Hello and welcome to the virtual campus. Drima a.k.a. Amir Ahmad Nasr here. Initially, I wrote this origin story of how AssertiveU™ came to be in third person. Until I decided to speak to you directly matter of fact. It is my honor and privilege to be of service to you as a leader.

I am a spiritual humanist and classical liberal, so I don't care much for Wokeness or MAGA. I am a fan of both Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey. I love both Margaret Atwood and Joe Rogan. Far, far more important to me is innovating educational solutions and delivering science-based, self-awareness directed and character-driven organizational and leadership development that is spiritually informed to connect more deeply.

By incorporating proven spiritual development practices drawn from all of the world's wisdom traditions, we can better cater to all beliefs and philosophies. Whether you are a founder, domain expert, team member or a diverse Fortune 500 workforce, I invite you to rethink how you think about transformation in ways that uplevel wellbeing and performance hand in hand, sooner, better and smoother. My wish is for this shift in thinking to then ripple out into our culture for greater unity, inter-spiritual coexistence, growth and co-elevation across all domains.

I've been blessed to be described in positive terms by many, including by WIRED as a "formidable speaker" and by a world touring celebrity fellow musician as being, "like a 300-year old sage who is wise beyond his years," but I'll let you decide for yourself. As AssertiveU™ founder I am a writer, artist, frameworks creator, narrative advisor and integral leadership and voice coach.

I am a former Member of the Board and International Council of the New York based Human Rights Foundation, organizer of the Oslo Freedom Forum, and committee member of the International Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.

As AssertiveU™ CEO, my name and identity as Amir Ahmad Nasr, like what the journalist Clark Joseph Kent is to Superman, is my Earthly professional business persona for who I am as the loud musical otherworldly soul blues rockin' singin' guitar slingin' artist, Drima Starlight, coming soon to the sold out big concert near you.

My personal values are transcendence (as service that impacts humanity), musicality (as freedom in harmony) and conviction (as prosperity inside-out). I love guiding conscious reality creators and domain experts, like you, to face your foremost fears with courage and powerfully refine your true voice and be in your element.

An American and poet at heart, when I was just a nearly seven year old playful boy in early 1990's Doha, Qatar, I was secretly and methodically tortured, tormented, and subjected to extreme sexual violence, nearly to death in a small obscure neighborhood mosque in Al-Mamoura by two deeply ignorant and vicious Islamist Egyptian terrorists disconnected from their humanity. Only a few had an inkling of what really happened.

The heinous acts I experienced as a kid happened not long after one of the two Islamist so-called imams had taken over as the leader of the neighborhood mosque with a theocratic antisemitic agenda. After receiving a malicious tip intended to harm me, they targeted me in their class as a deviant child overly interested in American movies and Jesus and as a son of Muslim parents who had left Khartoum, Sudan on scholarship to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the early 1970's and became too American. They took it upon themselves to "set me straight" in vile ways.

After the publication and banning at age 26 of my hard as hell to write debut memoir My Isl@m: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind and Doubt Freed My Soul, recommended in Ken Wilber's The Religion of Tomorrow and by Foreign Policy magazine among 25 books to read in 2013, I became recognized as a foremost world authority on technology's impact on the evolution of religions.

I am now actively updating it with new material including on A.I., the prelude and aftermath of October 7th and Justin Trudeau's time in power up to Trump's stunning re-election, and reasons for hope - for updated release on the 12 year anniversary of its publishing in June, 2025 with a new subtitle and design for timeless relevance.

Facing an impending onslaught, I stood my ground but could not physically stop them. It was a pitiful cowardly act, inflicted upon my body, mind and soul in childhood by two of the least and lowest of so-called men, out of fearful bloodlust and misguided vengeance, for being the dreamy kid and best Quran reciter who was always the smartest number one top student of his class in primary school across all subjects and whose parents lovingly, knowingly or unknowingly, as best as they could raised Sudanese-American. But the two terrorists tricked me into believing "Satan" is within me, that "God" would tell them if I dared utter a word and that they would kill me and my parents for it.

Both individuals belonged to the rogue global organization the Muslim Brotherhood whose members were tortured in the prisons of secular Arab Egyptian nationalist, President Jamal Abdel Nasser under his orders after an attempt on his life by a Muslim Brotherhood member.

