Sierra Grandy

In this customizable presentation, participants will gain a foundational understanding of neurodiversity and its significance in the workplace. With an emphasis on how neurodiversity fits into a larger conversation about disability. The session begins with an interactive introduction, followed by an exploration of neurodiversity, the role it plays in our professional lives, and strategies for fostering an inclusive work environment. Participants will also discover (and rediscover) self-care techniques to support their well-being while advocating for neurodivergent colleagues and clients. With a focus on actionable insights and open discussion, this workshop equips professionals to champion neurodiversity and create more supportive, inclusive workplaces.

Join Sierra Grandy in an insightful and vulnerable session on mental health recovery. Sierra will share her mental health recovery journey, from growing up in and out of mental health hospitals, receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) while still in high school, losing a year of my memory due to the ECT side effects, developing additional medical conditions, dropping out of college twice, and ultimately getting the support and skills necessary to start her mental health recovery journey. This presentation will explore the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s (SAMHSA) working definition of recovery, emphasizing the key dimensions of Health, Home, Purpose, and Community. Sierra will explore the vital roles of both formal and informal support systems, illustrating how they can be integrated to create effective, creative, and individualized recovery plans.

In this engaging and interactive session, Sierra will share her passion for leveraging evidence-based techniques to add a sense of adventure, accomplishment, and fun to everyday life, Sierra will briefly outline some foundations of gamification and positive psychology and how they can be applied to develop a personalized “Questify Your Life” system. The tone of this presentation is playful, courageous, and inspirational. You’ll learn Sierra’s three-step process for quest creation: establishing your character, designing fulfilling quests, and mapping your journey. She’ll provide real-world examples from her own life experience to illustrate how to implement the system and will lead the audience through interactive quest design exercises. These stories are directly tied to her mental health recovery and disability journey as well as her disability advocacy work.