VALERIE FROST
Valerie Frost is a systems strategist and national speaker advancing the idea that lived experience is a form of authority and that those closest to harm must help govern the system that shape their lives.
WHO I WORK WITH
Leadership and staff within child welfare agencies, courts, school systems, nonprofits, advocacy groups, and cross-sector coalitions — alongside parents and directly impacted individuals stepping into leadership and decision-making roles.
WHAT I HELP THEM DO
For Organizations
Build structures that meaningfully include families, strengthen trust across power divides, and shift systems toward shared authority, accountability, and authentic partnership with communities.
For Parents and Directly-Impacted Individuals
Develop leadership, confidence, and strategic skills to translate lived experience into influence and decision-making: locally and beyond.
SERVICES
Consulting
Partnering with organizations to assess systems through a lived-experience lens, design parent-led governance and accountability structures, and support cross-sector coalitions working toward shared authority with families.
Training
Offering individual and group learning experiences focused on translating lived experience into leadership, strengthening strategic communication, and navigating power across professional and community contexts.
Speaking
Delivering keynotes and presentations that challenge assumptions about authority, elevate lived experience as expertise, and inspire systems to rethink who leads and how change happens.
“Valerie Frost brings intellect, heart, and courage to the complex world of child welfare. Her clear communication and unwavering advocacy inspire real change grounded in partnership and collaboration.”
— Lisa Merkel-Holguin, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Kempe Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
ABOUT VALERIE
Valerie combines deep knowledge of child development with systems-level leadership informed by her lived experience as a parent impacted by the child welfare system.
Her work bridges the gap between families navigating these systems and the institutions seeking to serve them, helping translate lived experience into strategy, governance, and leadership.
Valerie Frost 