Speaking

Jake and Hannah are inspiring, compelling, and engaging speakers 

They have presented keynote speeches, fireside chats and Q&As on a wide variety of themes. 

Hannah’s experience as a decorated Officer who transitioned within the Army perfectly places her to speak with confidence on all aspects of the military, diversity and inclusive leadership.

Jake’s background in film, acting and writing means he is equally assured when speaking on all manner of topics including the importance of positive representation, the media, and LGBTQ relationships, travel and inclusion. His difficult past pre transition and overcoming his struggles with addiction and destructive behaviour patterns are particularly pertinent when demonstrating the importance of supporting trans and LGBQ colleagues within the work place. 

Both are open, honest and frank when sharing their own personal stories of life pre and post transition, providing a springboard for all manner of follow up messages and themes and engaging the audience early on. These personal accounts cover a broad range of themes including gender equality, addiction and alcoholism, mental health and relationships. 

They have the unique perspective of having experienced the world across the gender spectrum and speak with wit and warmth about the trials and tribulations of growing up transgender and finding their place in the world. With their broad experiences they are able to tailor their talks to any message or theme required, with something for everyone in each of their speeches.

Their presentations vary in length from 10 minutes to an hour, usually including a Q&A session towards the end, which always results in a lively discussion that carries on long after the event. Frequent feedback confirms that inviting Jake and Hannah into the workplace helps to give a friendly and relatable face to an often misunderstood section of society, further raising awareness and mindfulness of the importance of diversity and inclusion.

They also offer a range of multi award winning LGBTQ themed short films written and directed by Jake, to accompany their talks. These have proven extremely popular as they break the typical speaking format and provide an easily accessible and relatable doorway into further discussion. 

The Grafs have spoken at events for companies including: Warner Brothers, Herbert Smith Freehills, Stonewall Workplace Conference, Army LGBT Conference, NBC Universal, InterComms, InterMedia, InterBank, InterLaw, Pride in London Gala, BNP Paribas, Barclay's , Lloyds, Citi Bank, Allen and Overy, HSBC, BP, PWC, P&G and TTG.

At a time when there is still very little understanding of what it means to be transgender, the trans suicide rate is at an alarming 42%, and when 84% of Americans have never met a trans person, Jake and Hannah aim to dispel the myths and mysteries surrounding trans people, promoting much needed acceptance and understanding.

“Not only are Jake and Hannah charismatic, passionate, and informed speakers, but Jake's films generated a lot of important discussion and questions from our audience. Their honesty around transition and candid answers to questions was endearing, and we have had only positive feedback from our event. Jake and Hannah were a pleasure to work with – happy to adapt to whatever style of speech we wanted them to deliver, and their charity work brought a lot of new faces to our company” – Alexandra D’Sa, Business Analyst, Citi

"I just wanted to thank you again so much for your work organising the event with the Army last night. It is up there as my favourite D&I event yet. Super informative and left us all with proper practical tips for addressing this complex area.  Very timely with the announcements yesterday re the new head of the Army and UK Armed Services (both of whom, from what I hear, have been major drivers behind the Army’s significant advance in the area of D&I)." - Head of HR, BNP Paribas

"We recently booked Jake and Hannah to speak as our keynote address at a large-scale InterComms LGBT+ Network event and we can safely say they were an incredible opener to our panel discussion 'Why just the G in LGBT? Let's start with the LBT'. Their story was personal, inspiring, touching and delivered with aplomb to an extremely engaged audience. They also got involved with the panel debate afterwards, delivering well-thought out and balanced answers to our attendees questions. Jake and Hannah are consummate professionals, and incredible ambassadors for the Trans and LGBT+ communities." - Ethan Spibey, Chair of InterComms LGBT Network

“Listening to Jake and Hannah's story and having the opportunity to watch Jake's film was educational, emotional and enjoyable. Huge thanks to them for their honesty, openness and for being their authentic selves.” – Sara Hills, MD, EMEA CEO Chief of Staff, Citi