Speaking and Keynotes
Belonging, Care, and Leadership in High-Pressure Systems
I speak to colleges, universities, churches, and campus ministries regarding how people care for one another when the help systems around them are strained. And more importantly, how to do that without burnout, panic, or self-betrayal.
Signature Talk:
Belonging Saves Lives: How Trauma-Informed Belonging Helps People Survive Identity Shifts, Grief, and Relational Strains
Overview
In today's world, belonging has been compromised. And our communities are paying the price. In crisis-saturated environments, care has quietly shifted onto individuals without the structures, skills, or shared responsibility needed to keep it going.
Belonging Saves Lives reframes what trauma-informed belonging looks like now. It offers clarity about limits, compassion, and how communities can respond to suffering without burning out their people or abandoning those in need.
What audiences gain
Language for responding to distress without panic or overreach
Clear distinctions between care, control, and responsibility
A healthier, more sustainable vision of community care
Formats
Keynote or interactive workshop · 45–90 minutes · In-person or virtual
This Talk is Well-Suited For:
- College and University Students
- College and University Faculty & Staff
- Organizational and Community Leaders
- Faith communities
Additional Talks and Contexts
[These talks apply a trauma-informed understanding of belonging to specific institutional and communal contexts.]
Colleges and Universities
- Caring for Your People When the Stakes Are High: Leadership, Listening, and Responding When a Peer Is Struggling
- You are Not the Therapist: Supporting Students or Residents Without Burning Out or Overstepping Boundaries
- When Toughing it Out Stops Working: Mental Health, Performance, and Permission to ask for Help
Churches and Campus Ministries
- Belonging Without Betrayal: Faith, Identity, and Staying Connected Without Losing Yourself
- Permission as a Spiritual Practice: Why Faith Communities Must Make Room for Grief, Doubt, Lament, and Change
- Hospitality as Holy Resistance: Reimagining Welcome as a Spiritual and Justice Practice
Customization and Collaboration
All talks are shaped in collaboration with your community’s goals, needs, and context. Workshops, retreats, and multi-session formats are also available.
Invite Kat to Speak
If you’re looking for a speaker who combines pastoral presence, systems thinking, and real-world experience in both higher education and faith-based settings, I’d love to chat with you!