The Sweeney Agency

About John Bul Dau - Inspiring Speaker, One of Sudan's Lost Boys:

John Bul Dau's inspiring life provides the ultimate example of a profile in courage. He is a natural leader who exemplifies true resilience and perseverance under the most horrific of circumstances. Dau is a compelling motivational speaker whose life is defined by his uncompromised commitment to having a lasting impact on the future of his native country. He has become a successful keynote speaker in the United States, Canada and abroad. He presents his story in a way that displays the violence and devastation delivered against the people of South Sudan by the northern dominated Sudanese government and emphasizes the importance of perseverance and character development.

One of the storied Lost Boys of Sudan, John Bul Dau is featured in Christopher Quinn's award-winning documentary, God Grew Tired of Us, and has experienced trials in life that most people never imagine. Born in war-torn Sudan, Dau is one of 27,000 boys driven from their villages when the northern Arab government attacked the ethnic minority population of Southern Sudan in 1987. For the next five years, John led groups of displaced boys across Sudan for hundreds of miles facing starvation, disease, and violence. In 1992, he was placed in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where he learned his ABCs and 123’s at the age of 17. In 2001, Dau was selected to immigrate to the United States and settled in Syracuse, New York.

Following his initial culture shock, John Bul Dau took on two jobs, earned an associate’s degree and has become an American success story. Currently the President of the John Dau Foundation, he is an influential part of many efforts to bring hope and peace to the people of Southern Sudan, founding three nonprofits and raising over $700,000 to build a medical clinic in his home village. Dau co-authored his first book, God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir, in 2007 and has received many prestigious awards including the National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers award.

John’s unforgettable memoir is the first-person account of a miracle—indeed, a whole series of miracles. One of the uprooted youngsters known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, John Bul Dau was 12 years old when civil war ravaged his village and shattered its age-old society, a life of herding and agriculture marked by dignity, respect, and the simple virtues of Dinka tribal tradition. As tracer bullets split the night and mortar shells exploded around him, John fled into the darkness—the first terrified moments of a journey that would lead him thousands of miles into an exile that was to last many years.

John's memoir of his Dinka childhood shows African life and values at their best, while his searing account of hardship, famine, and war also testifies to human resilience and kindness.

Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, God Grew Tired Of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three Lost Boys from the Sudan who leave their homeland, triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and move to America, where they build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping the friends and family they have left behind.

John speaks on a variety of topics at corporations, churches and colleges, including an address to 10,000 people at the University of Minnesota's College of Arts and Sciences graduation in 2007 and top executives at a United Technologies Corporation conference in 2008.

What John Bul Dau Talks About:

Journey to Leadership
Motivational speaker John Bul Dau endured the most extreme hardship during his youth and used it to transform his life and the lives of others in profound ways. From surviving the harrowing genocide of his people to leading hundreds of younger boys across Sudan, many of whom died, Dau shares his story as a Lost Boy and the life lessons that helped him not only overcome, but help others through the most horrific of circumstances. In an emotional and inspiring presentation, Dau celebrates the power we all have to choose to persevere through any challenges we may face.

Between Two Worlds
Upon arriving to the States in 2001, John Bul Dau was quickly thrust into the complications of the American life. With keen insight, Dau shares the myriad of cultural and material differences he faced upon arrival to the U.S. He recounts the shock of his tribal culture colliding with life in America and the challenges of making a new life for himself while keeping one eye on Sudan. Dau also helps audiences understand the struggles many first generation refugees face and how they can help refugees adjust to life in a new country.

Foreign Policy and the Bloodshed in Sudan
John Bul Dau brings unparalleled perspectives on the continuing instability throughout Sudan. Drawing on firsthand experiences as a genocide survivor running from the murderous Sudanese regime, his continuous travel to and from Sudan, and conversations with top U.S. and UN officials, Dau explains the holocaust that created the Lost Boys generation, the hope for long-term political settlement in Southern Sudan, and the continued conflicts in the Darfur region. He speaks candidly about the dangers and opportunities in Sudan, providing a grassroots outlook on key players involved and detailing how NGOs are creating a base for a stronger nation once the conflicts subside.