Real stories. Real grief. Restored belonging.
Through real stories, I help people honor grief and rediscover a sense of belonging.
Helping individuals and organizations understand where grief gets stuck and how communities can restore connection, belonging, and renewed movement in life.
Dr. Tina Fornwald is a nationally recognized grief advocate, author, and speaker who brings compassion, clarity, and lived experience to conversations about loss, leadership, and healing. Her speaking engagements are designed to meet people where they are without rushing the grieving process, offering empty platitudes, or trying to “fix” what must be honored and witnessed.
Drawing from both her professional work and lived experience after the loss of her husband, Dr. Tina offers a grounded, human-centered approach to grief that resonates with individuals, leaders, faith communities, and organizations alike. Her work helps audiences better understand grief as a lifelong process, not a problem to solve while equipping them to show up for others with empathy, wisdom, and care.
Drawing from 21 years of service as a military officer, Dr. Tina also brings a disciplined, systems-level understanding of leadership, responsibility, and human endurance to her work particularly in spaces where people are expected to perform under pressure while carrying personal loss.
Dr. Tina offers keynote addresses, book-based discussions, corporate leadership sessions, and multi-day church engagements that support individuals, organizations, and entire communities.
Now accepting speaking engagements beginning June 2026.
Dr. Tina’s speaking engagements are flexible and may be customized based on audience size, time frame, and organizational needs.
I. KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
1. You’re Not Crazy—You’re Grieving: Understanding the Hidden Layers of Loss
2. Grief Is Not a Problem to Solve: Shifting from Fixing to Witnessing
3. When Strength Becomes Silent Suffering: The Cost of “Holding It Together”
4. Leadership After Loss: Showing Up When You’re Running on Empty
5. The Loneliness of Grief in a Crowded Room
6. What We Don’t Say About Widowhood—and Why It Matters
7. Grief Has No Timeline: Releasing Expectations and Reclaiming Breath
8. Healing Doesn’t Mean Forgetting: Carrying Love Forward After Loss
9. Secondary Losses: The Things No One Warns You About
10. From Survival to Meaning: What Grief Teaches Us About Living
Grief does not stay at home when employees come to work. Loss, caregiving stress, trauma, and major life transitions impact focus, morale, productivity, and retention—yet most leaders and HR professionals are not trained to respond with clarity or confidence.
Drawing from her military leadership background and national grief advocacy work, Dr. Tina helps organizations navigate grief in the workplace with compassion, structure, and professionalism. These sessions are ideal for corporate leadership teams, HR professionals, managers, veteran-affiliated organizations, and employee wellness initiatives.
II. CORPORATE & LEADERSHIP SPEAKING
Corporate & Leadership Topics Include:
Sessions may be delivered as keynote presentations, executive briefings, manager trainings, or HR workshops.
III. BOOK CLUBS & SMALL-GROUP DISCUSSIONS
1. The Many Faces of Widowhood: Why No Two Grief Stories Are Alike
2. Magical Thinking & Grief: Why the Mind Clings to “What If”
3. Friendships After Loss: Who Stays, Who Leaves, and Why It Hurts
4. Dating, Desire, and Discomfort After Loss
5. Anger, Guilt, and Relief: The Emotions We’re Afraid to Admit
6. Grief in Community vs. Grief in Isolation
7. Rewriting Identity After Loss: Who Am I Now?
8. The Role of Humor, Silence, and Storytelling in Healing
9. Triggers, Anniversaries, and the Body’s Memory
10. What Healing Actually Looks Like: Why Grief Is Not Linear
ENGAGEMENT DETAILS
Availability:
Dr. Tina Fornwald is currently booking speaking engagements beginning June 2026.
Travel & Accommodations:
To ensure Dr. Tina Fornwald is fully present and prepared, hosts are asked to provide round-trip first-class airfare, lodging, and engagement accommodations. Honorarium and scheduling details are discussed during the booking process.
IV. CHURCH & FAITH-BASED MULTI-DAY ENGAGEMENTS
DAY ONE – Clergy & Pastoral Leaders
Topics include:
Who Holds the Shepherd? Caring for the Caregiver
Grief Accumulation and Ministry Burnout
Compassion Fatigue vs. Spiritual Exhaustion
Private Grief in Public Ministry
Boundaries Without Guilt
Sustainable Ministry After Loss
DAY TWO – Ministry Leaders & Volunteers
Topics include:
What Not to Say to the Grieving
Holding Space Without Trying to Fix
Understanding Complicated Grief
Supporting Widows and Families Long-Term
Recognizing When Professional Support Is Needed
DAY THREE – Congregation
Topics include:
Mourning with Those Who Mourn
Faith and Grief Can Coexist
The Ministry of Presence
Hope Without Pressure
Carrying Love Forward
Contact Dr. Tina to Schedule a Speaking Engagement.