Claire Von Cleveland — Keynote Speaker
The credential
is the life.
I don't speak from research. I speak from proximity — to systems, to institutions, to people the world keeps trying to exclude, and to my own experience of building and losing and rebuilding from scratch.
I have spoken at events sponsored by KPMG, Shell, LNG Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, and Encana. I hold certifications from Harvard and the University of California Berkeley in organisational health and the science of happiness at work, and am a Certified Neurodiversity Professional. I have received two Certificates of Congressional Recognition and one Certificate from the California Legislative Assembly for my work in disability employment and inclusion.
Available for conferences, nonprofit events, corporate leadership programmes, panels, and private gatherings. Calm, honest, and willing to say the thing the room is thinking but hasn't said yet.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTE
What I speak about.
Probation by Another Name
Redemption in Theory, Discrimination in Practice
If redemption is conditional on optics, it is not redemption. It is probation by another name.
We say we believe in redemption. We build organisations around it, fund it, brand it, and celebrate it at galas. And then, quietly, procedurally, with professional language and a smile — we enforce the opposite.
Formerly incarcerated people are excluded from housing, employment, financial services, and leadership roles — not through malice but through optics management, donor capture, and image-first governance inside the very organisations that exist to serve them. Survivor narratives are welcomed for fundraising and refused for autonomy. Families absorb collateral damage that institutions call "a business decision."
This talk names the gap between the language and the practice — and asks what it would actually cost to close it.
WHAT AUDIENCES LEAVE WITH
A name for the pattern —Optics-based exclusion, donor capture, and image-first governance identified precisely so it can be challenged.
The structural argument —Why shame is produced by these systems, and why it directly opposes the outcomes organisations claim to seek.
A practical question —What genuine commitment to redemption would actually require in hiring, governance, and the stories an organisation chooses to tell.
WHY NOW
As DEI commitments face increasing scrutiny and reentry organisations scale their public profiles, the gap between stated values and institutional practice has never been more visible — or more costly to ignore.
Read the essay this talk is drawn from:
Speaker One Sheet — download and forward to your programme committee.
THIS TALK IS FOR
Justice reform & reentry conferences
Nonprofit & foundation leadership
DEI and institutional integrity summits
Social impact investors & mission boards
Executive retreats on organisational values
FORMATS
Keynote (45–60 min)
Panel & moderated conversation
Half-day leadership workshop
Podcast & media interview
ALSO AVAILABLE
The Art of Clickbait — When Trauma Travels Faster Than Meaning
Those Who Guard the Silence — Shame, Masculinity, and Who Is Allowed to Speak
In the room.
Claire has spoken at events for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and leadership conferences across North America and the UK.
From the moment that Claire took to the stage, we knew that we were going to witness a first-hand accounting of a traumatic event. Her story touched many in the room. It was raw and authentic, and each word was chosen thoughtfully and carefully. The room was still — you could have heard a pin drop. I would not hesitate to recommend Claire to any organisation seeking a speaker who can share such a personal experience with such a worthwhile message.
Judy Kucharuk Special Events Manager · Encana Events CentreSpeaking enquiries.
BOOK CLAIRE