- At-Risk Foster Kid to Harvard University
- Featured by Oprah, NY Times, Good Morning America
- Bestselling Author of Several Books
Statistically, Josh Shipp should be dead, in jail, or homeless. But his success as a preeminent author, speaker, and global youth empowerment expert is living proof of the power of one caring adult. A former at-risk foster kid turned youth advocate; Josh is renowned for the documentary TV series on A&E that followed his groundbreaking work with youth and families.
He has written two national bestsellers, “The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans” – winner of the Nautilus Gold Award for Parenting & Family – and “The Teen’s Guide to World Domination.”
Thanks to the support of teachers, counselors, and a fantastic set of foster parents, Josh went on to be named to Inc. Magazine’s 30 under 30 list and completed his postgraduate studies at Harvard.
Josh is regularly called on by OPRAH, CNN, FOX, The New York Times, 20/20, Good Morning America, and others to comment on the next generation’s challenges. Over the years, Josh has keynoted events for countless groups of parents, educators, and social workers – with audiences as large as 55,000 – and, to date, has spoken live in front of more than two million people. Viral clips of his acclaimed presentations have been viewed an estimated 50 million times online through platforms such as UpWorthy, Goalcast, and BuzzFeed.
To serve his ultimate goal of reaching as many students as possible, Josh trains other speakers through Youth Speaker University, helping them use their own stories to make an impact. His social-emotional learning curriculum is used in hundreds of classrooms, while his free newsletter offers practical strategies to 200K+ parents, educators, and social workers.