Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 09/27/2024.
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.
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 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.
This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.
All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.
If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.