Spencer West

Spencer West

Toronto, Ontario
Motivational Speaker, Gay/Disabled Content Creator, Author And World Change Warrior
The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities. His many accomplishments and lessons learned along the way led him to discover the techniques business leaders, professionals, educators, and young people can use to redefine possible in their own lives and careers.
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Leadership
  • Mental Health
  • Peak Performance
  • Personal Growth
  • Resilience & Adversity
  • Teamwork
  • Academia
  • Associations & Unions
  • Awareness Days
  • Charities & Foundations
  • Community Engagement Events
  • Conference
  • Conferences & Summits
  • Corporations & Businesses

SPENCER WEST BIOGRAPHY

The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumphs. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five and coming out as a gay man at the age of 21, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities and identifying as queer. His many accomplishments and lessons learned along the way led him to become an advocate for the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities.

Spencer West’s incredible story, about climbing and summiting Mount Kilimanjaro on his hands and wheelchair, is documented in both film and print. His journey is featured in the documentary Redefine Possible: The Story of Spencer West, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and in his book Standing Tall: My Journey.

As the opener on a Demi Lovato world tour across North America, Spencer inspired tens of thousands of her fans with his inspiring story. Spencer West has spoken alongside luminaries and performers such as former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, Mia Farrow, Martin Luther King III, Jennifer Hudson, and Natalie Portman, to name a few. 

Spencer West has appeared countless times in the media including, ABC News, Buzz Feed, 60 Minutes, CTV, BBC News, TMZ, CNN, Forbes, The Globe & Mail, CBS This Morning, and Bloomberg. He was a featured guest on Season 2 of KARAMO A Podcast, hosted by Karamo Brown, plays the role of The Window Washer in Murdoch Mysteries, and is a social media influencer with over 4 million TikTok followers.

Spencer West’s inspiring words have reached millions of listeners around the world, including Virgin Atlantic, KPMG, Staples, Financial Institutions, the Insurance Industry, Microsoft, Universal McCann, the Ministry of Education, Colleges & Universities, YPO/WPO, Bloomberg Live, the Healthcare Industry, and more.

Videos

Podcasts

Play

The Heumann Perspective

Judy

DISABLED & QUEER PRIDE

Spencer West Topic Presentations

redefine possible: lessons for tackling mountains in your personal and professional world

  • Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
  • Spencer West invites audiences to experience the transformation that can occur when we “redefine possible”. With his trademark humour and humility, Spencer spins a spellbinding story of the challenges he faced after losing his legs from the pelvis down at age five and the journey of discovery that ultimately enabled him to summit Mount Kilimanjaro using his hands and wheelchair.

    Spencer West applies the insights gleaned from a lifetime of overcoming obstacles to help leaders and employees identify their own roadblocks and push past them. His inspiring message and tangible life lessons motivate business audiences to believe they can tackle any goal, whether personal or professional.

leveraging talent with disabilities inclusion, diversity, equity & accessibility (idea)

  • Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
  • The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph. After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against those with disabilities. 

    From climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to climbing the workforce ladder, Spencer shares his insights on how bringing in talent with disabilities can have a very positive impact on your employees and customers.

diversability: leveraging disabled & lgbtq+ talent inclusion, diversity, equity & accessibility (idea)

  • Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
  • Join Spencer West in this thought provoking and genuinely enlightening presentation where he will discuss the importance of leveraging talent with disabilities as well as the queer community and how both identities are necessary for the workforce. The life of visionary and activist Spencer West has been marked by both obstacles and triumph.

    After losing both legs from the pelvis down at the age of five and coming out as gay at the age of 21, he entered a world that might have easily defeated him. Instead, he tackled challenge after challenge, learning to navigate in a world set against the queer community and those with disabilities. 

    From climbing the workforce ladder to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Spencer shares his insights on how bringing in talent with disabilities and the queer community can have a positive impact on your employees and clients.

no can’t, no won’t, only how! overcoming obstacles to make a difference

  • Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
  • FOR STUDENTS ONLY

    Spencer West lost his legs from the pelvis down when he was just five years old and faced overwhelming physical and emotional challenges. Rather than give up or turn inward, West learned that by connecting with others and working to make the world a better place he could transform his life.

    Alternating between walking on his hands and using his wheelchair, West has accomplished a list of feats, including building schools in poverty-stricken villages in Kenya and India, and walking 186 miles from Edmonton to Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

    One of West’s biggest achievements was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for a global clean water initiative while raising awareness of the devastating drought in Africa. 

    With inspiring stories like these, he shows audiences how they can overcome their own obstacles to follow their ambitions and be a force for good in the world.

Testimonials

Thank you so much for making the CEO Award nominee breakfast such a special celebration. Your personal story touched everyone and your call to action at the end was perfect! It was exactly the message we wanted to convey to our people to support their colleagues in their volunteerism. I’ve received so much positive feedback following the breakfast; everyone loved meeting you and many have commented that now they feel even more compelled to continue with their volunteer work. Your enthusiasm is infectious!

National Director of Community Leadership
KPMG Canada

Spencer’s dynamic presentations to all grade 4-12 students in our district inspired and motivated each audience to make a difference. Hearing Spencer’s life story, and realizing that any barriers can be overcome with a positive attitude, left a lasting impression. Spencer magically connects with the students he interacts with; he makes each student he talks to feel important and empowered to make their schools and the world a better place. Spencer’s keynotes have had a lasting impact and our students continue to see him as their role model as they bring about positive change both locally and globally. We can’t wait to have him back to work with the elementary students in our...

Thank you for being a part of the YPO Nairobi Chapter Event. The ratings have all been terrific and the evaluation excellent! The event got a rating of a fantastic 9.9 out of 10! Thank you for helping to make our educational event an outstanding success.

