This week the case study is Benjamin Carlton. Who is Benjamin?
Benjamin Carlton is a leading change agent, social entrepreneur and one of the catalyst of a national movement to first define black people by their aspirations and contributions, then to secure their fundamental freedoms to Live, Own, Vote and Excel. Benjamin is co-founder of the iconic BMe Community, a national movement of community builders that are led and inspired by Black people. Under his leadership, BMe has influenced national policy, and committed millions of dollars to local community leaders around the nation. BMe’s 400+ Fellows have raised over $400 million, earned 67 major national awards and helped over 2 million families secure educational, economic, human rights, health and wellness opportunities.
Benjamin has become a sought after diversity, equity, and inclusion trainer, instructor, and keynote. He's trained the world’s leading authorities about asset-framing, storytelling, and narrative change. Some of these entities include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CBS Viacom, FOCUS Features, The Obama Administration, GM Financial, Comcast Universal, JP Morgan Chase, Deloitte, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. The central premise of asset-framing is to identify people by their contributions rather than their costs and then engage them in living out their aspirational identity for themselves and society.
In 2016, Benjamin decided to practice what he preached and came out as a gay minister in TheRoot.com that generated national discussion. The TEDx speaker took his message of authenticity on the road and encourages his audiences to live their best authentic lives every day.
