Until Amit Dodani was 11 years old, he struggled with a speech impediment. His difficulty in communication shook his confidence and made those some very tough years, and took a toll on his self-esteem.

But rather than giving up and retreating into himself, Amit decided that the best way to charge forward and smash through his speech issues was to dig deep and try out for his school's Mock Trial and Debate Team.  It wasn't easy at first. But confidence came, and so did success. Amit won countless tournaments and is considered one of the top young speakers in California.
 
Amit wanted to inspire other young people to overcome their own obstacles and to share their own stories to inspire even more young people.  He founded a social organization called My Name My Story, which you can find at mynamemystory.org/.  What started out as a simple project to inspire a few, because of the recent violent incidents in schools, has grown into a nationally recognized, youth led organization, focusing on creating empathy in the youth community.  

Since founding MNMS in 2011, Amit has been passionate about being a catalyst for change in school climate and empowering young people to become changemakers.  Amit is also a nationally recognized public speaker - sharing his message of Empathy & Changemaking to over 50,000 young people across the country, from the Boys & Girls Club LA to Yale University.

And we're so honored to have him here in the studio today.