Toronto, Ontario
Kwame Osei
Keynote Speaker
Former CFL Player - Leadership, Resilience, Change, Mental Health, Diversity & Inclusion Expert
Kwame Osei is a dynamic professional host & keynote speaker for seminars, corporate & school events, youth & charitable events & non-profit organizations. Kwame Osei was awarded a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee pin for his significant contribution as a teacher and mentor to inmates of maximum security in his community by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Kwame Osei’s presentations focus on inspiring change, action and growth, pushing people to broaden their perspective and take control of their personal growth. After being exposed to the street culture of Rexdale, Toronto, Kwame used the power of sport and the sports mindset to overcome all obstacles to become a CFL player, teacher, football coach, entrepreneur and community leader. Kwame Osei is a dynamic keynote speaker who teaches fundamental tools he learned throughout his life to empower others through a diverse lens.
Kwame Osei Biogarphy
Kwame Osei was born in Ghana West Africa. He came to Canada at the age of 4 and resided in Toronto with his parents and sister. They all lived in Rexdale where he grew up and later attended high school at Father Henry Carr. Living in Rexdale Kwame Osei was susceptible to street culture and embraced a perspective on life that resulted in having low expectations of himself. As a result, in his first year of high school, Kwame Osei failed almost all of his classes and had a few conflicts with the law.
Kwame Osei began to lose childhood friends due to gun violence and he too was once held at gunpoint and lost many of his friends to live a high-risk lifestyle. After a series of life-threatening experiences, Kwame Osei decided to turn his life around and make a change. Kwame Osei attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and played football for the X-Men, he was voted team captain for 3 seasons. During his last year of University, he achieved Academic All-Canadian honours. Kwame earned two degrees from St-FX and became the first member of his family to earn a university degree.
After university Kwame Osei had a brief professional football career with the Toronto Argonauts. He then moved to Fort McMurray Alberta and began his career as a teacher and football coach. Kwame Osei helped start a football program that produced various post-secondary student-athletes. Kwame Osei also coached provincially for Team Alberta and for the Alberta Summer Games. Kwame Osei is now a coach for Queen’s University in Ontario. Always staying true to his purpose Kwame Osei also currently teaches and supports inmates at a maximum federal penitentiary in Kingston. Kwame has found a way to be a positive impact on his students who are on their journey towards rehabilitation.
In August 2022, Kwame Osei was recognized and awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee award. The award is a symbolic statement of the enduring relationship between Canada and the Crown, as personified by Her Majesty the Queen, Canada’s Head of State. those who have made a significant contribution to their community. Kwame was recognized for his achievements as a teacher and mentor to incarcerated individuals in maximum security at Millhaven Institution in Kingston.
Additionally, he is the co-owner of the athletic apparel company, Triumph Elite and co-founder of the non-profit, Northern Elite Football. Kwame is also a part of a mentorship trio called Perspective on Mentoring, which aims to bridge the gap between adults and youth. In 2018, he took to the screen as a cast member of The Amazing Race Canada: Hero’s Edition.
Kwame has been featured in various TV commercials and has perfected the mastery of event hosting. Recently, Kwame has taken to more public speaking engagements, where he “plants seeds” to help others grow and succeed. Kwame Osei has a passion for motivating, educating, empowering and transforming individuals through a term he refers to as “seed planting”.
He has had speaking engagements with teams, schools, corporate teams, non-profit organizations and charities. Kwame’s goal is to inspire change and growth in every individual he meets, he does this through sharing his life experiences and incorporating metaphors as means of helping to create a perspective shift for his audience.
