Speaking

  • "I have been typing up conference evaluations all day and of the 90 I’ve written up, every single one of them mentioned that Stephanie was their favourite presenter, that they learned new information about the importance of being creative in supporting clients, and that she helped them understand traditionally “difficult” clients in a very different light."

    -Kali O’Dell, Government of New Brunswick

  • “Listening to Stephanie Foo speak is an experience that I think I will never forget. Her story is both heartbreaking and hopeful, and her work brings so much to the conversation of mental health.”

    — Student, Northern Michigan University

  • “Stephanie Foo is a legend in her own time. She delivered and then some of what we asked of her. We were impressed with her tailoring her talk and workshop to our needs. Foo's message is an invaluable one; her visit has left an impact on our community. Even a year later, her name still comes up in conversations often. "

    — Jen Hazel, Owens Community College

  • “Stephanie really engaged with the audience with her well-researched thoughts on the topics she discussed. There were many comments thanking her, and saying what an impactful presentation she gave – one that changed people’s perspectives about how to engage with youth going forward. And these are folks that have devoted themselves to that very goal."

    —Christopher Stewart, Director of Stanford

    SCAN Program (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect)

I can create speeches tailored to your organization’s needs, but here is a sampling of what I do:

SPEECHES FOR CLINICIANS , SOCIAL WORKERS AND EDUCATORS

The Power of Storytelling: How to Avoid Pathologizing and Empower Your Clients to Heal -Oklahoma Dept of Mental Health, Iowa Dept of Mental Health, Missouri Dept of Mental Health, Stanford Child Abuse Conference

Therapists come from a position of power and influence, and the story you tell your patients determines how they define themselves. How are ways that you can surrender power in session and help them tell empowering stories about themselves and their experiences? How do you depathologize their diagnosis? And are there ways in which we can radically change the therapy space to make it collaborative instead of directive?

Healing Refugee/Immigrant Communities Through Culturally Responsive Care - Idaho Office of Refugees, San Jose State

A talk tailored to those who work in placement and care for refugee populations, or therapy in immigrant communities. There is not enough support for the mental health of refugees and immigrants, who are often inherently traumatized by displacement and violence. How do we care for refugee populations specifically, especially when they may not have a Western understanding of psychoeducation? A talk with real solutions and success stories, with moving audio from refugees on their healing journey.

Why Love Isn’t Enough: Building a Safe Environment for Traumatized Kids - Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition, Texas Childcare Administrators Conference, County Welfare Directors Association of California

Raising foster and adoptive children can be a very difficult process. We want to think that if we shower them with love, that will be enough. But severely traumatized and abandoned children have specific needs in order to feel safe – here’s a short guide to helping provide them with some of those needs. I have versions of this talk for foster families and adoptive parents, as well as for administrators and clinicians. Told from the perspective of an abandoned child.

How to Recognize and Support Traumatized Students - East Side Union High School District, National Education Association Rhode Island, Chicago Private Schools

As a teacher, you never really know what your students may be going through. Some of them may be high achievers, but have you ever questioned what drives their achievement? Here’s how to build a safe school environment that allows your students to heal and to feel comfortable coming to you for their needs.

SPEECHES FOR CORPORATIONS

Leading with Empathy: Building Connection, Understanding and Resilience in the Workplace - Panasonic

In a world with increasing employee turnover, how do we make sure employees feel safe enough to stay? How to build positive, supportive and healthy teams that will be both productive and resilient.

Managing Your Mental Health in the Anthropocene - NPR, Third Coast Festival

Capitalism, bad news, the environment: it’s hard out here. How to manage a stressful job, a toxic news cycle… and stay sane.

The Model Minority Myth and Intergenerational Healing - Bank of Montreal (BMO)

A conversation specifically for the Asian community at BMO — how do you reckon with the model minority myth and the pressures it comes with, all while meeting expectations at work? The answer: healing yourself (and maybe even your family.)

World Building - Safety and Stability in AAPI Communities - Apple

Helped Apple’s marketing team create effective world building for AAPI month by interviewing Asian American thought leaders and exploring themes of intergenerational healing.

How to Find and Pitch A Great Story - University of California Santa Cruz, Knight Foundation

Selling something isn’t just about the product — it’s about the incredible story behind the product. Learn how to find and tell those stories, and you’re golden.

