Event Resources – About Laura
Laura’s Biography
In terms of a bio, we invite you to start with the information on our website and then edit it down to include the details that will best resonate with your group.
Or, feel free to work from this version:
Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, founder and director of The Trauma Stewardship Institute and author of Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others, has worked directly with trauma survivors for more than three decades.
She has worked with groups as diverse as zookeepers and reconstruction workers in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, community organizers and health care providers in Japan, U.S. Air Force pilots, Canadian firefighters, public school teachers, private practice doctors, tiny non-profits, massive state agencies, libraries, the Pentagon, alternative colleges, and Ivy League universities. Much of her work is being invited to assist in the aftermath of community catastrophes–whether they are fatal storms or mass shootings. She has worked locally, nationally, and internationally. Laura is known as a pioneer in the field of trauma exposure.
Laura is on the advisory board of ZGiRLS, an organization that supports young girls in sports. She is a founding member of the International Transformational Resilience Network, which supports the development of capacity to address climate change. Laura also served as an associate producer of the award-winning film A Lot Like You, and was given a Yo! Mama award in recognition of her work as a community-activist mother.
Laura’s new book, The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul is now available for order.
Headshots
Curriculum Vitae
I was introduced to the concept of trauma stewardship when I skeptically attended one of Laura’s trainings. I was concerned that it was going to be a discussion about the difficulty and hazards of our work that ultimately ended being a glorified venting session.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Laura is a veteran of the work that we do and has a personal understanding of the cost associated with helping others through trauma. I left the training with real tools and a true respect for Laura’s ability to teach. Knowledge and wisdom don’t often travel in the same person. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky is willing and able to impart a great deal of both.