Education Chair
YPO Nairobi

As Spencer’s vigorous and courageous spirit spread out to us, our eyes opened to the potential possibilities out there. His powerful and defiant attitude toward life proved that anything in this world is possible; if there is anything that stops us from continuing, it is the boundaries that we have created ourselves. Always remember, Redefine Your Possible.

International School of Kenya

Thank you for all your help securing Spencer West for our conference…His keynote was quite fantastic and we’ve heard great feedback.

Coordinator, Finance Operations
Oxford Properties Group

When I approached Spencer I was scared he might not understand my excitement. . . but he welcomed me with open arms and as I sat in the front row tears streamed down my face. . . . I have always been a leader, but on Friday I learnt what it meant to be bigger than myself. . . . I can change the world.

Halton Regional Chair

Articles & Media

Coming Soon!

Books

Standing Tall
Standing Tall
Standing Tall: My Journey
How to book Spencer West for an event?

Spencer West keynote speaker is an expert presenter and has a wide range of experience speaking to a wide variety of audiences and organizations. Spencer West delivers keynotes, workshops & training sessions. They may also host or emcee events. Hire Spencer West from Toronto, Ontario for your event to inspire the audience to take action and make change in their work and their lives. Your workplace will benefit from our keynote speaker and their keynote talks and speeches will shift the mindsets or behaviours for the audience members in Canada. 

Interested in booking Spencer West for an event?

Are you looking to hire Spencer West for your event? Spencer West Toronto, Ontario is a dynamic and engaging speaker that offers audiences researched content paired with expertise and a dynamic speaking ability. Spencer West is also a Canadian corporate consultant and coach and facilitates workshops and training sessions for a corporate audience. Spencer West is an expert keynote presenter and speaks on wide variety of topics. Hiring a great speaker for your event is important and working with a thought leader like Spencer West from Speakers Canada’s roster will engage audiences into the content of the presentation to bring awareness and a fresh perspective for their approach to their work and their lives. Book Spencer West to educate, motivate and activate the audience through an interactive and entertaining presentation at corporate meetings and gatherings.

Known as a popular key note speaker in Canada, Spencer West creates life changing experiences for the participants with practical insights and strategic advice they can implement right after the session. Working with a one our leading expert speaker like Spencer West from Toronto, Ontario offers organizations a fresh perspective to assist the people of the organization. No matter if it is a government, association, or business crowd, Spencer West is a perfect speaker for your event. Through unique practical insights for trending topics and years experience speaking to different organizations, Spencer West focuses on changing individuals to make better decisions at work and their lives. No matter if you are holding an in person or virtual event, having an influential speaker such as Spencer West will engage, motivate, and activate the audience to make a change in their lives and inspire action for results to meet organizational goals. Your workforce will benefit from Spencer West’s presentations and speeches, with measurable results set to shift the people of the organization and core direction of the company. Book Spencer West speaker for your annual general meeting, conference, summit, or convention in Canada.

How much does it cost to hire Spencer West for a keynote presentation or virtual event?

Spencer West is an expert professional key note speaker with a lot of experience speaking and delivering engaging talks to organizations and audiences in Canada. Each of Speaker Bureau Canada’s talent have different ways to assess their fees, and Spencer West speaker fee ranges depending on the size of the audience, event format (in person or virtual), event location, and if the organization booking them is a non profit, association, government department/government agency or business/corporation. The speakers we work with are flexible with their fees, and it is important for us to learn more about your event before we approach them, as it is our role to work for you, and to help you find a speaker within budget. 

Please contact Speakers Bureau of Canada and provide us with your event details so that we can contact Spencer West to check availability or confirm the pricing and associated costs to hire a great speaker like Spencer West for your event. As Spencer West's agent and as a Canadian top speaker bureau and talent agency for speakers, we are able to propose each event opportunity from each host organization’s behalf to try to help you get in touch with Spencer West and confirm them for your in person or online meeting/event. We can also provide and advise on the booking process and potentially negotiate their fee. Speakers Canada is a client focused speaker agency, and we work for you in finding good speakers for your team meetings and booking processes.

Spencer West Disclaimer
Speakers Bureau Canada assists companies and event planning teams seeking to hire talent like Spencer West for speaking engagements, virtual meetings, conference appearances, training sessions and workshops facilitations. Our Canadian speakers bureau does not claim to exclusively represent Spencer West, however they are represented by Speakers Canada, and we work with them closely for their Canadian speaking opportunities and bookings. As Canada’s top speaker bureau, we represent Canadian motivational keynote speakers and professional guest speakers that will be available on your upcoming events date and location that are withing the budget. Our talented bureau speaker booking agency can help find business speakers or celebrity speakers that aligns with each organization, audience, event theme and the topic themes you hope for the speaker to address in their presentation. 

When SBC receives a request to book Spencer West we provide you with their speaker fees, travel costs and check their schedules. We work closely with the host organization’s event planning team and the speaker to handle the logistics and to relay or negotiate associated costs. Our talented team members then will work with our talent directly or their agent/manager/assistant to confirm the Canadian speaker fee and travel expenses, so that event planning teams can receive an official quote for the speaker appearing at the event. Speaker fees and travel costs vary per speaker and our role is to contact Spencer West about your event, after we have connected with the event organizers to learn all the event details and/or conference program. Each booking request is unique since session durations and audience sizes can vary which may affect the speaker’s fees. If you are looking to hire Spencer West, we recommend filling out the booking request form so a booking agent from Speakers Bureau Canada can get in touch with our talent to help you coordinate with your team to engage the speaker for a successful event.

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