Stacey Bess Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Stacey Bess      

Award-Winning Educator; Keynote Speaker; Advocate for Homeless Youth

Stacey Bess is an award-winning educator with great insight into the hearts of children in need. She believes that the way to most effectively teach children any subject is to treat them with love and kindness. Audiences around the nation have discovered the treasure of Bess and the magic she works with children.

Bess began her teaching career at The School With No Name located inside the Salt Lake City shelter where she taught math, reading, and self worth to homeless and transient children. By the end of her first term she was discouraged and often distraught by the circumstances facing the children who were so easy to love, but whose lives were so insecure. Often she wanted to give up, but decided the children deserved her best efforts. While working at The School With No Name, Bess chronicled the heart-wrenching stories of her students so she would never forget how far these children had come. After reviewing the stories, she discovered profound life-lessons and eventually published a book, Nobody Don’t Love Nobody.

After Bess published her first book and gained the support of the Utah community, people began to notice Bess and her unusual success with “hopeless” children. She has won prestigious local and national awards. A highlight came when she was honored with the esteemed National Jefferson Award, along with First Lady Barbara Bush, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackman and Ambassador Walter Annenberg.

A dynamic keynote speaker, Bess engages groups large and small, sharing the lessons she learned that changed her life as she taught hundreds of homeless children. Her story continues to change lives as her audiences are inspired to become involved in their communities. Bess and her husband Greg have been married 41 years and have six children. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Utah. She continues to be a leading advocate in the nation for the educational rights of impoverished children.

Speech Topics


Beating Thyroid Cancer

Toughen Up & Reach Them: Making a Difference When No One Else Will

On Service: What Do We Owe Each Other?

From the Classroom to the Boardroom: Leadership Lessons for Women

All women have a story to tell. Speaker Stacey Bess engages her audiences by sharing her personal story of triumph over all odds to create a school for underprivileged children. She challenges her audiences to use their own trials and triumphs to make a difference in their communities. Bess teaches women that it is important to commit to what you believe in: don't be afraid to stand up and make a difference!

Overcoming the Odds: Lessons from the School with No Name

Powerful and dynamic, speaker Stacey Bess engages groups by sharing the story that changed her life as she taught and nurtured hundreds of underprivileged children. She speaks on the importance of service, mentorship and leadership, and overcoming adversity. Drawing on her fascinating and inspirational personal story - teaching homeless children in a small shed known as "The School with No Name" - she offers powerful insights and lessons that inspire audiences to become more involved in their own communities.

Be a Mentor, Change a Life

In this presentation, speaker Stacey Bess offers three powerful lessons that can change the life of a child, build and empower a family, and improve a community. She shares these lessons by recounting stories as seen through the eyes of underprivileged children.

Lesson one: Follow through with what you commit to. Bess tells this story through the eyes of Zachary who needed just one person to teach him it was okay to trust. Lesson two: Don't hide behind your credentials - get down on the floor and be a human being. Bess shares this story through the eyes of Alex and an NBA basketball star. Lesson three: We are a product of what has been given to us. Bess tells this story through the eyes of Sarah, a homeless woman on the streets who used an angry demeanor to protect herself. By simply giving her a coat, Bess was able to change Sarah's outlook and take her into her community, helping Sarah learn that when you are part of a community, you willingly give back to it.

Related Speakers View all


More like Stacey