Classic Man
David Griffiths – Originality, intelligence, strategic thinking, empathy, and well-defined purpose
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
How do we build a more impactful community?
How do we build a more impactful society?
How do we build a more impactful Canada?
How do we build a more impactful world?
Everyone has ideas, but Ideas are cheap, and talking is even cheaper. People listen to what great thinkers tell us, because their ideas have been successfully validated. You must take a different path, which means that the world will not agree with you until it is proven that you were right. They take the time to think about what the future will look like. The questions above are only the beginning, and are followed up with, “How can I improve things,” and “What would I like to change in the current situation?”
Our Classic Man has combined: creativity, strange thoughts with expertise, research and perspective, and as a thinker has: visibility, wisdom and the ability to create a hypothetical future. For him, you have to act, not just talk.
Born in Manchester, Jamaica David Griffiths is currently an Associate Partner with IBM Consulting. He holds a BASc in Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Windsor, and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. David brings energy; tenacity and authenticity to help people, communities and organizations reach their full potential.
In 2018, David brought to life Brothers Who Care, an organization committed to changing the social, financial and psychological health of the black community using: short videos, live webinars, video podcasts, documentaries, digital arts and animation. David hopes that his work and influence will inspire Canadians. He believes that collectively we can find the resources and build the foundation needed to influence major changes in our communities.
David worked with the Brothers Who Care leadership team to create the I SEE ME Project comprising of three parts; 1) The I SEE ME Leadership and Financial Literacy Summer camp; 2) The I SEE ME Documentary on youth leadership and development and 3) The I SEE ME Youth Investment competition.
The I SEE ME project is only one of his calls to action. During our talk, David shared with me why this work has become so important to him.
“Literacy can empower youth to break cycles of poor wealth management and poverty. By sparking an interest in financial literacy, we are cultivating bright futures for our children ensuring they have financial tools to enable their success.”
On April 7th, 2022, David worked with his creative team to release a documentary that featured 11 students who were matched with 11 professionals in their chosen career path. Through stimulating dialogue, and storytelling, the students’ eyes were opened to how life would look if they chose to follow the path less chosen. The storytelling element makes the documentary an excellent learning tool for elementary schools.
Working on multiple projects at one time, David also launched the “I SEE ME” Youth Investment Competition, which ran from March 7th, 2022, to June 3rd, 2022. There were a total of 25 students who learned about money, and applied it to real world simulations in the stock market (using The Stock Market Game™). Students had the chance to trade and manage their own virtual $100,000 investment portfolio, and winners were announced at the release party held on June 11th, 2022. David made sure that the event enabled youth, parents, and community members to network, dialogue, and see exactly how effective strong mentorship can be.
Like a true visionary, David’s lists of projects are endless. During the summer, he also helps to run the S.W.O.L.E. Leadership & Financial Literacy Summer Camp. It adds a twist on the idea of a traditional summer camp, by having financial literacy as the focus. The focus is on motivating students to work alongside one another to overcome learning challenges and engage youth in a series of cognitive and physical activities designed to empower them to become strong leaders.
My discussion with David was enlightening. I learned quickly that visionary people are not imitators! They challenge the status quo by violating conventions and encouraging different thinking.
“I had been living in the Caribbean for a while, and when I came back, I heard about these two organizations called 100+ Guys who Care, 100+ Women who Care. It was started in 2000 by a group of women in Michigan. It was a group of moms at home who wanted to create a larger impact, and they have. 100+ Women Who Care has become an international movement.”
David remembered this, and in 2018 while he was in the hospital, some thoughts ran through his mind…
“I had surgery, and my best friend came by to visit me. While we were reminiscing, we began to talk about values and purpose, and what we wanted to do. I decided that I wanted to start something surrounding Black men, and he told me to take the time and get better first.
Around Christmas time, I decided I wanted to start. I went into my phone and started a Whatsapp group and added around 80 men. I did this right before I put my son to bed, and when I got up in the morning, people had already started to respond. This was at the start of 2019, and in March we had our first event. We had 70 men show up and we raised $6,500, which we donated to charity. We were able to get together at least three more times during 2019, and when the pandemic hit, we had to figure out how to pivot.”
The first digital Mental Health Hour hosted at least 40 people. Dave shares,
“The reaction was the same across the board; you have to continue to do this. This gave birth to Mental Health Hour, and the I SEE ME Project. What was interesting was that it was not only the Black community that showed up, but other ethnicity groups too.”
It was an inspiring discussion, and I wanted to know what he had planned next.
“I want to intersect our health and our wealth; it is why I have started the LEGUP Project. The goal is to inspire 5,000 people across Canada, build generational wealth and create 50 millionaires by the year 2030. The LEG-UP Mastermind group is a peer-to-peer support group that will help members redefine the meaning of wealth for BIPOC Canadian and enhance their financial security and status.
I want young people to understand that health and wealth are interchangeable. I really want to get back to doing quarterly fundraising, but I will be focusing a lot of my attention on mental health.”
It is David’s originality, intelligence, strategic thinking, empathy, and well-defined purpose that make him the Classic Man that he is.