capacious ability to synthesize assumptions; You: You are the destination to where all the roads lead, driven by a positive attitude with an aspirational urgency to harness your power to build a legacy.  Do you want to be part of pedestrian change when it comes to your life or do you want to corner one important area of your passion and build a legacy around it?