Substance Abuse Speakers

Christopher Kennedy Lawford

Born into the Kennedy dynasty, Lawford was destined to do great things: he became a successful actor, lawyer, activist, writer, and speaker. But he also battled drug and alcohol addiction, and overcame a Hepatitis C diagnosis. In addition to sharing his extraordinary journey overcoming alcohol and drug abuse, he raises awar ...

Augusten Burroughs

An acclaimed author, he had a very unusual childhood – a childhood that America has come to know in his best-selling memoir Running with Scissors that spent more than four years on The New York Times bestseller list, spawned an Oscar nominated film starring Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin and Gwyneth Paltrow, a ...

David Sheff

Renowned journalist David Sheff is the author of Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction, a New York Times non-fiction bestseller. In it, he tells the story of his harrowing struggle to help his son Nic overcome his methamphetamine addiction from the father’s and family’s point of vie ...

Nicolas Sheff

In a voice that is raw and honest, he spares no detail in telling the compelling, heartbreaking, and true story of his relapse and the road to recovery. He plunges into the mental and physical depths of drug addiction, painting a picture of a person at odds with his past, with his family, with his substances, and with himse ...

Judy Collins

Legendary folk singer, social activist, and best-selling author, Collins continues to chronicle life in her narration and song. But, she has also faced personal tragedy with the loss of her son to suicide. Articulating her story of survival with grace and dignity, she shares a deeply moving journey of renewal and redempti ...

Koren Zailckas

Author of The New York Times bestseller Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood, Zailckas chronicles her experiences with alcohol abuse as a teenager and high school student. Her story is one of the most riveting firsthand accounts of addiction. It combines insightful observations into the national culture of a ...

David Satcher

As the 16th Surgeon General, Dr. Satcher encouraged public debate about issues including mental health, bioterrorism, sex education, AIDS, tobacco, obesity, and balancing the community healthcare system. As the force behind creating Healthy People 2010, the nation's health agenda, he works to eliminate racial disparities in ...

Richard Dreyfuss

Oscar winner Dreyfuss has taught at Oxford, studied a wide range of subjects from history to politics, and is a driving force in the movement to bring civics back into the classrooms as well as creating a knowledgeable and engaged citizenry in America.

Rain Pryor

Rain Pryor is a dynamic speaker, spokesperson, award-winning actress, singer, writer, comedian, and a producer. Now that's quite a few hats to wear, but they all fit and every one of them reflects her eclectic mix of Judaism and her African American roots. One of Pryor’s mentors told her: "if you wait for the world to com ...

Jamie Lee Curtis

An award winning actress and best-selling author of seven children's books, Curtis is a woman with many talents. She has demonstrated her versatility as a film actress with starring roles in such acclaimed films as the blockbuster True Lies opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, for which she earned a Golden Globe Award.

Michael Patrick MacDonald

Author of the incendiary New York Times bestselling memoir All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, and the companion bestseller Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion, MacDonald shares his remarkable story of survival and redemption while examining the tangled relationship between poverty and c ...

William Cope Moyers

William C. Moyers is Vice President of External Affairs for the Hazelden Foundation, based in Minnesota. For the past decade, he has committed himself to helping people, families and communities understand the power of addiction and the promise and possibility of recovery. Moyers uses his own personal experiences to carry t ...

Lonise Bias

Mother of college basketball star Len Bias, who died of a cocaine overdose, and James Bias, who was murdered in a drive-by shooting. Aims to save a generation from self-destruction by fighting violence and drugs.

Jeff Henderson

South Central Los Angeles native “Chef Jeff” is an award-winning chef and public speaker who went form crack dealer to top chef, making him a star in the kitchen and in the media.

Alvin Poussaint

A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Poussaint is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who is renowned as an expert and educated crusader for the African American family within our multicultural society. He has worked closely with Bill Cosby, serving as an advisor on The Cosby Show, and has par ...

Mohammed Bilal

Cast member of MTV's The Real World. AIDS Activist. He is also a diversity consultant, a musician, a poet, and an extraordinary writer who educates audiences about some of today’s greatest social problems. He is also a facilitator of over 300 diversity presentations and workshops worldwide

Jeffrey Wigand

As a tobacco control and ethics crusader, and the highest-ranking former tobacco industry executive ever to address public health and safety, Dr. Wigand's story was the inspiration for the award-winning movie, The Insider, starring Russell Crowe. A true proponent of proper business ethics, Wigand moves audiences with his co ...

Richard Carmona

As the 17th Surgeon General, Dr. Carmona developed comprehensive knowledge of the environmental influences on healthy living today. He offers a close look at the epidemic of asthma in young children as well as other issues directly related to the state of our environment and how we can work towards not only a healthy body, ...

Jim Belushi

Actor, entertainer, comedy legend and celebrity speaker, Jim Belushi offers insight into the “sensitive real man” he’s portrayed on the hit show, According to Jim while sharing his humorous perspective on life and the male/female relationship. Whether acting, entertaining with The Sacred Hearts Band, or speaki ...

Tom Arnold

As a writer, producer, and actor, he has established himself with television and film audiences worldwide, having won such awards as the Peabody Award for writing, and a Golden Globe for writing and producing. Additionally, he helped put Fox Sports Network on the map with his hosting duties on Best Damn Sports Show Peri ...