Daniel Ndamwizeye (born March 9, 1989), better known in the professional world as Daniel Trust, is an international speaker, social entrepreneur and youth advocate. He is best known for being President and CEO of

Daniel Trust Foundation Daniel Trust Foundation is a youth development non-profit organization founded by Daniel Trust. It was launched in 2009 and provides mentorship and scholarship opportunities to high school seniors and student-selected recognition and funding for ...

, a non-profit organization that invests in and supports low-income students and teachers who have made a big impact in the lives of their students. Daniel is also well known for surviving the 1994

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, and sharing his

Coming Out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

story through his speaking career. Daniel has been featured on media such as News 12 Connecticut's "Our Lives,"

WTNH WTNH (channel 8) is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59), al ...

's "Connecticut Style," WFSB's "Better Connecticut," as well as the

New Haven Register The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and i ...

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

, Scholastic Magazine, Connecticut Magazine and Fairfield County Business Journal's "40 under 40", and Southern Connecticut State University's Alumni magazine.

Early life and education

Daniel Trust was born in Gisenyi,

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

on 9 March 1989. Daniel's mother was Tutsi and his father was Hutu. At age 5, he witnessed his mother, father, and two sisters killed by Hutu extremists. Daniel was hidden by a neighbor during this massacre. After experiencing abuse, harassment, and discomfort for the next several years, Daniel left as a refugee to

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. Daniel hoped to move to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

one day. In 2005, with the support of a few refugee organizations, Daniel was able to successfully move to

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. Daniel was granted his American citizenship five years later. In 2008, Daniel graduated from

Bassick High School Bassick High School is a US public trade high school located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. History In 1924, the Bassick family home was demolished to begin construction for a school. The E & F Construction Company was awarded the contract after su ...

, in

. From 2008 through 2013, Daniel attended and graduated from Southern Connecticut State University. He was a business major.

Career

Early in college, Daniel founded D-Trust Apparel clothing brand. From 2009 to 2014, Daniel worked in the corporate sector with

TD Bank, N.A. TD Bank, N.A. is an American National Association (Banking)#United States, national bank and the United States subsidiary of the multinational TD Bank Group (Canada), TD Bank Group. It operates primarily across the East Coast of the United State ...

To make time for his speaking career and non-profit organization, Daniel stepped away from D-Trust Apparel and resigned from

Daniel had a store open for his business and attained the assistant manager position at

Daniel has spoken and lectured at colleges including

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

's "True Colors Conference,"

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

's "Genocide Remembrance event,"

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

, "Leadership Day" at the University of New Haven,. Daniel has also spoken at high school's including Sayville High School,

West Haven High School West Haven High School is a secondary school located in West Haven, Connecticut, which educates students in grades 9–12. The mascot of West Haven is the Blue Devil. Administration and campus As of July 1, 2009, the school principal was P ...

, Warren Harding High School, and other schools.

References

External links

The Official Daniel Trust WebsiteThe Daniel Trust Foundation, Inc Official WebsiteConnecticut Magazine's 40 Under 40: Class of 2014Appearance with Scholars on WTNH's "Connecticut Style"Appearance with Scholars on WFSB's "Better ConnecticutAppearance on Chanel 12 News Connecticut "Our Lives"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trust, Daniel 1989 births Living people People from Gisenyi People from Bridgeport, Connecticut Rwandan refugees Southern Connecticut State University alumni American motivational speakers American people of Rwandan descent