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Meet Emanuel Walker

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Emanuel Walker.

Emanuel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My mother and I came to the United States in 2004 from a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast after fleeing from the war in my home country Liberia. Colorado was our first and only location.

I call my story the pursuit of the “Liberian Dream” because we come from a place of war, poverty, beauty, rich history, and culture. We sacrificed everything behind to pursue greatness, academic excellence, and financial freedom. All the things my people back home during the time of war dreamed of.

We lived in a small apartment on Colfax when we first arrived. My mother who is multi-lingual (3+ languages) had to learn how to survive and provide for us alone in a whole new country.

Growing up we often moved around the Denver-Metro area as my mother worked relentlessly as a CNA to provide for our family.

My mother always stressed that it was essential for me to focus on my education and be someone in this world. She said that she didn’t sacrifice everything, nearly die (multiple times), and prayed for us not to accomplish great things. Deep down, that always resonated with me… the drive to do something great and to one day bring solutions to all of my country’s problems.

As my mother worked overtime to provide necessities for our family, she only asked for one thing in return and that was good grades. In my early childhood, I was considered a pretty smart and “talkative” kid. We moved around a lot so in some schools, my performance was phenomenal with accolades and praises and others decent or worse.

(Fast forward to high school) I attended Overland High School which I will forever be grateful to experience such a diverse and unique student culture. In High School, I struggled a lot, I had a hard time concentrating in classes, advocating for myself, and simply just succeeding. It got up to the point where I was constantly doing summer school and or retaking classes. At some point in high school, I felt as if my mom finally gave up on me. She was also always working hard to provide for us so I tried not to bother.

At the end of my sophomore year, I met a teacher at Overland who transformed my life (you may hear me say that phrase a lot). My economics/history teacher Ms. L saw something in me.

She saw something I didn’t even see in myself, I used to question why she was extra hard on me, always challenging me in the classroom and telling me I could do better work. She encouraged me to join the swim team, little did I realize this would be her giving me a way to be active, get out the house, and keep my grades up because of school requirements. I did both swimming and diving for overland my Junior year, keeping my GPA at the bare minimum needed to participate. My swimming experience gave me a deeper connection with the school and also helped me found my lifelong friends who I consider my brothers. The coaches both saw my potential and always challenged me in and outside the classroom. I felt like I had to work even harder my grade when I took my coach’s classes.

Despite all efforts to keep me engaged and keep my GPA up I only managed to graduate high school with a 1.6 GPA. I remember the disappointment in my mother’s face when she heard I almost didn’t graduate high school even after all the summer and night classes to catch up.

Regardless of everything, thanks to church connections I was able to get accepted to a Christian university in Oklahoma City that wanted to give me a second chance. I originally was majoring in Business Administration and Prelaw with a focus on pastoral ministry. I had no idea what I was doing, how to get set up for college and so much more. So instead I decided to come back to Colorado, take some time off and figure things out. I only took a semester off school but it was the toughest semester of my life. I was working a 9-5 job as a Dietary Aide in nursing which frankly I loved. My co-workers, managers, and even the director of nursing told me personally that I was a talented kid, with much more to offer to the world and I should think about going to college.

My friend who I did swimming with recommended the Community College of Denver (CCD) because of the location, affordability, and RTD pass.

So, I decided to attend CCD which was the best decision I’ve ever made in my whole entire life. My first semester at CCD was Spring 2018 a semester after I graduated high-school. During my first semester, I took an intro to business class with a professor named Michelle Glassman. Ms. Glassman would pull me aside after class and talk to me about the potential she saw in me. She would give me advice on how to succeed in college, networking and so much more. The class and experience were invaluable. During my first semester, I was walking to one of the food places and saw a well-dressed, tall African American man. I thought of Ms.Glassman’s tips and started to network and chat it up with him. We were talking about how he knew the president of Liberia, HBCU’s and so much more. Come to find out, he was actually the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Success at CCD. He showed me his office and one day, out of the blue. I decided to drop by to say hello.

