Ted's Biography

Ted Jaleta (ja-let-a) was born into a farm family in the beautiful lush highlands of northwestern Ethiopia. From an early age, he knew the importance of education and spent years away from home to improve his own lot in life through schooling. Ted was on track to become a world-class long distance runner when civil war broke out in Ethiopia in the 1970s. He was caught in a peaceful demonstration, imprisoned and tortured. He escaped with his life and immigrated to Canada in 1982 as a refugee. Ted credits Canada and its people for giving him a second chance, one that he is repaying over and over by sharing his message of hope, courage, hard work and a positive attitude.

Ted became a Canadian citizen in 1985, one of his proudest moments, and is employed by Canada Revenue Agency. In Canada, he took up competitive running again and became an internationally recognized Masters athlete. In 1997, Ted Jaleta was ranked 7th in the world by Runners World Magazine in the Masters Division for distance running. He was also recognized as the SaskSport Master Athlete of the Year that year and in 2005, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

Ted has received several athletic and community awards for his positive contributions. He is a recipient of the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal and the 2006 CRA Award of Excellence, which is a prestigious national award for outstanding community service. He is a certified distance coach and has presented numerous motivational talks on subjects including the importance of education, positive thinking, diversity training, wellness in the workplace and community.

In 2006, he became the subject and co-publisher of Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta’s Inspiring Story. The book has won numerous awards, including those at the Hollywood Book Festival and Saskatchewan Book Awards, and is being used in schools and workplaces across Canada. Ted Jaleta has been a student, runner, prisoner, refugee, immigrant, world-class athlete, coach, leader and motivational speaker.  His story touches the hearts of all who hear it.

To contact Ted to speak at your business, organization, school or community event, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

 Buy the Never Give Up book and/or the Teacher Workbook
Discounts are available for bulk orders of Never Give Up as part of Ted's group presentations.