Hello and welcome to AssertiveU™ leader.

Amir Ahmad Nasr here, as the Earthly business persona of Drima Starlight. Initially, I wrote this origin story of how AssertiveU™ came to be in third person. Until I decided to speak to you directly.

I am a politically independent and centrist humanist, so I don't really 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 more important to me as an educator is spiritually informed, science-based, self-awareness and character-driven organizational and leadership development. I consider it a privilege to be of service in your growth.

I care much more about mental models of reality and policies that deliver results. I couldn't care less if they come from the left or the right. I also firmly believe in the importance of incorporating proven spiritual development practices drawn from all of the world's timeless wisdom traditions to cater to all beliefs and philosophies. Whether you are a founder, domain expert or member in a diverse Fortune 500 workforce, I invite you to urgently rethink how you think about transformation in ways that uplevel your being, net income and impact, sooner, better and smoother. My wish is for this shift in thinking to ripple out into our culture for unity, coexistence and growth 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, my name as Amir Ahmad Nasr, like what journalist Clark Joseph Kent is to Superman, is my Earthly persona for me as the musical otherworldly soul blues country rockin' guitar slingin' singin' artist, Drima Starlight, coming soon to the sold out concert near you.

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.

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

It was in a small obscure neighborhood mosque in Al-Mamoura in early 1990's Doha, Qatar, where my defiance started.

As a nearly seven year old playful little boy I was methodically tortured, tormented, and subjected to extreme sexual violence nearly to death by two vicious Islamist Egyptian terrorists disconnected from their humanity.

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 banning of my debut book, my memoir My Isl@m: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind and Doubt Freed My Soul, at the age of 26, 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 the book with new material including on A.I., the prelude and aftermath of October 7th and Justin Trudeau's disastrous time in office up to Trump's stunning re-election - for updated release on the 12 year anniversary of its publishing in Fall 2025 with a new subtitle and design for timeless relevance and in dedicated service of the Light of the World.

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 as best as they could raised Sudanese-American. But the two dim 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 prisons of secular Arab Egyptian nationalist, President Jamal Abdel Nasser under his orders after an attempt on his life by a Muslim Brotherhood member.

Despite not yet becoming a naturalized US citizen (while my oldest brother is by birth and my parents became due by US residence) I am defiantly American by choice, 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 joining me in Canada and us reunited as a North American family.

I am a forever 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

Gratefully, feeling in this world but not of it, despite how hard it was in those earlier years, it wasn't in vain as I did not have the freedom or luxury to wallow in victimhood or cynicism... One day while watching news on TV, my father commented about the strength of a US military and political leader he admired. "This man was tortured in Vietnam but he fought to remain alive and today he is serving as a Congressman." And so 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 own dreams as a playful little Pax Americana loving boy. I coped the best I could.

"That's an order, son."

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, fellow torture survivor, the Republican US Presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, that my life was never the same. Immediately, with his blessings and encouragement, I began working on AssertiveU™ and learning about PTSD soon afterwards to start treatment.

I am alive today on mission to live a full 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 a lasting impact on me, John passed away from brain cancer in his home in Arizona 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 as a strategic intelligence and narratives advisor, and voice and values coach — now as an artist who loves to teach @ AssertiveU™ — in creating positive ripple effects globally through Fortune 500 teams, Grammy, Emmy, Academy and Juno award winning artists, New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal best-selling storytellers, Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. 500 entrepreneurs, billion dollar and seven to nine-figure founders, innovators and thought leaders, national security patriots, and many coaches, speakers, trainers, consultants and domain experts who touch millions around the world — by owning their true voice influentially.

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-Level 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. Whether through silent meditation or programs like HeartMath and the Silva Method, it is an imperative that you find what works for you if you 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, is a superpower.

As a global brand, AssertiveU™ is inspired by an ethos from my international upbringing as a humanist with a perspective and sensitive attunement to the cultural nuances of storytelling in different contexts. By age 10, I had been on memorable holidays outside of Qatar with my family and relatives in three countries: Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Czechoslovakia. It was starting at age 11, after leaving Doha, Qatar for good by 1997 that I attended British and American international schools in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I grew up speaking English primarily.

Now 38, I've lived with family in Sudan, Qatar, Malaysia, America, Canada, England and again in Canada where I now reside, and so far traveled to over two dozen countries with a rich third-culture kid experience in my formative years. As Wikipedia explains, "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."

As a student of spiritual traditions, I have been fortunate to be warmly welcomed as a curious 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 the 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 as well as indigenous North American parables. 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 found when one stays true to a desire for universality, a potent possibility shows up.

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, it didn't take long for Skye and I to decide to leave Malaysia to Canada. Once my Canadian visa got issued first before my expected US Visa renewal, I got on with plans. In January, 2014, I landed in Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to seek protection 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, at AssertiveU™ we do not shy away from facing challenges of the human experience too often ignored by the "New Thought" and human potential movements. Moreover, similar to Esalen Institute, at the heart of our venture is our proven 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 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, the grand Mystery of everything: an experience available to you. Referred to as the Great Spirit in North American native, indigenous peoples' and First Nations traditions. Ma'at in the pharaonic Mystery School temples of the Nile Valley as the indestructible Unity of Existence. The Beloved in the Sufi Orders. Source in New Age spirituality. And of course, the Morning Sun and Light of the World in Christianity.

As an artist and musician, besides Gospel music, I appreciate the universalist Inayati music-honoring Sufi Muslim lineage of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and poems on 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, a 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 terrifying nightmares I was having. Unlike the story of Moses and the tyrant pharaoh in it whose reign was one of terror, the King in the story of Joseph offers contrasting timeless lessons on the power and importance of dreams for developing your self-awareness, ethical leadership, 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 secular classical liberal humanist 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, 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. Through strategic and open source intelligence, I remain engaged in constructive consultations and award-winning initiatives for national security. And I certainly do not intend on stopping.

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 making education ubiquitous, greening the deserts of planet Earth and achieving food security for all to renewing freedom and democracy and living healthier longer life-spans assisted by humanoids. Together with better advocacy, I believe we can achieve it, sooner, by leading with stories of possibilities rooted in real solutions to space travel and witness humanoids growing palms from the Nile in lush gardens on Mars.

I am committed to supporting as a donor, advocate and subject matter expert the Human Rights Foundation as well as my local YMCA and charities that support American and Canadian veterans including the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) which researches treatments for PTSD. I also support charities providing food security in impoverished areas in Sudan.

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 valued encouragement of a Grammy Award winning producer and an Academy Award winning executive producer and fellow education alumni. Today as a team at AssertiveU™ we facilitate intensives for mission-driven CEOs, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, creators and executives, like you, to own your true 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. An accelerator, a launchpad or a modern day leadership mystery school... Regardless of how we are described, we 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.

- Amir Ahmad Nasr a.k.a. Drima and the Team 📞