"Conor has a gift for communicating with young people a very authentic way. Not only did over five hundred Collegiate middle school students give him a standing ovation following his presentation on the Little Princes Children's Home and Next Generation Nepal, these same students are now inspired to serve in the local Richmond community and in larger world community."
--Sally Chambers, Collegiate Academy
Conor Grennan is the founder of Next Generation Nepal (NGN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families in post-war Nepal, and the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal (William Morrow). Little Princes has been shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, was nominated for the Goodreads 2011 Best Travel and Outdoors Award, is a #1 international best-seller, and has been translated into 11 languages. Since NGN's inception, Grennan has made several return trips to Nepal and helped reconnect more than 300 children with their families. Grennan's book and his presentations recount, in dramatic and often humorous detail, how a three-month volunteer gig at the Little Princes Children's Home in a small Nepalese village transformed into a personal mission to reconnecting trafficked children with their families. An engaging and energetic keynote speaker, Grennan has spoken at the Grand Opening Conference for West Point Center for the Rule of Law and given convocation and commencement speeches for New York University's Stern School of Business. He is a perfect speaker for colleges and universities (especially First Year Experience common reading programs), child rights groups, community one-book programs, and public and private high schools.
In 2004, when Grennan was about to turn 30, he planned a year-long trip around the world, which was to begin with a brief stint volunteering in the Little Princes Orphanage in war-torn Nepal. What was supposed to be just a three-month experience changed Grennan's life, and the lives of countless others.
While playing on the roof of the orphanage one day, Grennan was approached by a woman who would turn out to be the mother of two of the wards. Over hours of conversations with her, Grennan learned the truth about the kids he'd come to love. Many of the little princes were not orphans but rather had been taken from their homes and families by child traffickers. In addition to losing two of her boys, this woman, while under the control of a human trafficker, was doing her best to keep seven other terrified kids alive in her mud hut. Grennan's life changed in those moments, as he decided to commit himself to these kids, regularly traveling three hours by bus to take them food. After securing spots in an orphanage for all seven and arranging for an excellent local staff to run the Little Princes orphanage, Grennan escaped Nepal, one day before revolution erupted in Kathmandu, with the King's police shooting protestors in the streets.
After arriving home, Grennan received a devastating email reporting that the seven kids had disappeared, snatched once again by the same trafficker. Soon he was back in Kathmandu, riding through the chaotic streets on the back of a local's motorcycle, searching for his kids, seven needles in a corrupt haystack. And that is where Grennan's story begins.
Grennan pledged to not only start a new orphanage for these seven but to start an entirely new program dedicated to reuniting kids with their lost families in remote villages in the Nepalese hills, a four-day walk at best through war-torn precincts with no roads. He lived under constant fear of retribution from the traffickers, confronted drunken Maoist soldiers in the dark of night, and walked for four weeks on an injured leg with little and sometimes no food, waiting to be rescued by a World Food Organization helicopter that never arrived. He made a four-day walk in two days -- moving through the dangerous night -- to catch a flight from a remote spot before the snows of December arrived. He needed to return by December 22nd, both because that was the agreed-upon panic date on which friends would alert authorities if he didn't return, and because it was the date that the woman he'd fallen in love with over email would arrive at his door so they could, at long last, meet in person. Since that first fateful trip, Grennan's team has reconnected almost 300 families with children they feared were lost to them forever.
Grennan spent eight years at the EastWest Institute (EWI), both in Prague and the EU Office in Brussels. During that time, he developed and managed a wide variety of projects focusing on issues such as peace and reconciliation in the Balkans, community development in Central Eastern Europe, and harmonizing anti-trafficking policy at the highest levels of government in the European Union and the former Yugoslavia in cooperation with the top experts in the field. In 2001 he was made Deputy Director of EWI's Program on Security and Good Governance, and served as the Advisor on EU Affairs to EWI's Worldwide Security Program.
Grennan is a citizen of the U.S. and Ireland and was based in Kathmandu, Nepal, until October 2007. He is now on the Board of Directors of NGN. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the NYU Stern School of Business, where he served as president of the student body. Grennan has been recognized by The Huffington Post as a 2011 Game Changer in Education and Impact. Currently he resides in Calfornia with his wife and two children.
