The Rooted speaker pool consists of Rooted community members with diverse migration experiences. Take Eldin, who fled Yugoslavia as a child, Samar, who was born in the Netherlands with Morocco as her motherland and Egypt as her fatherland, and Philisiwe, who left South Africa together with her family in search of a safer life.

They give powerful talks about their personal journey toward coming home in the Netherlands, interwoven with our shared vision of a more connected society. After all, in the Netherlands it’s no longer a question of whether we want to live together in diversity, but how we’re going to do that together.

A group of Rooted community members with diverse migration experiences, now form the Rooted speaker pool. Through powerful, personal talks, these speakers inspire audiences at events across the Netherlands to embrace diversity as a source of strength.

Where our speakers can make a difference

• D&I congresses and conferences
• Company days and internal events
• Governmental and policy debates
• Fundraising and philanthropic gatherings
• Educational institutions and universities
• Festivals and cultural events

What our speakers offer your organization

Our speakers bring the real, authentically lived stories about their journey towards finding a home in the Netherlands. They portray how this search affects a person, and why a society in which everyone can feel at home is a shared responsibility. 

They show what opens up when you no longer have to adapt yourself, can embrace all your layered identities, and find real strength in doing so. They bring stories that move people, awaken them, warm the heart, and inspire concrete action.

What makes our speakers stand out

• Their raw insights into the journey from deep uprootedness towards coming home in yourself and in the Netherlands
• Their hopeful vision on how we can find each other in the shared longing to belong
• New language and tools as an alternative to the dominant integration discourse of “adapting and participating”
• We also offer workshops and trajectories that keep the conversation alive long after the event and translating it to concrete steps

“Rooted’s storytelling touched me deeply. Each speaker shared a different journey, yet every story carried the familiar feeling of being seen as different in the place you call home and how that shapes your sense of belonging. As a brown woman with mixed heritage, I recognized so much of myself in their words. Without even knowing the speakers, I felt immediately connected: seen, understood, and less alone. Rooted created more than an evening of stories; it created a community in which people can feel included and rooted in themselves.”

Danje Overgaag, B-Corp Community Engagement and JEDI lead