Gratefully, feeling in this world but not of it, it wasn't in vain as I did not have the freedom or luxury to wallow in victimhood or cynicism in those difficult years. One day while watching news on TV, my father commented about the strength of a US leader he admired. "This man was tortured in Vietnam but he remained alive and today he is a Congressman." Even after the horrors of 9/11, despite the shock and depression, I refused to give up on America as a state of mind and my dreams as a little playful boy. I coped the best I could.

Despite not yet becoming a naturalized US citizen (while my oldest brother is by birth thanks to my parents by US residence) I am defiantly American by fiery heartfelt conviction and formative early life experiences. And Canadian by circumstance, choice and permanent residence until citizenship, grateful for the best of both vast worlds as a North American. At some point in the near future, I also look forward to my older brother and younger and only sister both now in Dubai joining me in Canada as new Canadians on their way to becoming full Canadians and us reunited as a North American family in Seattle and Vancouver. I am a forever firm advocate of NATO leader and ally, the United States as our greatest hope for the persistent freedom of humanity, and a lover of western Canada, as a land of majestic outdoors and natural beauty, and maple syrup, and fearsome hockey players and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, on guard for thee. #WeThePeople #WeTheNorth

"That's an order."

As fate would have it two decades later, it was after a most profoundly indelible in-person experience I had on September 30th, 2015 in Washington DC at the Harman Center for the Arts and then later that day in the US Senate chamber with the man himself, torture survivor, US Senator John McCain, that my life was never the same again. Immediately, on his stern order I began learning about PTSD and soon afterwards explored seeking support to start treatment. I am alive today on mission living a full big life of service because of his generous intervention that fateful September day after I showed up to see him in DC. Three years after he left an immensely lasting impact on me, Presidential nominee US Senator McCain passed away from brain cancer in Arizona his home state at 81 on August 25th, my 32nd birthday.

To this day, I remain a firm believer in the historic major net positives of Pax Americana and the wisdom of the late Senator McCain that "America's greatest strength has always been its hopeful vision of human progress... Our shared values define us more than our differences [and] can see us through our challenges today if we have the wisdom to trust in them again."

It took me many years to pierce the veils of illusion, let alone regain my joy and freedom in living by being able to express the fullness of my story. Among the best decisions I made are embracing timeless and spiritual character-driven leadership development practices as well as somatic body work that freed me to thrive while fighting back as an incisive strategic intelligence advisor.

As evidence by these words you are reading, let's just say, where there's a will that finds a way, justice prevails.

These days, I am passionate about issues related to free speech, and nowadays, also free will and agency in the age of A.I and its growing role in our daily lives. I strongly agree with fellow Oslo Freedom Forum speaker Jack Dorsey that we must be wise to not sacrifice the degree of free will we currently enjoy and live by.

I am grateful to have been instrumental in creating positive ripple effects globally, through Fortune 500 teams, NATO national security, billion dollar and six to nine-figure founders, online brands and thought leaders, NYT and WSJ best-selling authors, Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. 500 entrepreneurs, Grammy and Emmy Award recognized storytellers, and many coaches, speakers, trainers, consultants and experts in owning their true voice influentially and fast-tracking their growth resiliently.

Evidently, my origin story experiences, understood rightly, inform my worldview and life's work.

A spiritual being first and foremost having a human experience, in Earthly cultural terms, I am a Nubian Khartoum-born, Japanese influenced, British high school O' Levels educated, Malaysian-raised, English and Arabic speaking man of the world. Having lived in six countries, I come from Sudan as the son of Sudanese parents and trace my lineage as indigenous to the Nile's fourth cataract in Meroe and Korti where family clans still live to this day. It was once the stronghold of the Kushite Pharaohs Empire before the influx of Christianity and Islam.

I am a firm believer in the benefits of verbal fasting and teaching curious leaders how to harness the power of the inner voice of wisdom and stillness that speaks to unlock one's human potential. Whether through traditional silent meditation or programs like HeartMath and the Silva Method, it is an imperative that you find what works for you if you truly wish to realize more of your potential. As international rock superstar, Lenny Kravitz sings in his song Stillness of Heart: "I got more than I can eat, a life that can't be beat; Yet still I feel this heat, I'm feeling incomplete; What am I buying? My soul is crying; All that I want is stillness of heart; So I can start to find my way out of the dark..."

