Professional Background
Gideon For-mukwai is a Certified Emergency Manager and is passionate about preparedness issues. He calls himself a "Preparedness Champion" working to help people at all levels respond to and recover from disasters, difficult situations and disruptions.
Gideon is an expert in decision making and problem solving. His new book is entitled Facing Adversity with Audacity: Thriving in Odds, Obstacles, and Opportunities.
An excerpt from his book gives some insight into his background and character: "A young man leaves his country on a journey to nowhere, in search of greener pastures. Arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1998 with barely $512 in traveler's checks and expecting no income, no refuge and no food stamps. In that mega city, it dawns on him that success will take every single iota of his moral, physical and intellectual ability. Without hesitation, he chooses hard work over the glittering distractions of the city life. Two years later, he moves to Singapore in search of an IT dream. It turns out that he does not fall in love with IT. Instead, he falls in love with training and speaking. In 2005, he becomes a speaking sensation in Singapore, becoming a national champion and a widely known name in Asia.
Participants at his workshops hail him as the newest out-of Africa revelation of youth, passion and energy combined into one single story-piece. It is however, not his story, but his sheer ambition to learn and fly with the eagles instead of scratching with the turkeys, that brought him to the shores of America. Gideon is a profoundly inspiring young man whose life story from herding goats to helping people face adversity across continents has touched many lives. Observers and fans agree he is on the verge of a "prime-time" speaking career.
Full of humanity and urgency, empathy and originality, tenacity and audacity, Gideon tries to make sense of our common existence, our fractured world and loves to share how we can face adversity with audacity every single day to make it a better world for every human being who ever walks the fragile face of the earth.
Experience
Gideon For-mukwai has a wealth of training experience having designed and trained executives of Shell Eastern Petroleum on Incident Command System for Industrial Emergency Response, involving plant managers, operations and safety supervisors. He also trained executives of Siemens, Gillette and Wyeth Pharmaceutical SE Asia on emergency evacuation procedures from highrise office towers and manufacturing plants with thousands of occupants in Singapore. He also designed and trained fire safety marshals at top Swiss and French multi-national banks and first responders for the Sakra Emergency Response Brigade.
Besides his book, Gideon For-mukwai has also published several articles on safety and disaster preparedness including The Transformative Power of Social Media in Emergency & Crisis Management, 2009, IGI Global Journal and articles published in the Journal of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (JHSEM). He also developed the networking workshop, Connection-Centered Networking, design to help busines professional improve their networking skills and the "net worth" of their social and business network.
In his training sessions, Gideon For-mukwai illuminates simple strategies you can use to transform your life by creating extraordinary opportunities from ordinary or deficient circumstances. He uses fascinating, original and inspirational stories from Africa and Asia to reveal powerful strategies and perspectives on surviving and thriving in challenging times. For-mukwai uses stories to metaphorically reflect and depict the challenges faced by people in self-transformation from setbacks to success stories. In conveying his message, he focuses on showing you how you can:
- Endure adversity to create profound opportunities
- Make sacrifices to attain self-transformation
- Trust your intuition in times of uncertainty
- Sow seeds that breed outstanding success
- Create and sustain trustworthy relationships
Education
MA Interactive Journalism, University of Nevada
BSc. Economics & Management, University of Buea, Cameroon
Certificate in Fire Engineering (CIFE)
