
Khalil Osiris
founder, Reflecting Freedom Network Advisor
board member, Nelson Mandela Family Foundation
Khalil Osiris is an international speaker whose inspiring talks teach people to break free from their self-imposed limitations. He spent 20 years in prison and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University during his incarceration. Khalil transformed his life and emerged from prison with a deep understanding of how to use personal crisis and challenges as opportunities for self- improvement. He is the founder of Reflecting Freedom Network, an education and employment web-based solution for incarcerated and returning citizens and their families. His mission is to build a network of people impacted by mass incarceration who are committed to social change through education and personal transformation. Through Reflecting Freedom Network, 1 million citizens will engage in training designed to help them build new skills and develop a reintegration plan to improve their lives.A passion for restorative justice has inspired Khalil’s 30 years of experience developing programs used in prisons and communities in America and South Africa. Khalil’s reentry program, Psychology of Incarceration, is taught in over 60 prisons across America. In 2011 he moved to South Africa, and for the next 7 years worked as a consultant in schools and prisons. Khalil hosted a popular TV show Each One, Teach One, which was winner of the 2016 South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for Best Factual Educational Program. In October 2019, Khalil launched a groundbreaking on-demand class with Singularity University, “Surpassing Limitations for an Exponential Mindset”. In this class, he shares a conversation with Dr. Makaziwe Mandela, eldest daughter of Nelson Mandela, about overcoming adversity and the power of personal choice. Khalil and Dr. Mandela were pen pals during his incarceration and he now serves as her Senior Advisor for the House of Mandela Family Foundation. He is also on the Advisory Board of Athens Democracy Forum, an annual event convened by the Democracy & Culture Foundation in association with The New York Times. Khalil regularly conducts talks on topics ranging from Mass Incarceration and Overcoming Self-imposed Limitations to Exponential Thinking and 100 is the New 60; Longevity and Fulfilling Your Life’s Purpose.