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Michele Weldon      

Journalist & Award-Winning Author

Michele Weldon is a journalist, keynote speaker and award-winning author of six nonfiction books with more than four decades of experience in newspaper, magazine and digital journalism. She is emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School where she taught for 18 years and was co-director of TEDxNorthwesternU 2014.

Her award-winning books include “I Closed My Eyes“ (1999); “Writing To Save Your Life“ (2001); “Everyman News: The Changing American Front Page“ (2008); “Just Me and My Three Sons“ (2012); “Escape Points: A Memoir“ (2015) and “Act Like You’re Having A Good Time“ (2020), winner of the Independent Publishers Award 2021 for Nonfiction Essays. She has written chapters in seven other books and her seventh book, "The Time We Have: Essays On Pandemic Living", will be published in Fall 2023.

She is a senior leader with The OpEd Project, leading Public Voices Fellowships at more than 38 organizations globally including Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola, Cambridge and Rush universities, the Ms. Foundation, McCormick Foundation, Boone Family Foundation, Center for Global Policy Solutions and Urgent Action Fund Africa.

The author has delivered more than 200 keynotes and appeared on scores of TV and radio outlets globally including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today Show, BBC, ABC-TV and CNN. A frequent contributor on issues of gender, media and popular culture, her work appears in hundreds of sites including New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, TIME, Forbes, Christian Science Monitor, Guardian, Slate, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and more. An award-winning live storyteller on stages across the country, she came in second place in The Moth Grand Slam in 2012.

Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, a global women's leadership initiative and serves on the advisory boards of Global Girl Media Chicago, Between Friends, Sarah’s Inn, The Children’s Foundation and Beat The Streets Chicago. A former member of the board of directors of Journalism & Women Symposium, she is the mother of three sons and lives in the Chicago area.

Speech Topics


Women’s Issues, Parenting Issues

She is One Of Us: The Pervasiveness of Domestic Violence

The Young & The Fearless: Addressing & Preventing Domestic Violence Among Teens

Mythbusters: Everything You Need to Know about Domestic Violence Facts

The Courage to Tell: How Telling Your Story Empowers Others

A World of Good Men: How Mentoring Can Help Stop Domestic Violence

The Life After: What Comes Next After Domestic Violence

Truth Is An Ally: Living Authentically

I Love the Way You Lie: How Popular Culture Distorts Relationships

Raising Children Alone: Finding Support in Community and Power in Yourself

How To Raise Good Men In A Society That Damns Them

Living Honestly and Authentically

No More Juggling Acts: Swap Your Priorities

You Can Do It All-- Some of The Time

Writing, Media & Journalism

A Memoir Is More Than Writing Memories

Undercovered Issues in Media Today: Where Are All The Voices?

Social Media Musts: How Twitter and Facebook are Critical Journalistic Tools

The Gender Gap in Media Voices

Achieving Excellence in Writing

How to Turn Your Idea Into A Book

The Architecture of Story

The Thread of Narrative in Publishing from Blogs to Books in a Storytelling Culture

How Your Media Brand Can Excel

Training Executives to Deal with Media

How to Interview for Media Content

Creating a Portfolio Career as a Writer

You News: The Role of the Individual in Today’s Media

Disruptive Change in 21st Century Media and What it Means To You

Chasing Audiences to Tell Your Story

Writing For Food: Diversifying Your Talents as a Writer

The Latest 20 Trends in Media Today

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