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Michael Patrick MacDonald

Best-Selling Author

Best-Selling Author

Travels From Travels From:
New York, NY, USA
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Michael Patrick MacDonald Biography

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, a neighborhood that held the highest concentration of white poverty in the United States. After losing four of his eleven siblings and seeing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, addiction and incarceration, he learned to transform personal and community trauma by becoming a leading Boston activist, organizer and writer.

MacDonald is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, All Souls: A Family Story From Southie and the acclaimed Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion. These two books are often selected as First Year Experience reads, for which MacDonald is available to speak at colleges and universities. He has been awarded an American Book Award, A New England Literary Lights Award and a fellowship at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center. MacDonald has written a number of essays and short stories, including The Resurrection of Cornelius Larkin and An Immigrant’s Tale, written for the Dropkick Murphy’s theme album “Going Out in Style.” He is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe’s Op Ed page and is currently writing a series with Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism regarding the 40th anniversary of busing and ongoing race and class issues in Greater Boston.

As an activist, MacDonald has focused his efforts on multi-cultural coalition building to reduce violence and promote grassroots leadership from our most impacted communities. He has developed Gun Buyback programs and local support groups, which give voice to adult and youth survivors of poverty, violence and the drug trade. MacDonald is on many local and national boards, including the Children’s Defense Fund’s Beat The Odds Essay Selection Committee, Crittenton Women’s Union National Advisory Committee and Families First of Greater Boston Advisory Board.

Michael Patrick MacDonald serves as Author-in-Residence at Northeastern University’s Honors Department, where he teaches his curricula: “Non-Fiction Writing & Social Justice Issues” and “The North of Ireland: Conflict, Reconciliation, and a Lasting Peace with Justice" every fall. He is also a Guest Lecturer at California State University, Northridge CA during the spring and at The University of Mannheim in the summer.

MacDonald is currently completing the screenplay for All Souls and is working on his third book, which will use narrative non-fiction storytelling to reveal issues of trans-generational trauma in our communities. In addition, he has developed a community-based writing and healing curriculum, Transforming Trauma: Finding Your Voice, which is currently being used with the Crittenton Women’s Union in Boston to help women who are transitioning out of poverty find their voices on the page and in the world.

As a speaker, MacDonald passionately and knowledgeably addresses a wide range of topics, including finding your voice, transforming trauma into leadership, race and the unspoken issue of class, grassroots organizing to reduce guns, violence and drugs in America, and other current topics personal to him, such as the Whitey Bulger case. Audiences will hear personal stories from MacDonald and be inspired to participate in the creative process of building a strong, better community.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 09/27/2024.

Michael Patrick MacDonald Speaking Topics

  • Cross-Cultural Community Building

  • Organizing to Reduce Violence & Drug Use

  • Our Common Ground: Race & the Unspoken Issue of Class in America

  • The Legacy of South Boston Crime Boss Whitey Bulger

  • Using Circle Process as a Technique for Creating the Space to Tell Our Stories (Workshop)

    In this workshop, Michael Patrick MacDonald provides specific answers to the following question: how do we allow our young people the space to find their voice • first, to find their voice to tell their story at their own pace, completely owning every step they take in that process, and then to find their voice in the world? Speaker Michael Patrick MacDonald says we must begin by listening, something he does with his Circle Process. Circle Process (literally "sitting in a circle") creates a space without hierarchy where we all feel listened to and where we lose separation, gain empathy for the other, and find company in our stories. It’s all about constructing our narratives, owning our narratives, and finding ways to connect with others through our stories and theirs. From MacDonald’s own experience and his observation of young people healing from past trauma, this has proven to be a powerful way forward in the aftermath of trauma.

  • Finding Your Voice: Helping Young People Transform Trauma into Leadership

    Michael Patrick MacDonald is the author of two best-selling coming-of-age memoirs: All Souls: A Family Story from Southie and Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion. Both deal with the issues he experienced growing up in South Boston's Old Colony Housing Project, an area found to have the highest concentration of white poverty in America and some of Boston's highest death rates from substance abuse and its attendant violence (including suicide). Having lost four siblings to poverty, violence, and the drug trade, MacDonald has used his personal story to promote a conversation about trauma in the lives of young people and about the possibility for individual healing and community-wide change.

    Before becoming a full-time writer, MacDonald worked as a community organizer, helping to build coalitions to reduce substance abuse and street violence by promoting leadership from among those most impacted by the drug trade. "Finding Your Voice" uses stories from his own teen years to illustrate the impact of poverty and trauma (specifically violence and drug abuse) on young people and the transformative power of empathy and listening among service providers and therapists. This lecture strives to help youth workers and service providers:

Michael Patrick MacDonald Videos

Michael Patrick MacDonald Books

  • All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
    All Souls: A Family Story from Southie

FAQs on booking Michael Patrick MacDonald

  • How do I book Michael Patrick MacDonald to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Michael Patrick MacDonald for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Michael Patrick MacDonald, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Michael Patrick MacDonald or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Michael Patrick MacDonald

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  • What topics does Michael Patrick MacDonald speak about?

    Michael Patrick MacDonald is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Authors, College, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Health, Inspirational, Journalism, Literary, Motivational, News & Media, Political.
  • Where does Michael Patrick MacDonald travel from?

    Michael Patrick MacDonald generally travels from New York, NY, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Michael Patrick MacDonald’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Michael Patrick MacDonald for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Michael Patrick MacDonald for your next private or corporate function.
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    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Michael Patrick MacDonald or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
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    If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Michael Patrick MacDonald is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Cross-Cultural Community Building, Organizing to Reduce Violence & Drug Use, Our Common Ground: Race & the Unspoken Issue of Class in America, The Legacy of South Boston Crime Boss Whitey Bulger, Using Circle Process as a Technique for Creating the Space to Tell Our Stories (Workshop) and Finding Your Voice: Helping Young People Transform Trauma into Leadership. The estimated speaking fee range to book Michael Patrick MacDonald for your event is $20,000 - $30,000. Michael Patrick MacDonald generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are John Zogby, Kevin Powell, Victoria Rowell, Juan Williams and Asra Nomani. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Michael Patrick MacDonald for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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