For 34 years, Michael’s primary initiative for speaking to audiences throughout North America. Has been to motivate, inspire, educate, and

lead people of all ages to use the Positive Rebel’s frame of mind in their

daily lives. Whether Michael is: 

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    * Presenting a keynote address to audiences

       wanting to lead their colleagues and 

       organizations to accept change to be more

       productive.

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     * Delivering motivational speeches to school

        students, athletes, sports teams, emergency

        responders, professional workers, conference

        delegates, special event guess, and people

        who are looking to reach higher levels of

        success. 

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    * Making school presentations to student’s of

       all ages, on how they can build better 

       social inclusion for one another and

       working to eliminate abusive acts of bullying. 

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    * Facilitating workshops to raise the awareness

       of people with disabilities unique and 

       productive talents, abilities, and skills to 

       able-bodied people throughout society.

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    * Writing storybooks to teach children how to rise up and move 

       beyond all life’s adverse challenges and obstacles.

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By not tolerating your own self-imposed negative thoughts, ideas of limitation, pre-conceived false conditioning, and fears. Michael strongly believes anyone can achieve their desired goals, successes, and dreams to live a happy and prosperous life.

       

Michael has been a member of seven different Toastmasters Clubs and has delivered keynotes addresses at Toastmasters Regional Conferences. He has also competed in numerous speech contests, which he has either won or placed runner up. Also has been belong to the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and delivered educational keynote speeches to different chapters and their members throughout Canada.

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Awards & Honours.

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       He has been the recipient of various awards:

    

    * Michael is the recipient of the prestigious Cathleen Lyle  Murray

       Foundation Award from the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy

       and Developmental Medicine. 

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    * Chosen as one of the top entrepreneur's with a disability in British

       Columbia by Community Futures and Western Canadian Diversity 

       Corporation.

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    * Recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Rotary

       International.

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    * Voted as the top citizen in the history of Nanaimo. 

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    * Inducted into his High School’s Wall of Fame.

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A Short Biography Of Michael

 

At the age of sixteen months, Michael Bortolotto was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, a conditions caused by an interruption in oxygen to the brain during birth. Through an extensive routine of time consuming exercises, he has learned to lead himself beyond the various challenges and obstacles which threatened to prevent him from walking, talking, and using his arms, hands, and fingers.

       

Michael graduated with a Diploma in applied Arts and Sciences in Recreation Administration from Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. He has worked in Community Parks & Recreation programming recreational activities for youth and therapeutic activities for people with disabilities.

       

During the summer of 1986, Michael discovered how he could rise above the prohibiting acts of discrimination created by society’s working world. While doing his post-secondary Recreation Administration’s summer practicum, he assisted in bringing youth from around the world to attend a conference to share ideas, experiences, and successes of entrepreneurialism. Since then, Michael has not only been an entrepreneur, successful business owner, and professional presenter.  But he has been a strong proponent in promoting and advocating entrepreneurism as a ways and means for anyone wanting to escape the grasp of economic hardship.

       

During the fall of 2011, he published his first children’s storybook called “The Truth About Apples And Pineapples”. The goal behind this storybook is to teach children how they can create social inclusion, while at the same time stopping abusive acts of bullying from occurring in their school and community. His second children’s book storybook, “Tour de Courage”, is for people of all ages and it was published during the spring of 2014. This book is a moving tale of self-leadership, Michael 

teaches you how to use determination and 

persistence to move beyond his own life’s

adverse challenges and prohibiting obstacles.

       

Michael is married to his beautiful friend

and partner Dorothy and they have two

wonderful children named Natasha and

Quintin. One of the amazing aspects of his 

personal family life, is how his wife and two

children are continuously challenging him to

rise up and move beyond the so-called

prohibiting and victimizing limitations

created from living with Cerebral Palsy.