Brandon Farbstein

Inspirational Gen Z Activist & Author

Brandon Farbstein

Inspirational Gen Z Activist & Author

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Biography

Brandon Farbstein is a professional speaker, author and Gen Z trailblazer whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, connection, and human transformation. With a global footprint and a distinctive lived perspective, Brandon equips audiences with a deeper understanding of difference - and a practical roadmap for building the bridges teams and communities desperately need today.

Born with an extremely rare form of dwarfism, Brandon turned early experiences with stigma, bullying, and exclusion into a lifelong mission to expand empathy at scale. By the age of 18, he helped pass two laws in Virginia on bullying prevention and emotional intelligence education, signaling the emergence of a powerful new voice in social change. His authenticity and clarity have since made him a sought-after speaker for high-impact organizations worldwide, including the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), where he has spoken to leaders across more than 80 countries.

Brandon’s influence extends across industries. From advising Fortune 100 executives to empowering students and communities, he delivers tools that strengthen communication, deepen belonging, and elevate leadership performance. His books Ten Feet Tall and A Kids Book About Self-Love (republished globally by Penguin Random House) have inspired readers of all ages to lead with courage and compassion.

A Founding Partner of Daniel Lubetzky’s Builders Movement, Brandon is a central voice in the effort to counteract division and foster connection in a fractured world. His work amplifies the lived experiences of the disability community, the largest minority group in the world, and drives broader understanding across differences. Brandon’s thought leadership has earned recognition as a LinkedIn Top Voice and the Anti-Defamation League’s Hero Against Hate for his contributions to inclusion and cross-cultural dialogue.

Through his Ten Feet Tall framework and mission to Elevate Empathy®, Brandon gives audiences more than inspiration. He offers a lens and a roadmap for leading with clarity, courage, and connection in a world that needs stronger bridge builders now more than ever.Brandon Farbstein is a professional speaker, author and Gen Z trailblazer whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, connection, and human transformation. With a global footprint and a distinctive lived perspective, Brandon equips audiences with a deeper understanding of difference — and a practical roadmap for building the bridges teams and communities desperately need today.

Brandon’s influence extends across industries. From advising Fortune 100 executives to empowering students and communities, he delivers tools that strengthen communication, deepen belonging, and elevate leadership performance. His books — Ten Feet Tall and A Kids Book About Self-Love (republished globally by Penguin Random House) — have inspired readers of all ages to lead with courage and compassion.

Speaker Videos

Brandon Farbstein Speaker Reel

Speaking Reel

TEDx: Upwardly Mobile

A Kids Book About Self-Love

Empowerment Through Advocacy | UCTV

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Speech Topics

Ten Feet Tall: The Rise of the Bridge Builder

In an age defined by division, disconnection, and burnout, the most powerful thing we can build isn’t a product…it’s connection.

Brandon Farbstein has spent his life between worlds: navigating physical difference, social barriers, and the invisible lines that keep people apart. Through his journey from being “othered” to becoming one of the most recognized young voices in empowerment, Brandon reveals how adopting The Builder Mindset allows individuals and organizations to transform isolation into belonging and adversity into action.

This keynote is a call to build bridges: between generations, perspectives, and parts of ourselves we’ve long kept separate. With raw storytelling and real world tools, Brandon shows audiences how to replace judgment with curiosity and to lead with empathy in the moments that matter most.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Adopt The Builder Mindset - a practical framework for moving from awareness to action in moments of difference or disagreement.
Build Bridges Across Divides - use empathy and curiosity to foster genuine understanding with in teams and communities.
Turn Adversity into Agency - transform challenges into catalysts for impact by choosing to build, not break.
Communicate Across Difference - strengthen listening, language, and perspective-taking skills to bridge communication gaps and build trust.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Tangible tools for communicating more effectively across diverse perspectives and experiences.
Are defined view of leadership: the most effective leaders are bridge builders.
A renewed belief that connection is the most strategic advantage any organization can build.

Elevating Empathy

Empathy is the key to authentic human connection and to unlocking our inner greatness. In order for us to express empathy towards others, we must first have that same empathy for ourselves. When we widen the lens through which we see ourselves and others, we show up as more effective leaders in all we do.

Audience Takeaways Include:

Strengthen your leadership toolkit to show up with greater empathy, compassion, and understanding
Become a change maker by applying universal tools to help you lead a purpose-driven life
Improve and foster a greater sense of happiness for oneself and others

Ten Feet Tall: Becoming Your Greatest Hero

Get ready to transform your outlook and watch the world around you shift one person at a time. The Ten Feet Tall mindset gives everyone the tools to amplify your gifts to drive meaningful change and create a life overflowing with potential.

In this empowering keynote, Brandon shows you how to:

Develop a Ten Feet Tall mindset by shattering limiting beliefs
Increase resiliency during everyday life stressors by understanding and prioritizing the bigger picture
Step into the fullest version of yourself

Widening The Lens on DEI

Brandon's multifaceted approach to DEI, as a Gen Z thought leader in addition to being someone who lives with a disability, provides a one-of-a-kind perspective. His presentation on diversity & inclusion encourages participants to shift the way they see themselves and others.

In this unique talk, Brandon shares how to foster an amplified DEI culture by:

Learning how to Elevate Empathy® to make everyone feel seen and heard, whether they are clients, coworkers, customers, students, or anyone in between.
Celebrating our differences to enhance community, collaboration, and connection for all stakeholders.
Recognizing the importance and role of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs for better decision making, increased innovation, and enhanced engagement - and the role we all play in it.
Reframing the perspective on Disability by better understanding the world’s largest underrepresented group at over 15% of the global population.

Testimonials

“Brandon was the keynote speaker at our annual staff conference kick-off. Brandon’s powerful talk about his life’s experiences gave our staff a positive message on empowerment, leadership and growth. He was a true inspiration!”

- President & CEO, March of Dimes

"We were graced with a most astonishing and magical keynote address presented by Brandon Farbstein...a keynote address that left our hearts full and our eyes glistening with tears of love and gratefulness. Brandon shared his life experiences and his philosophy of survival and perseverance. He expressed to our tutors, academic coaches and mentors the importance of living a life of courage, sacrifice, and humility and how sharing those qualities with their students is crucial to the personal and academic success of not only the students but the tutors, coaches and mentors themselves. To say the Brandon was motivational would be doing him a grave injustice as his presentation was beyond inspirational; he was moving and intuitive. As the Executive Director if the NTA, I have had the honor to interact with keynote speakers for over 28 years and I can honestly say that I have never witnessed an outpouring of positivity and love as I saw both during and after Brandon’s keynote. Even now, I am still receiving comments about how much he touched the hearts and minds of our members. Brandon is a rare gift to the world and the NTA is so blessed that we were able to spend just a brief moment in time with this bright shining light. Brandon is Wilder’s modern- day emissary and we so desperately need him."

- National Tutoring Association