I’m interested in the moment an audience starts thinking differently.
I’m interested in the questions that make us stop and think: Who told you that was the rule? What are you actually optimizing for? What becomes possible when we stop deciding who people are supposed to be?
I speak about success, education, relationships, influence, connection, and the messy, surprising work of becoming who you actually want to be.
Sometimes I’m challenging the script. Sometimes I’m telling the story. Sometimes I’m asking the question no one else is asking. And sometimes I’m just making room for a good idea to land.
Ideas designed to make audiences think, question, connect, and leave seeing something differently.
Thoughtful conversations with interesting people about the ideas underneath their work.
Curious, human conversations that move beyond rehearsed answers.
Bringing clarity, energy, curiosity, and connection to conversations with multiple voices.
Helping rooms full of people move from talking around an idea to actually engaging with one another.
Television, podcasts, digital media, cultural conversations, and interviews.
Things I can’t stop thinking about.
We spend our lives following rules we never agreed to about success, relationships, family, and who we're supposed to become. What happens when we decide to write our own?
You can follow the script, check every box, and still end up asking, “Is this actually the life I want?” This is a conversation about success, tradeoffs, and knowing what you're really optimizing for.
What becomes possible when we stop deciding who people are supposed to be and instead truly see them, believe in their potential, and give them room to become it?
Education is about more than what happens in a classroom. It's about expanding what people believe is possible. What happens when we trust the people closest to the work and build systems that allow potential to thrive?
We're taught to value independence, but none of us are meant to do life alone. What happens when we get intentional about the people, relationships, and communities that help us become who we're meant to be?
Beyond the Screen: Building Experiences For and With Teens
A conversation focused on how organizations can create better digital experiences with young people while involving young people directly in shaping them.
Jinan spoke to an audience of more than 400 leaders in connection with education, community impact, DonorsChoose, and Resurgence Hall.
Featured ideas
01
Teachers often see changes in society before the rest of us do.
They see technology changing how young people learn and connect.
They see economic pressure show up in families.
They see communities change.
They see what gives young people hope and what gets in their way.
I've spent much of my career listening to educators.
I think the rest of us should listen more carefully too.
02
I've had a front row seat to millions of moments when ordinary people decided to help someone they had never met.
Individually, those choices can seem small.
Together, they say something extraordinary about us.
What if generosity isn't unusual?
What if people are simply waiting for an invitation to care?
03
Having people's attention is powerful.
The more interesting question is what you decide to do with it.
What happens when a platform becomes an invitation?
When visibility becomes participation?
When influence creates room for someone else's story?
04
The people closest to an issue often understand it best.
Yet they are frequently the people furthest from the microphone.
What changes when we stop speaking about people and start creating space for them to speak for themselves?
05
Sometimes the most valuable outcome of an event isn't what happens on stage.
It's who discovers each other because they were there.
I'm fascinated by what happens when we bring together people who might never have found one another otherwise.
Watch
Rooms Jinan has been in
A stage.
A panel.
A podcast.
A conversation.
A camera.
A table full of people who should probably know each other.
I’d love to hear what you’re planning.
Invite Jinan