Speaking

Jeffrey Kass Keynote Speaker | Panel Discussion Moderator | Workshop Facilitator & Trainer

“Global Ambassador  for Racial and Societal Engagement”

Jeffrey Kass has over a decade of presenting to organizations and groups on themes related to race and society. He has worked extensively with organizations, as well as business and civic leaders on cultivating fresh approaches to today’s rapidly evolving times.

An intellectual property and business trial lawyer by trade, Jeffrey is adept at tailoring his presentations to deliver maximum value to his audiences. Filled with practical insights and spoonfuls of humor, his goal is to spark purposeful dialogue leading to meaningful change.

  • GlobalMindED: Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable, Panelist, January, 2021
  • 9News Denver: Racism and the Road to Change -Virtual Town Hall Panelist, May 2020
  • Presenter at a “Leadership Bootcamp” for the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, African- American Professionals Leadership classes of 2019 and in 2020.
  • Co-panelist with Harvard professor and prominent civil rights activist Dr. Cornel West presenting to over 100 CEOs about race issues and the meaning of Black Lives Matter, 2018.
  • Presenter to Minority Business Council in St. Louis on the topic of entrepreneurship.
  • Frequent national speaker on legal issues, including intellectual property and issues facing startup Companies.
  • Guest-lecturer to various entrepreneur classes at The Ohio State University, Washington University, UCLA and The University of Colorado-Denver from 2009 to present.
  • Trained multiple organizations on Diversity and Racism Eradication issues
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Jeffrey Kass Sample Presentation Topics

Unconscious Bias – How to Stop...

Unconscious Bias – How to Stop What We Aren’t Aware Of

Keynote Description

Set aside the avowed racists. The KKK types. Proud Boys. White Supremacists. Most of the rest of us aren’t intentionally racist. We walk through life consciously believing people of all colors and religions are good and bad just like the rest of us. We don’t consciously treat people poorly. We might even occasionally feel sorry for someone who has struggled because of their identity. We watch in horror when we see the George Floyds of the world murdered. For most of our adult lives, we have subscribed to what is referred to as color-blindness where we believe in judging people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. We believe what some so passionately proclaim: All Lives Matter.

Most of us are offended at the mere insinuation that we might be racist. “I’m not a racist!” is a common refrain from everyday white folks who aren’t trying to harm anyone. 

Given these troubling times, it’s more important than ever, however, to engage in deep self-examination. The only way we can emerge a better society is to understand what’s causing us as a nation to still face race issues, over fifty years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death and the passage of important civil rights legislation.

Key Takeaways

In this presentation, race and society expert Jeffrey Kass will share how and why society has unknowingly perpetrated systems of race and how we as individuals unconsciously contribute to those systems. He will teach us how to apply his End Racial Distancing Method so we can finally begin some of the deeper self-examination and education for our children. His method will touch upon several aspects of life, including:

  • How to create a home that isn’t just non-racist but is part of ending the cycle of unconscious bias.
  • How to create a workplace where unconscious bias is reduced and conscious repair is undertaken.
  • How intentionally supporting certain businesses can lead to a more aware self.

I Want to Help! What Can I Do?

I Want to Help! What Can I Do?

Keynote Description

A common refrain from most of us white folks is “I am sickened by what’s happening in our country. What can I do to help?” 

A noble question, for sure, but sometimes it causes a turned face, or a roll of the eyes from many Black folks who’ve been begging for help for decades. Virtually every movement to emancipate and free Blacks of slavery, Jim Crow, oppressive laws and the like has been launched by Black folks themselves. 

But one thing that’s been ringing in most of our collective white heads is that we can no longer remain bystanders if we want to create a more equitable and harmonious society. The time has come for us silent ones to no longer remain silent. To no longer just stand by in our comfortable chairs, not feeling racist, and watch Black and Brown men, women and children suffer. 

So what can we do to help?

Key Takeaways

In this presentation, race and society expert Jeffrey Kass will deep dive into a whole host of concrete actions each of us can take to turn the tide of this increasingly unjust and unfair society of which we are apart and from which we benefit. 

These steps can pervade every aspect of our life:

  • In our homes
  • At our jobs
  • Where we shop
  • Our books
  • Getting coffee
  • Walking down the street
  • Organizations and volunteerism

Want to help? Then let’s learn about more than philosophies and feelings. Time for action.

What About the Looters and...

What About the Looters and Violence? The Ultimate Distraction

Keynote Description

How many of us have thought, “the George Floyd death was awful and unacceptable, but the ensuing violence and looting is really hurting their cause.”  Or “no way am I going to support abolishing police forces in response to looters and violence.”

Fair, seemingly common sense, responses, no doubt.

Perspective is important, though, when dealing with any challenging issues. 

Most people, Black and white alike, including countless community and religious leaders, are outspoken against violence as a means to achieve ends. Indeed, philosopher Immanuel Kant eloquently wrote about not using people as a means to an end. People must only be the end, says Kant. So destroying others’ lives, their dreams, their businesses, or in some cases, hitting people or even killing people, is not ok to most of us. It wasn’t ok to Dr. King either.

But isn’t the discussion of looters a distraction we unintentionally use to avoid tackling the reasons we reached this point in our young nation’s history? How many of us posted on our social media feeds (or read others’ with approval) outrage against looters and violence in response to Floyd’s death? Now how many of those same people expressed the same level of outrage at injustices against Black and Brown men and women in this country?

How many of us talked about  Trayvon (17), Breonna (26), Rodney (25),  Atatiana (28), Aura (40), Stephon (22), Botham (26) etc. etc. etc.  How many of us even know most of these names. People who were shot numerous times, either holding a phone, eating ice cream or simply sitting in their own home watching television.

And how many of us were angered to the point we are about looters when we read that certain police departments had a policy of stopping people for driving while black. Or do we not even remember reading those stories? 

Key Takeaways

This presentation will explore why we cannot afford to let legitimate concern over violence distract us from how we got here. 

Instead, race and society expert Jeffrey Kass will return us to the discussion on how to achieve a more just, fair, and harmonious society through a theory he calls Ending Racial Distancing. 

Jeffrey will take us through the ten prescriptive treatments on how to end the often unconscious and, to many white folks, invisible racism virus. Through his ten-step program, we truly can achieve a society of responsibility and respect, rather the distrust and discord.