I met his executive assistant, now when I say she changed my life. She TRULY did. She saw something in me, something I didn’t even see in myself. We talked about school, scholarships, mentoring, clubs to join, where I was from and so much more. She offered me a job in her office (office of the VPEASS). I gladly accepted it. The skills she taught me, the books she recommended to me and the people she introduced me to is biggest reason why I achieved so much at CCD.

The school-sponsored me and other first-gen students to attend the Global Minded First-Generation Leadership Program. The program by carol carter and the Global Minded foundation helped me better my leadership, networking, mentoring, and branding skills. The lessons I’ve learned and connections I’ve made via the Global Minded first-gen leadership program still helps me out to this day

After my first semester, I was awarded “New Outstanding Student” a

I was first elected president of the largest honor society on campus (NSLS). I received the Colorado Community College System “Rising Star Award” awarded to 2 community college students from each CCCS Community College in the State of Colorado.

After becoming a rising star, I was encouraged to run for student government. After successfully running for a student representative role I wanted to do something on a greater scale. So I ran for the Colorado Community College System – State Student Advisory Council (SSAC). Sac is a statutorily established legislative council that represents over 125,000 Colorado community college students both on the state and national levels.

I was elected the Chairman of SSAC, which led me required me to serve on the Colorado State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education. I chaired ssac, worked part-time, went to school full time, and participated in community project/volunteering while maintaining a 3.7+ GPA. I led SSAC’s first-ever student fee referendum and campaign to increase the student’s voice and create a source of funding for student advocacy related events. I also spearheaded some of our campaigns and initiatives regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, Mental Health, Open Educational Resources and more.

I was able to connect with state legislators, departments of higher education, and many other leaders/politicians.

I was invited to an event where I connected with the former president of Liberia via her grandson and started to build my brand. I started public speaking which I hated growing up. I realized I was actually pretty good at public speaking. In my free time I would keynote events, workshops, and speak at conferences. I even did my own personal workshops to help high schoolers get familiar with college. I spoke at various high-schools and student events in the state.

I just graduated from the Community College of Denver (3.72GPA) with my A.A.S in Computer Information Systems and with multiple certificates in technology and business.

I received these awards:

Inclusive Excellence Champion / 2020
​- Colorado Community College System

Wellington Webb – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Scholar Award / 2020
– Community College Of Denver

Rising Star Award / 2019
– Colorado Community College System
​- Community College of Denver
​- State Advisory Council

New Outstanding Student Award / 2018-2019 School Year
– Community College Of Denver

Phi Theta Kappa (Honor Society) – Alpha MU MU Chapter / 2019
– 3.5+ GPA

Community College of Denver – National Society of Leadership and Success Student Body President / 2019
​- Community College Of Denver

Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative Recipient/ 2019
I AM CCD Campaign / 2018

Sigma Alpha Pi – National Society Of Leadership and Success / 2018
– Presidential Member 3.3+GPA

Global Minded Leadership Program / 2018

And many more honors, accolades, awards, press etc.

Now I am a recent Community College Grad who’s been accepted to an Ivy League school (Colombia), University of Southern Cal, and other top schools around the world. I’ve received over 3 full-ride offers, tons of support, and scholarships. Now I am creating a 3 Month Peer-Mentoring program for first-gen students in and also offering my professional/motivational speaking services to the world.

From a 1.6 GPA to Ivy League and multiple full-ride offers. My advice is don’t compare other’s success to your life, focus on your purpose and passion while doing everything you can to better yourself each day. Everything will come.

Tell us about your work – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m most known for my public speaking, higher education student leadership, and mentoring services. I offer a wide range of courses, workshops, and consultation services that help students be more than academia. I help students find their purpose, build their personal brand, and reach their true potential. What sets me apart is my story, coming from a place where the odds weren’t in my favor. Regardless of my obstacles and adversity I persevered and built a powerful brand while succeeding in higher education.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is doing what you love while helping others. I love to speak and help people, is life not about what you can give back when you can?

Professionally I see success as a position in a company that has a close to perfect work-life balance, so I can be able to perfect my passions, and side hustles while making a difference all out of work.

Overall success is simply being greater than the lies we tell ourselves. I struggled with self-doubt, social anxiety and so much more the fact that I can reflect and say I was totally wrong is success to me.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Community College of Denver Photographers

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