Speakers Network
Bayaud Speakers’ Network offers engaging speakers who provide insights into topics like employment barriers, business ethics, situational awareness, and more. Our speakers will captivate your crowd! The majority of the cost goes to the speaker, with 10-20% going to Bayaud Enterprises to keep The Laundry Truck and other Bayaud programs operational. Please see our speakers’ profiles below. Bayaud Speakers’ Network Manager and Promoter, Leonard Estes, will follow up with you within the week via phone call. Feel free to contact either Leonard or our speakers directly to schedule someone for your next event!
Leonard Estes Bayaud Speakers’ Network Manager and Promoter
Phone: 303- 830-6885, x238
Email: Leonarde@bayaudspeakers.org
Richard Ray is like a ray of sunshine. He has been blind since he was six years old; when an operation to remove a large brain tumor inadvertently destroyed both his optic nerve and pituitary gland. Richard danced with death yet again on Christmas Eve of 2012 when he was deprived of oxygen for 45 minutes, during which time he glimpsed “the other side.” He was in a coma for six weeks. God reinstated his consciousness when his life support was pulled, reviving him from his comatose state. Richard’s determination, will to live, and faith in God allowed him to regain his strength over the following years. Richard says he works to “encourage, challenge, and dare others to trust in God, to relinquish fear, and to relish in the rare rays of sunshine that life affords us throughout stormy times.
My name is Leonard Estes. My deadly habit of using heroin led me to crime. Ultimately, I became one of the many dope fiends who end up in prison. I entered the federal penitentiary as a hardened convict; ready for anything- except what I got. Blindness. I spent the next twelve years learning how to overcome obstacles and adapting to life as a blind convict in the prison system. Through introspection, I have transformed from “thuggable” to “huggable.”
Carla Respects Nothing is a Native American of the Ogalala Lakota Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She was born and raised on her reservation and later moved to Denver in 1989. Carla has struggled with alcohol addiction throughout her life, and proud that she has been sober for three years. She shares that her sobriety has allowed her to seize new opportunities; Carla graduated as a Pharmacy Technician from Community College of Denver. She is now community advocate, volunteer, and mentor in Denver, its surrounding communities, as well as my native reservation. Carla says “I love to help those struggling with homelessness, mental health, spirituality, and addiction.”
Vicki Dillard is foundress of On Purpose, LLC, an inspirational community organization. she is a social critic, speaker and writer. She is a political activist and former political prisoner. She says, “I electrify, inform, and equip my audiences with power through spiritual thought, inspirational song, and advocacy for the voiceless and powerless.”
Joe Kovach has been inspiring audiences with his story since he was ten years old. Joe’s audiences have included school groups and law enforcement. He has shared with his audiences how to live a successful and fulfilling life with blindness and mental illness. He says, “I help them to experience my world with situational awareness strategies. My audiences leave our time together with wider perspectives on life.”
Brenda Mosby, thought her life was over when she went blind. Instead, it was just beginning. She discovered a world of possibility because of her disability. She is a published author and motivational speaker, she believes her most important job is helping people with disabilities realize their true values. She says, “people who know their values go on to find employment opportunities that fulfill their lives.” The title of her book says it all: You Are CapABLE.
In the past eleven years, Lynda Drake has assisted over a thousand individuals in their job searches as a Job Developer and Program Manager for Bayaud Enterprises. She has also facilitated a program called Beyond Bayaud. It is a class that provides people with the tools necessary to rise above poverty and to take initiative of their lives. Through her experiences at Bayaud and her life as a stock broker, she has become an expert on personal financing for women, parenting disabled children, and living a life of love.