Praise for Conor Grennan's Speeches:
"Conor, Scarlet Oaks cannot thank you enough for the time you spent visiting our campus and speaking with our senior English students. Although we've done our senior read for the past seven years, we believe that your visit has been the most memorable and the most life-changing for our young people. During that day you spent with us, and then into the following last days before they graduated, the students excitedly talked about you, your stories, and how you took the time to answer their questions with such depth and passion. For these young people to be transformed from outside their own selves to a place of caring for others and others of another culture is no less than life altering. Remarkably, many of them are now aware of how possible travel is and several have plans to study abroad when they get to college. In addition, many of them have set goals to leave their own small communities for the first time in their lives and visit other places near and far. We senior English instructors thank you for supporting our senior read and for being a bridge into the adult world of literature and life for our young people. Sincerely, Nancy; Scarlet Oaks Career Campus"
"In short, Conor was sensational ... his talk was one of the best author talks I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot). He ended it with a portion really tailor-made and personalized to our audience and it was just wonderful. [We've] brought in Vonnegut, Sontag, you name it, and we filled the huge orchestra hall every time. But all of us agreed that Conor -- and his message -- was better than any of them. If he writes another book, I'll do everything I can to get it selected for the Freshman reading. I've been getting emails all day from students who were there telling me how much it affected them. "
--Brad Ricca, Case Western Reserve University
"The University of Calgary's Common Reading Program, a shared academic experience that encourages each student to reflect on their role as a student and a citizen, presented each new 2011 student with a copy of Conor Grennan's book Little Princes. When Conor delivered the keynote address during their induction ceremony, his inspirational and accessible approach, his ideas and his insights prompted 5000 students to give him a standing ovation. Conor personifies those qualities of leadership and return to community that we encourage at the university; he has already inspired our students to set up a fundraising drive to give back to the community ... This extraordinary young man is a profound example of how one person can make a difference in the community, and how one's actions can have a huge impact and inspire so many others to do the same." --Elizabeth Cannon, University of Calgary
"Reading Conor Grennan's Little Princes with my seventh grade students was tremendously rewarding for all involved. My students' natural curiosity was piqued and they quickly became personally invested in Conor's and the orphans' experiences. My students were genuinely intrigued by the stories of the individuals involved, and they were captivated by the cultural differences and injustices that Conor brought to light. A heightened cultural awareness resulted as was an appreciation for the many advantages my students are fortunate enough to enjoy as a result of their more secure upbringings. Conor's rapport with this age group was excellent. He was engaging and showed genuine interest in the students' many questions. There was a mutual respect and speaker and audience related beautifully. Students were compelled to wonder how such injustices continue to be perpetuated and how they can help the children of Nepal. My students were truly inspired by Little Princes and Conor himself."
--Randi Rosen, New Paltz Middle School
"Conor has a gift for communicating with young people a very authentic way. Not only did over five hundred Collegiate middle school students give him a standing ovation following his presentation on the Little Princes Children's Home and Next Generation Nepal, these same students are now inspired to serve in the local Richmond community and in larger world community."
--Sally Chambers, Collegiate Academy
"Conor visited the Delbarton Community on two occasions. When the School selected his book Little Princes for our All-School Summer Read as a vehicle to further our goal of developing global awareness, we were fortunate to have Conor introduce the book himself. And so, during a Skype interview last spring 2011, Conor appeared to our students and faculty as a "huge floating head" on the auditorium screen, promoting his book and its message. He was very well received by the students and he thankfully built a lot of excitement for the summer reading. This second appearance in person on November 2011 was also a big hit. "
--Anne Leckie, Delbarton School
"Conor was terrific -- easygoing, very fan-friendly, a charismatic speaker... this year's All Fairfax Reads selection has been one of the most popular so far. [He] was an all-around fantastic speaker -- personable, charismatic ... The audience loved the way he included so many captivating slides from his travels in Nepal."
--Ted Kavich, All Fairfax Reads
"Conor was fabulous yesterday! We REALLY enjoyed him. I've been teaching for 14 years and have seen my share of assemblies. Conor's presentation got THE BEST response I've ever seen! The kids ALL had positive things to say about him: how nice he was, how real, how personable, how much of a hero he was. Middle school kids are brutally honest, so this is a huge compliment. Conor really is 'the complete speaking package' ... nonfiction, social studies, volunteering, and a genuine personality. It was such a special day for us to have Conor. When I read Conor's book in my book club, I thought it was a good read, but the more and more I thought about it in the months after, I realized it was a great read and it was an incredible thing Conor had done for those families in Nepal. This whole social atrocity just seemed to fall in his lap; he was obviously the chosen one for this heroic work. As I listened to Conor speak to a mesmerized group of middle school students, I couldn't help but think he was insanely brave to return to Nepal when many would've turned their backs. I'm not sure I would've had the courage to return myself, but I'm so glad he did. He has changed the world thanks to his integrity -- a feat not many can claim. Conor inspired us all today to do more with our lives. It was a great day for my school and the buzz about Conor continues. "
--Dana Newsom, LaGrange Middle School
"Conor's presentation was extremely relevant and embraced the theme of our YMCA Peace Medal Breakfast, which was to honour individuals that foster a Culture of Peace in our community. He was engaging and captured hearts of the audience. His story was relevant and demonstrated to the young people in our audience that we all can make a difference in the world."
--Susy Comegna, YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Praise for Little Princes:
"The beauty of this book is partly the fact that it is a memoir. But it is also more than that. I defy you to not be inspired or moved by this saga."
-- New York Journal of Books
"Funny, touching, tragic. Conor Grennan's Little Princes is a remarkable tale of corruption, child trafficking and civil war in a far away land -- and one man's extraordinary quest to reunite lost Nepalese children with their parents."
-- Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts
"For millions across the world uprooted and scattered by war, home is the elusive and unobtainable reward. Conor Grennan is helping fulfill that dream for the lost children of Nepal, who are so crucial to its future. More than just another do-gooder's tale from the trenches, his book is both an inspiring story of service and a page-turning adventure."
-- Bryan Mealer, co-author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
"Grennan's work is by turns self-pokingly humorous, exciting, and inspiring."
-- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Looking for wider horizons, 30-year-old Grennan opted for a day trip around the world. His journey began at the Little Princes orphanage in Nepal, where he had planned to volunteer for three months before moving on to other adventures. Then he met the children-laughing, bright-eyed, and, he learned, often not orphans at all but victims of human traffickers. So Grennan changed his life in order to change theirs, risking everything to reunite children with their families ... this is shocking, affecting, and, ultimately, a reminder that each of us can make a difference. Yes, Three Cups of Tea comes to mind, but Grennan has his own story and his own style."
-- Library Journal