... Stillness at the heart of any matter speaks. So what is the heart of your leadership or organization telling you? And do you need guidance that uplevels your listening? I believe that in a complex, noisy and risky yet exciting world of opportunity, unlocking your values-based ability to accurately and productively self-reflect and be self-fulfilled and self-expressed with key frameworks for more impact, is a superpower.

As a global brand, AssertiveU™ is inspired by an ethos drawn from my international upbringing as a spiritual humanist with a perspective and sensitive attunement to the cultural nuances of storytelling in different contexts. By the time I turned 10, I had experienced very memorable holidays outside of Qatar with my family and relatives in three countries: Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Czechoslovakia. I'd end up growing up with family and relatives in Sudan, Qatar, Malaysia, America, Canada, England and back to Canada.

It was starting at age 11, after leaving Doha, Qatar for good that I began to attend British and American international schools in my new home city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I grew up speaking English primarily with a rich third-culture kid experience in my formative years.

According to the summary on Wikipedia, "third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years. They typically are exposed to a greater volume and variety of cultural influences than those who grow up in one particular cultural setting."

Throughout my journey as a seeker, I was fortunate to be warmly welcomed as a curious student practitioner by accommodating hosts and spiritual leaders at profound Hindu temples in Bali and Shinshoji Buddhist temple in Japan as well as in synagogues, churches and mosques with diverse interpretations, globally. Along the way I also learned invaluable lessons and experienced real growth after immersing myself in the Human Potential Movement regardless of its over-emphasis on "positive thinking" amidst the tragic dimensions of the human condition. With some stark exceptions, it was from within timeless spiritual wisdom lineages that I found the most potent principles and practices.

Of particular resonance to me is the pantheon of Nubian-Egyptian expressions of the One Divine Reality in the form of various relationally, visually and symbolically interconnected masculine and feminine "deities" affirming Unity. I also resonate with writings and teachings of astronomer Carl Sagan, Christian mystic Thomas Merton and the Sufi poet Ibn Arabi who said: "O Marvel! A garden amidst fires! My heart has become receptive of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles, a monastery for Christian monks, a temple for deities, the Ka'bah of the pilgrim, the tables of the Torah, and the book of the Qur'an. I follow the religion of Love. Wherever its camel mounts turn, that is my religion and my Faith." I have found that when one stays true to a desire toward universality, a more potent possibility shows up, accessible to all.

Many gratefully say they found and continue to find my lived lessons invaluable, and even life-changing. It was in 2006, after starting to blog and share my learnings, and art and experiences with inquisitive friends and colleagues, that the requests to teach my methods and strategies grew. In 2013, while working together in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia in the same office, I met my future AssertiveU™ advocacy and communications advisor and partner the British English-born Evelyn Skye Blaise.

In KL, after my book My Isl@m was temporarily banned by mistake in an overreaction, it didn't take long for Skye and I to decide to go to Canada. Once my Canadian visa got issued first before my expected renewed US Visa, I got on with plans. In January, 2014, I landed in Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to seek protection and political asylum from persecution from the Sudanese regime. A few months later, Skye arrived in Vancouver too as allies.

Later in September, 2015, after a week-long values and leadership development seminar I attended at the Aspen Institute, and in particular, crucially after my experience with Senator McCain just days later in Washington DC, it started to make more sense for me to consider starting a new kind of educational endeavor. It was thanks to the Senator's encouragement that I went down this vocational path that brought you and I to this moment.

Inspired by the Aspen Institute, AssertiveU™ does not shy away from dealing with the challenges of the human experience too often ignored by much of the "New Thought" and human potential movement. Moreover, similar to Esalen Institute, at the heart of our venture is our proven potent transpersonal psychology-based, spirituality-informed approach infused into everything we do.

After all, without peace and human rights, we cannot realize our human potential and express our human creativity.

Despite initial doubts, and in response to the increasing demands on my time and bandwith, in mid 2016, I eventually founded this new venture now available virtually and in-person for you.

Bit by bit, with steady patience, I rediscovered my love for God and spirituality and the grand Mystery of everything: an experience available to you. One referred to as Ma'at in the Mystery School temples of the Nile Valley as the indestructible Unity of Existence, also the Beloved in Sufism and Source in New Age spirituality.