SPEECHES FOR STUDENTS AND JOURNALISTS

Getting the Mental Healthcare You Deserve - Owens Community College

A talk on how to find the best therapist for you, how best to work with and communicate with them to get them to cater to your needs, how to try different kinds of therapy, and a brief exploration of therapy that doesn’t feel like therapy, for people who hate therapy. A talk for anyone looking to navigate the mental healthcare landscape with more agency. 

Managing Your Mental Health in the Anthropocene - NPR, Third Coast Festival

Capitalism, bad news, the environment: it’s hard out here. How to manage a stressful job, a toxic news cycle… and stay sane.

How to Report on Mental Health Respectfully -  Knight Center

A talk for journalists/writers on how to report on mental health while protecting the populations they’re writing about – by not pathologizing them, providing hope and solutions, and using respectful language and appropriate storytelling. 

Getting It Right – Blending Personal Narrative with Reporting - She Writes Class, Unexpected Shape Writing Academy

If your memoir writing centers around the identity groups you belong to, there’s a lot of pressure to “get it right” and be fairly and accurately representative. How to blend personal narrative and reporting to create a story that feels honest to you – and fair to the people it represents.

Not Broken: How to Heal and Harness the Power of Your Trauma - Google News Initiative/Video Consortium, 2022

We often think that our traumas make us weaker. They can absolutely make life more difficult — there’s no minimizing that. But they don’t make us broken, and in many ways, they can even make us more powerful, and give us talents others don’t. Some tips on how to heal from our trauma and reframe it to understand its nuance.

Decolonized Therapy: Healing Ourselves and Our Communities - San Jose State University

How do we reimagine therapy to cater to populations who historically are threatened by and reject Western psychoanalysis? A talk for immigrant students about how to advocate for boundaries with Asian parents, how to get them help, how culturally responsive therapy works, and how to heal your own trauma wounds while still embracing your culture.

How to Find and Pitch Great Stories - PRX, Columbia University, The Brooklyn Public Library, Salt

Being able to find meaningful stories that will relate to audiences is an evergreen skill that basically guarantees you a job in a newsroom. How do we develop this skill? From Snap Judgment and This American Life’s pinch-hitter — my boss used to say, “If you need to find a story, just Foogle it.” A crash course in becoming a story finding fiend.

UNIVERSITY GUEST LECTURES

Owens Community College, 2023

University of California, Santa Cruz, Stevenson College Commencement Speech, 2020

UCSC, 2020

Vassar, 2016

Columbia, 2016, 2019

CUNY, 2015, 2016

SELECT PANELS, PRESENTATIONS and WORKSHOPS

Customer Slurvice: a funny reported story about customer service for the very drunk, Pop-Up Magazine, dozens of locations from 2017-2024, including Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Apple and Aspen Snowmass.

Mental health and journalism: How journalists can responsibly report on it and take care of themselves, MOOC, Knight Foundation, 2022

8-week Intensive Podcast Course, Columbia University, 2020

12-week Intensive Podcast Course, Brooklyn Public Library, 2020

Two-day Podcasting Intensive Workshop, Columbia University, 2019, 2020

The Podcasting Revolution: Women in Podcasting panel, Barnard College, 2019

The Kennedy Center Arts Summit, Washington D.C., 2019

Weeklong radio storytelling course, Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, 2019

Yale’s THREAD Storytelling Conference, New Haven, 2016, 2017, 2018

"Asian Americans in Media" Panel with George Takei, New York, 2017

AAJA (Asian American Journalists’ Association) Conference Pitch Panel: 2017, 2015

Berkeley J-School Pitch Panel, 2016, 2015

Third Coast Pitch Panel, Chicago, 2016

BinderCon, New York, 2015, 2016

"Launching Shortcut" Panel, Columbia, 2016

Tow Fellows Lunch, Columbia, 2016

Columbia J-School Audio Renaissance Panel, Columbia University, 2015

Alaska Press Club Conference, Anchorage, 2015

Audio Hackathon, New York, 2015

JAWS (Journalism and Women Symposium), Whitefish, MT, 2015

Transom Story Workshop, Cape Cod, 2015

Soundcloud's TechRaking Four, San Francisco, 2013

“Musicians’ Tribute to Public Radio,” Noise Pop Festival, San Francisco, 2012