National Grief Awareness Day: Conversations on Loss, Healing and Human Connection

30 Aug 2026

Grief is often treated as something private, linear or separate from everyday life. But for anyone who has experienced loss, caregiving, illness or major change, grief can become part of how we move through the world, shaping relationships, work, health and the way we understand ourselves.

National Grief Awareness Day, observed on August 30, creates space for more honest conversations about loss and healing. It is a reminder that grief does not follow a single timeline—and that support, language, community and compassion can make a meaningful difference.

APB speakers bring powerful perspectives to these conversations through personal storytelling, advocacy, humor, caregiving experiences and emotional honesty. Their work helps audiences feel less alone while offering new ways to think about resilience, connection and moving forward.

Speakers Who Bring Honest Perspective to Grief and Healing

Nora McInerny

Bestselling author, podcast host and TED speaker Nora is known for helping audiences make space for emotional honesty and difficult conversations. Through her podcasts Thanks for Asking and It’s Going To Be OK, as well as her viral TED Talk, “We Don’t Move On From Grief, We Move Forward With It,” she relates to listeners with authenticity and empathy.

Kate Doerge

Co-Founder and CEO of Penny’s Flight Foundation, Kate shares how unimaginable loss can be reimagined into purpose, connection and strength. After losing her daughter Penny to neurofibromatosis, she launched Penny’s Flight Foundation and now helps audiences find personal, active and life-affirming ways to move through grief.

Molly Jong-Fast

New York Times bestselling author, award-winning host of Fast Politics and author of How to Lose Your Mother, Molly brings humor, vulnerability and insight to the emotional realities of caregiving, family responsibility and loss, including the slow grief that can come with Alzheimer’s, dementia and watching a loved one change over time.

Marisa Renee Lee

Bestselling author of Grief Is Love and Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty, Marisa helps audiences move through grief without forced positivity or easy answers. Her work centers on honesty, self-compassion and the quiet strength it takes to keep going through hard seasons with grace, even when healing feels uncertain or incomplete. 

Creating Space for Compassionate Conversations

Grief touches every community, family and workplace. It can be shaped by illness, caregiving, death, trauma, transition or the many quiet losses people carry with them every day.

For healthcare organizations and communities, National Grief Awareness Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the emotional realities that surround care, loss and healing. Thoughtful programming can help audiences feel seen, supported and better equipped to show compassion for themselves and others.

Interested in booking a speaker for National Grief Awareness Day? Get in touch with our team, who can help you find the right voice for your audience.