Great American Speaker Series

Our ongoing Great American Speaker Series provides a forum for Team Jeni’s to continue learning. A cross-functional group of employees selected three speakers and a member of the team to interview the featured guest in front of the company. Every year this series brings our team together in meaningful ways—and the powerhouses we hosted this year inspired and motivated us to be a force for good.

Temple Grandin

Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist and professor at Colorado State University in Equine Science. An expert in the area of humane treatment of livestock, Dr. Grandin designed a curved chute system that promotes a more calming experience for cattle. Her design is used in half of all the cattle farms in the United States. Dr. Grandin is also well known for being a high-functioning person with autism. Her ability to communicate the ways in which she processes information through pictures in her mind has been key to helping the world to be better equipped to embrace, understand, and fully value autism.

Daryl Davis

Daryl Davis is a musician by trade—one who has played with the likes of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and B.B. King, to name a few—but he’s an activist at heart. You might say the former is his day job and the latter is his life’s work. In an effort to understand the roots of hate and extremism, Davis has befriended leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups, choosing to meet extreme hate with extreme civility, learning in the process that the power of conversation has the ability to build bridges between people who don’t agree on the most fundamental of matters. In many instances, Klan leaders and others he engaged with went on to denounce their old beliefs. Daryl is the subject of the award-winning documentary “Accidental Courtesy,” the author of “Klan-destine Relationships,” a book detailing his extraordinary experiences, and his Ted Talk has over 12 million views.

Selwyn Dias

Selwyn Dias was born in Kenya to Indian parents. At age 13, his parents were forced to move when Kenya won independence from Great Britain, and they immigrated to the United States. The cultural and employment barriers they faced during this transition fueled his desire decades later after a successful career as he worked to bridge the gap between corporate America and immigrants and refugees looking to join the workforce.