Jedi Knights, global tolerance and a £1million giveaway: Simon Cohen shares it all as part of #ReFreshers2016

Sunley Management Centre and University of Northampton students felt ‘The Force’ as we welcomed entrepreneur Simon Cohen to speak at just one of many #ReFreshers 2016 events.

Fresh from opening the inspirational TEDxTeen event at Indigo at the O2, Simon shared his views on the power of the media, global tolerance, Jedi as a religion and trading in the currency of what you value most.

Simon Cohen hit the headlines when he gave away his PR agency, Global Tolerance, to follow his heart and focus on what he valued the most – his family.

Speaking to students, Simon shared his views on the power of the media, citing the campaign to see ‘Jedi’ listed as a religion, something that got global coverage around the world. The 2001 census, which saw 390,000 people categorise their religion as ‘Jedi ‘, sparked an idea for a ​​campaign to create debate around tolerance.

​ Global Tolerance, his then agency, arranged for two ‘Jedi Knights’, Umada and Yunyun, to deliver a letter to the United Nations Association on 16 November (the UN’s International Day of Tolerance), requesting the day be marked as the Interstellar Day of Tolerance. All it cost the agency was the price of the costumes, £70, to reach nearly 700,000,000 people.

Simon shared words of wisdom and inspiration with the entrepreneurs of the future: “Every single one of us can design and define what success looks like in our own terms. The only limit is your imagination.”

Keep up to date with the news and views from #ReFreshers2016 on our social media channels throughout the week!