THE VALUE OF
LIVED EXPERIENCE ADVOCACY
across boards, committees, commissions, and advisory groups
At Lived Experience Advisors, we train advocates in trauma-informed care with a dual focus: preparing them to support others while also caring for themselves. Our approach recognizes that many advocates carry their own lived experiences of trauma, so we prioritize emotional safety, boundaries, and self-care as essential components of training. Advocates learn how to engage with compassion and resilience, understand the impact of trauma on others, and navigate difficult systems—all while being equipped with tools to manage their own well-being. This ensures they are both effective in their roles and supported in their journey.
Our professional speakers are experienced in presenting, consulting and community speaking. Click here to book our presenters today.
John Brady, Executive Director
With lived homeless experience, an MBA in Marketing & Operations, and an entertainment background, John brings a unique set of skills, passion and perspective while leading the Lived Experience Advisers. For 5 years, John has been an active advocate for the unsheltered in the San Diego area. In this role, he has become educated in many of the issues that are relevant to our homelessness crisis on a local and national level.
John's advocacy work had led to him becoming a media voice, cited in The San Diego Union Tribune, The Huffington Post, NBC 7, LA Times, and The Voice of San Diego, among many other media outlets. John is also a regular speaker at conferences, community groups, and governmental bodies. ​
Vanessa Graziano
Vanessa has been able to build solutions by changing the story and bringing in her own lived experience of struggling with addiction and being homeless out on the streets. Vanessa has 7 1/2 years clean and recovery from homelessness. In 2020 she decided to start doing out reach and recognized that there was no housing or programs to really help heal one from the inside. Vanessa opened up the only emergency shelter in Oceanside during Covid and moved it to Carlsbad. Vanessa is the founder of the Oceanside Homeless Resource which is a local nonprofit that is bridging different organizations to help families get off the streets. Along with education around radical recovery and the E4 trauma method.. The program has since turned into one built on community, purpose, love and Transformation.
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Julie Porter
Julie brings lived expertise and a deep sense of empathy to her role as a speaker and consultant. After experiencing homelessness in her late 50s, Julie has become a powerful voice in the movement to humanize housing insecurity. Featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune, she shares her personal story to challenge stereotypes and inspire policy change. Julie is passionate about advocacy, storytelling, and empowering others to see homelessness through a lens of dignity and possibility.
Natalie Raschke
Natalie Raschke is a dedicated advocate for individuals experiencing homelessness in San Diego, drawing from her personal experiences to drive systemic change. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Natalie and her husband faced significant challenges, including job losses that led them to relocate their family of six back to San Diego in an RV. This firsthand experience with homelessness motivated Natalie to become actively involved with Lived Experience Advisers (LEA), a nonprofit organization that amplifies the voices of those who have experienced homelessness. Through her work with LEA, she has been instrumental in raising awareness about the realities of homelessness in San Diego, emphasizing that many individuals experiencing homelessness are locals who have fallen on hard times.
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