DEVON HARRIS
Original Member of the 1988 Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team
TRAVELS FROM:
New York
SPEAKER FEE:
$7,501 – $10,000
Speaker fee falls within this range. For exact fee, please contact us.
ABOUT DEVON HARRIS
Born on Christmas Day, 1964, Devon Harris was raised in the violent ghetto environment of Olympic Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica. The greatest gift he ever received was the belief that a positive attitude and a never say die philosophy would carry him farther than a sense of injustice and a heart filled with anger. Devon Harris graduated from the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England and received a Queen’s Commission in December 1985 and served in the officer corps of the Jamaica Defence Force until December 1992 when he retired as a Captain.
Encouraged by his commanding officer, Devon tried out for and was selected to the first Jamaican bobsled team. The team competed in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada and their exploits inspired the Disney blockbuster movie Cool Runnings.
The Keep On Pushing Foundation which he founded in 2006 aims to support and enhance the education of kids in disadvantaged communities by providing practical solutions to the challenges that are preventing them from getting educated.
Through the Keep On Pushing Foundation, Devon also works with Right to Play as an athlete ambassador. He supports Right to Play’s efforts in using sport and play in refugee camps around the world to enhance child development and build community capacity.
Being an ex-serviceman, Devon understands the commitment, sense of duty and sacrifices made by those who volunteer to serve. As a private citizen he is cognizant of the fact that the freedoms he enjoys are paid for by the courage and sacrifice of these men and women. As a result he has also devoted time to visit the troops serving in the Persian Gulf and around the country. He is the author of the motivational children’s book, Yes, I Can! and the semi-autobiographical motivational book Keep On Pushing: Hot Lessons From Cool Runnings.
During the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Korea, Devon was inducted as an Olympian For Life by the World Olympian Association for his significant contribution to society. He lives in New York and is married with 5 children.
DEVON HARRIS PROGRAMS & TOPICS
Hot Lessons from Cool Runnings: Coaching for Personal and Professional Success
In this program Devon Harris skillfully weaves the real life improbable inspirational story of the Jamaica bobsled team with the entertaining portrayal of the Disney blockbuster Cool Runnings. He highlights some of the powerful life lessons he and his teammates learned along the way – lessons the audience can immediately apply to both their personal and professional lives. Suitable as an opening or closing keynote. The audience will learn how:
- To conquer fear through courage
- To use the extraordinary power of visualization to achieve success
- To build self esteem and confidence and reach your goals
- To define success on your own terms
- To persist in the face of insurmountable odds
The Power and Magic of Teamwork
This inspiring message sees Devon drawing on his personal experiences as the Captain of the Jamaican Bobsled Team and a former Sandhurst-trained Captain in the Jamaica Defence Force, to show how working collaboratively facilitates success personally and professionally as well as collectively as a group. The key ingredients from Devon’s perspective are: defining and owning a clear vision, empowering leadership, a process of self-evaluation and persistence. Using humor, engaging stories and powerful insights, Devon easily translates the challenges and triumphs of being in the military and competing in the Olympics into easily applicable lessons and insights that will inspire your team to perform at peak levels. Suitable as an opening or closing keynote. The audience will learn how:
- A clear vision allows the team to remain motivated, become remarkably efficient and control the direction of change.
- To identify their noble purpose-the far reaching benefits of the mundane things they do daily.
- To transform their organization by growing their capacity to lead.
- To use the process of self-evaluation to help them move towards the full potential
Out of Many; One: An Olympic Athlete's View of Diversity in the Workplace
A fresh look at how diversity in the workplace is not just a legal mandate or corporate ethic – it is fundamentally practical, and brings the best teams to the international playing field. Devon Harris brings a creative and inspiring look at how at work, as in the Olympics, what really matters is performance, attitude and teamwork. With humor and understanding that comes from living what he believes, Devon delivers a compelling inspirational message to groups of all sizes about how to be more bottom-line successful by embracing and applying the innate strengths of a diversity philosophy. Suitable as an opening or closing keynote. The audience will learn how:
- A clear personal vision will exceed the associations and assumptions that society makes about you.
- Attracting the best talent regardless of labels and creating an environment for them to perform at peak levels will allow the team to soar.
- Differences when maintained and valued instead of discarded create a more fulfilling, powerful experience.