I especially appreciate the universalist Inayati music-honoring Sufi Muslim lineage of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and lessons from poems referencing the angel of the veil Metatron. For the Sufi way in the words of Kabir Helminski is "a way of life in which a deeper identity is discovered and lived. This deeper identity, beyond the already known personality, is in harmony with all that exists." Indeed, an expansive reality beyond the veil.

As a writer and storyteller, accounts of the story of Joseph's rise as accurate wise dream interpreting confidant to the King of the Nile, and then as ruler of Egypt, hold special meaning for me. My father used to read the story to me from the Quran when I was little to help me sleep better because of all the nightmares I was having.

Unlike the story of Moses and the tyrant pharaoh in it whose reign was one of terror for those he oppressed, the King in the story of Joseph offers contrasting timeless lessons on ethical leadership through power of dreams, strategic foresight and good governance.

Consequently, as the founder of AssertiveU™ my facilitation methods draw from the timeless wisdom traditions and are therefore capable of resolving stubborn issues where other methods failed. While I am in favor of modern inventions, one must not ignore or dismiss the power of timeless principles that are timeless for a reason. They are in harmony with the very fabric of reality in our vast Cosmos. And therefore, in harmony with yours and all that you innately are.

Personally, my track record producing literary, impactful advocacy and investigative journalism as a spiritual humanist classical liberal has attracted praise from a global audience and influential readership. They include respected Academy and Emmy Award recognized Hollywood personalities, Marvel and Disney storytellers, former White House officials, the US Department of Defense, Five Eyes intelligence and NATO national security professionals, celebrated founders, Ivy League academics and tech investors, and fellow artists, activists and entrepreneurs. I have also been on panels as a speaker with senior members of the Obama administration speaking on tech innovation and the Middle East.

I am a featured personality in the Nick Nanton Emmy nominated documentary film Live Your Quest along with Tom Chi of Google X, Reverend Michael Beckwith of Agape, and the NYT best-selling authors Jack Canfield and Lisa Nichols, among others. And my writing has been featured in dozens of global journalism media outlets in more than 13 languages telling stories about spirituality and human flourishing with better alternative models of reality that free you to thrive. Having traveled as a TCI writer to dozens of countries, I strive to merge the best and most proven of timeless Eastern and Western philosophies, practices and storytelling traditions to serve you with greater understanding and versatility, amplified by A.I. in order for you to fast-track your growth with true resilience, real influence and profound R.O.I.

From greening the deserts of planet Earth and achieving food security for all to making education ubiquitous, renewing freedom and democracy and living healthier longer life-spans assisted by humanoids. Together, I believe we can bring these all alive, sooner, by leading with better stories of possibilities rooted in real solutions until some of us space travel and witness humanoids growing palms from the Nile in lush gardens on Mars. Through strategic and open source intelligence, I remain engaged in constructive consultations and award-winning initiatives. And I certainly do not intend on stopping at all, until my final day.

I have donated time and money to my local YMCA and charities that support American and Canadian veteran causes in particular the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) which researches treatments for PTSD that save lives and advance healing, and also to charities that feed the hungry and support food security in impoverished areas in Sudan, and will keep at it.

When I am not facilitating, I am deep at work as a writer on my book trilogy and as a screenwriter, singer-songwriter, director and producer on my debut upcoming cinematic concept album and documentary film venture, thanks to the valued encouragement of a Grammy Award winning producer and an Academy Award winning executive producer and fellow education alumni.

Today AssertiveU™ delivers and facilitates intensives for ambitious mission-driven CEOs, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, creators and executives, like you, to own your true leadership voice, unlock your potential aided by A.I. and fast-track your growth to the next level.

Ultimately, AssertiveU™ is as valuable as YOU make it and see it. An accelerator, a launchpad or a modern day leadership mystery school... Regardless of what we are called or how we are described, we always aim and strive to offer magic and facilitations like the "Make a Wish Foundation" when facing "life-altering, complex physical and health challenges along with overwhelming mental and emotional burdens.

A wish can stir the strength and optimism that are crucial to fighting physical, emotional and psychological adversity. Wishes are treatment." Indeed. They allow us all "to return to childhood, rediscover play, experience joy, and reconnect with family, friends, and community." Be your own best wish granter. You deserve it.

As long as you too are reflective, self-responsible, committed and resonate with our values, welcome to the AssertiveU™ campus. To learn more, sign up with your email to access your complimentary facilitation and speak soon.

- Drima a.k.a. Amir and the Team 📞