Keynotes · Workshops · Panels and moderation
Once in Nairobi, where I went from selling telephone cards in traffic to running an automotive dealership. Once in Canada, where I arrived in 2017 and found that none of it counted. I speak about what that costs, what it teaches, and what organisations lose when they cannot see past a foreign résumé.
On stage, Kamloops.
Why organisers book me
Before I consulted on equity, I managed a dealership in Nairobi through two expansions, consulted regionally for the United Nations, steadied community hubs that were close to closing and ran them through the pandemic, and held senior management of community living services in British Columbia. I still work frontline mental health shifts, by choice, because I do not believe you can lead this work from a distance.
The stories are mine. The credentials came afterwards, and they came because of the work, not instead of it. Audiences can tell the difference within the first two minutes.
I have had to make equity work at eight in the morning with a short-staffed team. When I tell a leadership group what will and will not survive contact with a Tuesday, I am speaking from the inside.
Every talk closes with a practice, not a feeling. Restorative facilitation is my second certification, so I can hand a room an actual process for repair rather than a call to reflect.
A talk that only moves people is a good afternoon. A talk that gives them something to do on Monday is a change in the organisation.
Topics
Signature talks
Titles are mine, content is yours. I will always ask what happened in your organisation to make this a priority this year, and shape the talk around the answer.
What happens to a career at a border, and what organisations lose when they cannot see past a foreign résumé.
Conference keynote · Corporate · Settlement sector
Why most DEI work fails at the operational layer, and how to build the version that does not.
Corporate · Human resources · Leadership teams
What eight years of frontline work taught me about management that no leadership course did.
Non-profit · Human services · Healthcare leadership
I survived multiple suicide attempts in a single month, then produced a documentary about it. This talk is what I learned about how we talk about suicide without making it worse.
Would you like to watch the film? Screenings of Black Light Unveiled: Choose Life, with a talk session afterwards, are available on request.
Mental Health · Wellness · Reducing Stigma · All audiences
Restorative fairness as a practical response to harm inside organisations.
Justice · Education · Workplace conflict
On ambition, visibility, and refusing to choose between being taken seriously and being fully yourself.
General audience · Women’s events · Youth
Formats
Every booking includes a planning call beforehand, the speaker introduction written out for your host, and a follow-up note with anything I promised the room from the stage.
Forty-five to sixty minutes, with fifteen for questions. The opening or closing slot at a conference, a staff day, or a community event.
Half or full day, capped at thirty people so the room can actually talk. Bias, inclusive leadership, or restorative practice, with exercises your team keeps.
As a panellist, as the moderator who keeps a difficult conversation honest and on time, or as your master of ceremonies for the whole programme. I have hosted a podcast, a radio show and live events, so I am comfortable holding a room live.
| Format | From |
|---|---|
| Keynote (45 to 60 minutes) | $3,000 |
| Conference package (keynote plus one breakout session) | $5,000 |
| Half day workshop (3 hours) | $2,500 |
| Full day training (6 hours) | $4,500 |
| Panel appearance or moderation | $1,500 |
| Event hosting or MC (evening or full programme) | $1,800 |
| Youth, school and community assembly | $1,200 |
| Documentary screening with a talk afterwards | On request |
Fees are in Canadian dollars and exclude travel. Anything outside the Kamloops region is billed at cost, agreed in advance, never as a surprise line on the invoice. Virtual keynotes are available at a reduced rate.
Small non-profits, schools and grassroots community groups: ask me. I hold room in the calendar every quarter for organisations doing this work without a budget for it, and I would rather you asked than assumed.
Selected engagements
BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards. Recognising outstanding work tackling systemic and institutional racism, and reducing barriers for marginalised communities.
Honoured in the exhibit at Thompson Rivers University, alongside her work founding the Valid Dreams Foundation and Kamloops’ first Black Film Festival.
For organisers
Booking a speaker should take one email, not five. Here is the material most organisers ask for, ready to copy.
Our next speaker has built her life twice. The first time was in Kenya, where she went from selling telephone cards in Nairobi traffic to running an automotive dealership through two expansions, and consulting for the United Nations across Eastern and Southern Africa at the same time. Then, in 2017, she moved to Canada and found that none of it counted. So she started again. Front desk. Night shifts. Street-level outreach with people experiencing homelessness. Within two years she was managing community hubs for one of Alberta’s largest agencies. She took on hubs that were close to shutting down, steadied them, and ran them successfully right through the pandemic.
Today she is the founder of the Valid Dreams Foundation, a certified DEI consultant and Restorative Justice facilitator, the producer of a nationally funded documentary on suicide awareness, the host of the podcast Fierce Colourful Conversation, and the reigning Ms. North America British Columbia. She is also still, by choice, a frontline mental health worker, because she does not believe you can lead this work from a distance. Please welcome Sally Martin.
Sally Martin is a Kenyan-born, Kamloops-based consultant, coach and non-profit founder. She leads the Valid Dreams Foundation, a Black-led BC organisation supporting women, youth and newcomer families, and works on the frontline in mental health and substance use. A certified DEI consultant and Restorative Justice facilitator, she produced the documentary Black Light Unveiled: Choose Life, funded by TELUS StoryHive in 2023 and released on TELUS Optik TV in 2025, and the podcast Fierce Colourful Conversation, funded in 2025 and released in 2026. She holds the Ms. North America British Columbia 2025 title.
High-resolution headshot, a working shot, and event photography are available on request. Email me and I will send the current set the same day, along with the logo and social copy if you are promoting the event.
Several of my talks touch suicide, racism and gender-based violence. I follow safe-messaging practice, I tell you in advance exactly what will be said, and I will ask you to have a support person named before I take the stage. If your audience includes young people, we will agree the boundaries together.
Book a date
Twenty minutes, at no cost. Bring the date, the audience and what has been happening in your organisation. If I am not the right speaker for it, I will say so and tell you who is.
Pick any open slot. You will get a Google Meet link with your confirmation. Prefer a separate tab? Open the booking page.
Or email [email protected]. Based in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Available across Canada, the United States and internationally, in person and online.
