Malikha McDonald Speaker | PHSCE & Lifestyle & Careers & Well-being & Sex Education

Malikha McDonald

Malikha McDonald is a highly sought-after motivational speaker, programme facilitator, PSHE/RSE and Health Expert (Relationships and Sex Education)

Malikha currently delivers one to one/small group mentoring sessions as well as a range of workshops and bespoke programmes in schools; which includes the highly sought after ‘#imsoAlpha’ – workshops and assemblies which help to engage and inspire young people to support their personal development, by evaluating their strengths and challenges, building their resilience to respond to change, improving their attitude to learning, raising their self-confidence, all whilst setting and achieving educational and behavioural aspirations.

Malikha left school with one GCSE due to his behaviour, family structure and gang influence. He did not allow that to stop him as he made several radical changes which saw him traveling and working in Russia for a year. After which he came back to re-do his GCSE’S. Malikha then went on to study at the University of Birmingham where he gained a First-Class BPhil Degree in Community Play, Youth Work and Applied Social Science.

When asked about his journey by young people he states, “it’s not always about how you start the race but rather how you finish it”. Giving pupils who don’t always make the RIGHT decisions, a living example that they can still turn it around! Malikha now boasts Two Degrees and a Masters and he has just completed a Foundation Degree in Business and Leadership amongst other Accolades and Awards.

With a wealth of experience working within the voluntary and public sector, Malikha has utilised his career within the Health, Medical and Business Arenas to become well versed to supporting and bringing forth the best in young people. Particularly those that derive from some of the most disadvantaged and hard to reach wards in the country.

As a qualified and experienced master trainer, Malikha offers creative and innovative workshops and inspirational talks around leadership, failing forward and business to schools, academies and alternative provisions, who seek to inspire, upskill or bring awareness to specific topics/trends.

To date Malikha has reached and supported over 25,000 young people across the UK and internationally with his unique, high energy and very engaging workshops and talks which include Resilience Building, Lifestyle Choices, Goal Setting, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Managing Peer Pressure and the Influence of the Media, Finding Your Routine, Financial Literacy, Relationships and Sex Education. In addition to this Malikha also delivers both, Staff Training and Parental Training on Behaviour Management, Dealing with Pressures and How to Champion your Pupils/Child.

One of Malikha’s most recent ventures has seen him, design, write and publish an Interactive Pupil Planner that encourages and motivates young people to take responsibility for their own actions, their own goals, and the progress they need to make in order to be successful!

Testimonials from Teachers

"Fantastic as usual"

– Marie Edmeades, Academic Secretary (Pastoral), Reading Blue Coat School

"Malikha’s talk was FANTASTIC!"

– Mrs Elly Hayes, Sixth Form and Careers Administrator, Reading Blue Coat School

"I first met Malikha McDonald when I attended a training course to prepare me to deliver a Sex & Relationships programme to my pupils who are all boys with ESBD (emotional, social, behavioral difficulties). Malikha was delivering the training. He was thorough in his approach, but put us all at ease and through his excellent people skills made me able and confident in delivering the programme back at school. He is confident but not arrogant, which in turn helped me to become confident with the tasks. He is a dynamic personality, who is not only inspirational and motivational, you find yourself hanging on his every word. He has a way of captivating the audience and taking you on a journey of discovery excitement.

Malikha is very humble in his approach. He is able to connect with young people who are disengaged from main stream education, involved in the criminal justice system and demotivated. He is able to redirect there focus whilst allowing them to see the errors of their ways and set new goals."

– Carol McCullough, Deputy Head DSP, Sporting Edge Independent School

"Malikha is an innovative Health Promotion Specialist who has many years’ experience in working with a diverse range of young people – young people with learning disabilities, LGBT, African and African Caribbean , Eastern European young people etc. He has presented at conferences, professional briefing sessions and has developed and delivered a plethora of inspirational young people’s educational and training programmes covering challenging and taboo subjects including sexual health, self-esteem, drugs, alcohol and sexual risk taking, on-line grooming, masculinity and parenthood.

His ability to connect with the groups of young people he works with is second to none. He develops a rapport with groups and creates a safe environment for the group to explore issues using interactive methods and exercises that they take ownership of. This methodology builds self-confidence and self-esteem in young people, particularly young men. Malikha has worked as part of the Sexual Health Promotion Service for four and half years and his enthusiasm for young people is infectious. As a public speaker he is engaging, entertaining, poignant and dynamic."

– Liz Morris, Sexual Health Promotion Service Manager, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust

Malikha was superb! The feedback I got from all students and staff was very positive. Some Y9 students I spoke to the following day were still absolutely buzzing from it, and the messages they took away from it were totally what we were hoping for. Thanks once again, we will certainly be looking to invite him again in the future.

– Robert Masters, Cheslyn Hay Academy