Molly Burke
Molly Burke
Molly Burke is an activist and a motivational speaker, who is an outspoken advocate for the blind. She has spoken at We Day Events and was honoured with the Oakville YMCA Peace Award. She has also co-hosted for AMI This Week TV Show.
Early Life
Doctors checking her eye condition
Molly and her guide dog Gypsy
She was born in Oakville, Ontario. At the age of four, she was diagnosed with Retinitis pigmentosa, which is a rare retinal diseases that causes the loss of vision. When she was five, Burke started public speaking as an ambassador for the foundation fighting blindness Canada. By grade one, she started learning Braille.
Over the years, her vision started to fade, black started to look like grey and yellow colors seemed like white.
Chalkboard started appearing invisible.
After the total loss of her vision, she started using white cane, which embarassed her friends and she started getting bullying by the school kids.
Some kids used to steal her cane and leaving her in deserted forest and other told to kill herself.
She went through a severe depression and she began self-harm, contemplating suicide.
But she found strength to deal with her challenges and started reaching out to others and found hope.
Now she is a motivational speaker and runs her YouTube channel, where tells her audience how she picks matching outfits, how she differentiates between a shampoo and a conditioner. She openly speaks about her experiences how she overcame hardships.
She believes everyone has a strength in themselves that allows them to survive any adversity and thrive from them.
She motivates others to let go of the past and look towards the future with optimistic outlook.
She aims to educate, motivate and inspire other people find peace and happiness and achieve their objectives even during the dark time.
Career
Molly and her family
At the 2010 Paralympic winter games in Vancouver, Molly ran with Paralym
pic Torch.
She has shared stage with Martin Sheen at We Day Events. She has travelled the world, as a motivational speaker, sharing her life experiences with corporate organizations, students and families. She spoke on We Day Stages across stages in different countries, including North America and the United Kingdom in front of 20,000 people.
She has also shared stages with famous celebrities such as Macklemore, Magic Johnson, Demi Lovato and Martin Sheen.
She has collaborated with celebrated activists, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Kielburger brothers, Martin Luther King III, and Malala Yousafzai.
Achievements
Molly has received various accolades for her endeavors as a motivational speaker and an activist: [6]
The Oakville YMCA Peace Award for her outstanding contributions for the community in 2009
She ran the Paralympic Torch for the Winter Games
Miss Teen Canada International 2010
Correspondent on the Orange Carpet for The 2013 TeenNick Halo Awards in LA
A Panelist in 2015 Roundtable discussion on Entrepreneurship and Youth Leadership with Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
The Paul Harris Fellowship Award in January 2016, which is Oakville Rotary Club's Highest Honour
Personal Life And Passions
Her parents are Niamh and Peter and her brother is Brady.
She has various passions, including crafting lyrics, horseback riding, downhill skiing, and practicing yoga.
She is a Guide dog advocate and is a certified in Reiki.
She also models for wear your label, which is a mental health awareness clothing company.
She co-hosts AMI This Week, a weekly TV show.