Speaking · Workshops · Consulting

Lived experience isn't a footnote. It's the expertise.

Katherine Haley has stood at every level of the issues she speaks on — as someone with lived experience, as a frontline practitioner, and as a researcher. That rare vantage turns hard stories into resilience, belonging, and real systems change.

Brown University graduate MSW candidate, UConn First-generation

Why Katherine

"The people closest to a problem belong in the room where it gets solved."
01

Lived experience

Recovery, disability, poverty, grief, and justice-system involvement — not as theory, but as a life navigated and rebuilt.

02

Direct practice

Frontline work in recovery support, disability advocacy, and higher education — the day-to-day reality of serving people.

03

Research

Community-based research and an MSW focused on accessibility, human rights, and systems change — evidence that holds up.

Signature keynote

Beyond Survival

How recovery, resilience, and the courage to rebuild become a blueprint for leadership — for anyone who has been counted out and decided to lead anyway.

Keynotes

Story-driven talks that move an audience and leave them with a frame they can act on — not just a feeling.

Workshops

Working sessions where teams pressure-test their assumptions and design more inclusive, human-centered practice.

Consulting

Advisory work that brings lived experience and research together to shape policy, programs, and accessible communities.

Who books Katherine

Built for the rooms that want the real thing

Universities & student affairs Recovery & behavioral health organizations Disability & accessibility offices Nonprofits & advocacy groups Social work & human services teams Conferences & convenings Foundations & funders

Have a date, an audience, and a reason to gather?

Tell Katherine what you're planning. She'll reply with availability and a fit for your audience.

Submit an inquiry