Keep On Pushing™
A highly customizable, entertaining program, in which Devon effectively shows how the process of pushing a bobsled is analogous to the success journey of life life; how going through the process, growth and embracing change is critical to transforming oneself as well as the people and the organizations around them. Devon’s presentation blends the need for every part of an organization to have the ability, through personal effort, teamwork, passion, a sense of purpose and persistence to “keep on pushing” to achieve success. Devon illustrates his presentation with his improbable story of a road that took him from the violent ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica; to Sandhurst; to the Olympics; to the hit Disney film Cool Runnings. Entertaining, motivational, with humor, compassion and real-life how-to guidance, Devon Harris inspires the audience to “keep on pushing” – his distinctive phrase when asked how he gets that bobsled down that run. Suitable as an opening or closing keynote. The audience will learn how:
- To clarify their vision
- Identifying their purpose
- Create a more synergistic environment through collaboration
- Be relentless in finding the solutions to their challenges
Request Availability for Devon Harris
DEVON HARRIS BOOKS
Keep On Pushing: Hot Lessons from Cool Runnings
Yes I Can! The Story of the Jamaican Bobsled Team
DEVON HARRIS
Original Member of the 1988 Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team, celebrated in the Movie Cool Runnings
TRAVELS FROM:
New York
SPEAKER FEE:
$7,501 – $10,000
Speaker fee falls within this range. For exact fee, please contact us.
“Thank you for the incredibly passionate and inspirational speech you delivered at our annual meeting. You had our attention from the start and we thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the insightful lessons you drew from your Olympic bobsled experiences. Your presentation was so well received by our managers that virtually all of them asked that you come back to speak to our lower level managers and staff. You were beyond question a big hit!”
“Devon is fantastic! Our nurses LOVED him. He really took the time to know our audience of oncology nurses and spoke directly to them. Devon, we have been energized to lead with a purpose and how to truly be a positive influence to ourselves as well as others. Thank you for being so easy and fun to work with! Your passion and inspiration has definitely helped us to keep on pushing! Many of the conference participants made it a point to tell me that they thought your presentation was outstanding.”
“The meeting ended yesterday and we had such a great, successful week because of many excellent sessions we had and Devon’s speech was certainly one of the highlights of the meeting!! People really liked the messages he conveyed in his speech and were able to relate to them at both professional & personal levels, and that was really what we were looking to get out of the guest speech for this conference, so he was the perfect match for it!”
ABOUT DEVON HARRIS
Read More
DEVON HARRIS PROGRAMS & TOPICS
Hot Lessons from Cool Runnings: Coaching for Personal and Professional Success
In this program Devon Harris skillfully weaves the real life improbable inspirational story of the Jamaica bobsled team with the entertaining portrayal of the Disney blockbuster Cool Runnings. He highlights some of the powerful life lessons he and his teammates learned along the way – lessons the audience can immediately apply to both their personal and professional lives.
The Power and Magic of Teamwork
This inspiring message sees Devon drawing on his personal experiences as the Captain of the Jamaican Bobsled Team and a former Sandhurst-trained Captain in the Jamaica Defence Force, to show how working collaboratively facilitates success personally and professionally as well as collectively as a group. The key ingredients from Devon’s perspective are: defining and owning a clear vision, empowering leadership, a process of self-evaluation and persistence. Using humor, engaging stories and powerful insights, Devon easily translates the challenges and triumphs of being in the military and competing in the Olympics into easily applicable lessons and insights that will inspire your team to perform at peak levels.
Out of Many; One: An Olympic Athlete's View of Diversity in the Workplace
A fresh look at how diversity in the workplace is not just a legal mandate or corporate ethic – it is fundamentally practical, and brings the best teams to the international playing field. Devon Harris brings a creative and inspiring look at how at work, as in the Olympics, what really matters is performance, attitude and teamwork. With humor and understanding that comes from living what he believes, Devon delivers a compelling inspirational message to groups of all sizes about how to be more bottom-line successful by embracing and applying the innate strengths of a diversity philosophy. Suitable as an opening or closing keynote.
Keep On Pushing™
A highly customizable, entertaining program, in which Devon effectively shows how the process of pushing a bobsled is analogous to the success journey of life life; how going through the process, growth and embracing change is critical to transforming oneself as well as the people and the organizations around them. Devon’s presentation blends the need for every part of an organization to have the ability, through personal effort, teamwork, passion, a sense of purpose and persistence to “keep on pushing” to achieve success. Devon illustrates his presentation with his improbable story of a road that took him from the violent ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica; to Sandhurst; to the Olympics; to the hit Disney film Cool Runnings. Entertaining, motivational, with humor, compassion and real-life how-to guidance, Devon Harris inspires the audience to “keep on pushing” – his distinctive phrase when asked how he gets that bobsled down that run.
DEVON HARRIS BOOKS
Keep On Pushing: Hot Lessons from Cool Runnings