Alumnus Ja Marr Brown '95 was the keynote speaker for the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Whittier College. Brown's inspiring talk, The Leader in You, addressed the choices that Brown made as a young man and the people who inspired him to pursue his purpose and follow his dreams. He also urged those in his audience to always give of themselves.
"Sometimes we forget that when we are called to do something often times it's not about us, its about someone else." said Brown. "Think about the people in your lives, what if they didn't take the time to give you something, to give you encouragement to go to Whittier College, to give you encouragement to keep persevering when those classes got tough. We have unique gifts, talents, and skills and leadership is about giving them to other people."
Watch Brown's full speech on YouTube.
Brown, the first in his family to attend a four-year college, majored in business administration at Whittier and served as the student body president, captain of the basketball team, and president of the Black Student Union. Brown is the co-founder and vice president of sales and consulting with the Alliance for California's Economic Sustainability, a multi-media news and production company and president of the Kaizen Way. He is also the author of two books, What’s Your Sales Story? and You’re Ugly.
