Raj Adgopul

Raj Adgopul is an inspirational speaker, NHS professional and TEDx speaker whose remarkable journey from rural India to the O2 in London gives him a distinctive perspective on resilience, adaptability, race and belonging. Having experienced caste discrimination, poverty, migration and racism, Raj combines personal experience with humour to make challenging subjects accessible. He is hired for corporate events, EDI programmes, inclusion weeks, staff networks, team away days, conferences and educational events, where his engaging approach encourages audiences to reflect without becoming defensive.

Growing up in a village in central India, Raj belonged to a family recorded as Other Backward Class on his birth certificate and experienced people spitting at him because of his caste. He later moved to Mumbai, where he spent four years sharing a room with twenty-three people and had just six feet by three of personal space. These experiences underpin his practical understanding of perseverance and problem-solving, allowing him to discuss resilience as something lived rather than simply theorised.

Raj was recruited into the NHS following interviews in Mumbai and arrived in England with just five pounds. He trained and worked as a nurse before completing a degree and postgraduate qualification. His experience of entering a British organisation from overseas, adapting to a new culture and encountering quieter forms of prejudice gives his BAME talks particular relevance to diverse modern workplaces.

Raj’s profile as a speaker has included delivering a TEDx talk titled ‘Appreciation redefined‘ at the O2 in London to an audience of 1,000. He has also spoken for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital London, Care Concern Group and the National Association for Patient Participation, alongside schools and sixth forms. He has additionally performed ‘Just Off The Boat’ at the Hardy Har Comedy Festival.

Organisations hire Raj because he can address difficult conversations about race, caste, unconscious bias and belonging while keeping audiences engaged through humour. Through sessions including ‘The Mumbai Mindset’, ‘Resilience Redefined’ and ‘Beyond Borders’, he explores active bystanding, intentional and unintentional racism, adaptability and practical resilience. His combination of lived experience, NHS expertise, interactive exercises and comedy makes him particularly effective for organisations seeking a BAME speaker who can create meaningful discussion while giving audiences practical lessons they can take back into their workplaces.