Hispanic keynote speaker, Dr. Felix Padilla, was a university professor of Sociology and Latino Studies for over 25 years at prestigious universities including Yale, DePaul, Lehman College, and Northeastern. A widely cited scholar, Dr. Felix M. Padilla received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University after having studied with Dr Howard Becker, one of the leading sociologists in American history.

    A passionate Latino speaker, societal scholar, and teacher, Dr. Padilla offers lectures and seminars on issues of race, ethnicity, multiculturalism, personal identity ,and self awareness and has addressed groups at universities including Brown, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, San Francisco State, Trinity College, Cleveland State, Oberlin, Carleton, and others.

    Felix Padilla has authored numerous journal articles and  books including: Latino Ethnic Consciousness; Puerto Rican Chicago; The Gang as an American Enterprise; The Struggle of Latino University Students: In Search of a Liberating Education, Outside the Wall: The Struggle of a Puerto Rican Prisoner’s Wife, and the Handbook of Hispanic Cultures-Sociology.

    In his most recent book, The Struggle for the Authentic Self: Creating Your True Self for a Peaceful World, Dr. Padilla blends his academic knowledge with his knowledge and practice of spirituality. 

He is also the owner-publisher of Libros, which makes young children aware of the significance behind their culture.

Programs by Dr. Felix Padilla

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Presentations & Workshops by Dr. Felix M. Padilla Dr. Padilla is well known as an exceptional motivational speaker with keynotes, workshops, and seminars as based on his books, including the recently launched work, “The Struggle for the Authentic Self: Creating your True Self for a Peaceful World.”

Dr. Padilla offers True Self Seminars® for workforce and professional development needs in a half day and full day formats to allow staff to explore and apply the True Self Tool Kit®. 

Hispanic Heritage Keynotes

- Universal Latino Consciousness and Identity,

- Reflections on Latino Youth; and

- Latino Empowerment.Education.

- True Self & Diversity skills.

Education Keynotes

- That’s Why I Teach: It’s My Duty to Be Critical

- Despierta Boricua, Defiende Lo Tuyo: The Cultural Roots of My Intellectual Empowerment

- Ecstasy and Fear: Working Together to Create Our Own Curriculum

- What Do We Know as Latino Students Anyway? and the celebrated,

- What’s All This Theoretical Stuff You’re Giving Us? We Want Something Practical.

- We Need Culture to Save Our Children and Community; Raising the Bar of Consciousness Among Latino Students

- How to use Multicultural Literature to Motivate and Energize Students; and

- Multicultural Education as a Vehicle to Create Shared Communities.

- Latino Universal Consciousness: Competency for Global Competitiveness

- Creating Your True Self

About Dr. Felix de Padilla’s Latest Book

The Struggle for the Authentic Self: Creating Your True Self for a Peaceful World, concerns itself with the issue of self identity and awareness, as such, it is built around two inter-related and very central questions: "Who is the real me?" and "What is my purpose for living in the human world?"

In response to these two and other related questions, the book's purpose is to awaken in individuals an intense desire to live an authentic reality, recognizing that their self identity is not their true, authentic self for it does not originate from their true nature.

Through his research, Latino sociologist and motivational speaker, Dr. Felix Padilla, integrated the work of social scientists, philosophers, quantum physicists, spiritual mystics, writers and practitioners, literary writers, singers as well as his personal experience to create a text which aims to inspire individuals to recognize that the attainment of the authentic self represents the ultimate, infinite purpose for which they live in the human world. That all other "finite" purposes, like the pursuit of happiness and love, living in caring and compassion cannot come prior to the attainment of the authentic self. 

“How can a person feel love for self and others when that person does not know self from within the essence and beauty of his/her true nature?” – Dr. Felix Padilla. 

Dr. Padilla uses the word struggle in the title of the book to firmly establish how the attainment of the authentic self represents a struggle, a battle or fight to be waged against the conditioned "lesser self" or the self that society and individuals collaborated to create. Society is fully equipped with a wide array of forces of influence to sway individuals away from the authentic self so to ensure that they develop into and remain living as normal, ordinary, lesser self beings. But once individuals agree to take on this struggle, this fight and win, they become the true authentic self, experiencing true freedom and an incredible connection with the rest of the world, gaining openness to love, happiness, and the power to inspire others in the quest of self. 

In 2011, Dr. Padilla launched the Community of Authentic Living (COAL), an online and face-to-face network of individuals passionately devoted to living a true, authentic human experience. COAL serves as an educational forum and network of inspirational support for individuals, who, after reading Dr. Felix Padilla’s The Struggle for the Authentic Self, make the decision to embark upon the path of true, authentic living.