Speaking & Topics

Talks that make a room see each other.

Every talk blends two decades of frontline experience with research and real, anonymized human stories — built so your audience leaves moved and equipped. Each is available in any format below and tailored to your event.

Check Ruby's availability → Speaker one-sheet (PDF) ↓
Ruby Mathen speaking on stage at a professional event
Flagship keynotes
Flagship Keynote 01

Beyond Four Walls: Housing & Healing

For agencies · housing & mental-health providers · policymakers · case managers

You can't treat mental health effectively without addressing housing — and you can't keep stable housing while a mental-health crisis goes unanswered. Drawing on 20+ years leading a supportive-housing program, Ruby shows what integrated, trauma-informed care actually looks like when systems are siloed and resources are thin.

  • The bidirectional link between housing instability and mental health
  • Trauma-informed housing support that works in the real world
  • Coordinating wraparound care across systems that don't talk
  • Spotting the early warning signs in either direction
KeynoteWorkshopTrainingPanel
Flagship Keynote 02

How Are We Connected? Finding Humanity Beyond Diagnosis

For conferences · universities · healthcare & helping professions · general audiences

A moving, story-driven keynote about seeing the whole person — beyond labels, diagnoses, and anyone's worst moment. Through unforgettable stories from 20+ years in mental health, Ruby invites audiences to trade “what's wrong with them?” for a question that changes everything.

  • Change the question: from difference to connection
  • Challenge the stigma hiding in everyday language
  • See the whole person, not the chart
  • Build connection instead of distance — and why it heals
KeynoteUniversitiesWebinar
More signature talks

Choose the conversation your audience needs

03

The Heart Behind the Work

For social-work & healthcare teams · agencies · helpers

The people who carry everyone else are quietly burning out. Ruby opens with the morning she couldn't get out of her car — then gives helping professionals honest, practical permission to sustain a career without losing themselves.

  • Recognize burnout and compassion fatigue early
  • Set boundaries without guilt
  • Why “self-care” alone won't fix a systemic problem
KeynoteWorkshop
04

Unspoken: The Desi Experience

For South Asian & faith communities · DEI programs · universities

South Asian mental health, stigma, identity, and the cost of living between two worlds — a conversation many communities have never been invited into. Honest, culturally grounded, and full of compassion for every generation in the room.

  • The “model minority” burden and why success can hide pain
  • When the body speaks emotional pain (somatization)
  • Collectivist values and Western therapy — bridging the gap
  • Finding culturally responsive care
KeynoteCommunityPanel
05

From Compassion Fatigue to Collective Strength

For teams · agencies · conferences

We were never meant to do this work alone. Ruby turns the isolation that drives burnout into a practical playbook for resilience — for individuals and for the teams around them.

  • Break the silos that quietly fuel burnout
  • Peer support that actually sticks
  • Team habits that protect people and outcomes
WorkshopTraining
06

Leadership With Empathy

For nonprofit & agency leaders · managers · HR

Culture is the difference between a team that lasts and one that leaves. Drawing on her own leadership of a multidisciplinary program, Ruby shows leaders how to protect front-line staff, reduce turnover, and build a workplace where people — and outcomes — thrive.

  • Build culturally responsive, trauma-informed teams
  • Protect front-line staff from burnout
  • Lead change without losing the human being inside the work
KeynoteHalf-dayFull-day
Session formats

However your event is built, there's a fit

Keynote 45–60 min

High-energy talk with Q&A — ideal to open or close a conference or annual meeting.

Interactive Workshop 2–4 hrs

Case studies, small-group discussion, and practical skill-building with workbook materials.

Half-Day Training 3–4 hrs

Didactic content, exercises, real-world cases, and action planning, with resources.

Full-Day Intensive 6–7 hrs

Multiple modules, skill practice, case consultation, and a certificate of completion.

Panel 60–90 min

Ruby as expert panelist, facilitating dialogue on housing, mental health, or cultural competency.

Webinar 60–90 min

Virtual presentation with polling, interaction, and Q&A — recording provided.

Every talk is tailored to you

Ruby customizes examples, focus, and interactivity to your audience, region, and theme — and offers non-profit rates. Booking 3–6 months ahead is recommended.

Start a conversation →
Praise

Audiences remember Ruby long after the room clears.

“Her real-world examples and practical strategies gave us tools we used immediately.” — the kind of feedback Ruby's sessions earn.

Featured testimonials from recent engagements are being added here. Booked Ruby before? Share your experience →

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Let's find the right talk for your audience.

Tell Ruby about your event — she'll help shape the session that fits.

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