Making Connections, Part 2 of 4
Long before COVID, people in the U.S. and across the world have struggled with loneliness, isolation, and lack of social connection. In 2023, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared loneliness an epidemic and announced a strategy to help reverse this alarming trend. And months later, journalist Allison Gilbert reported for the New York Times about the appointment of world-renowned therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the country. Reimagine and Allison are co-hosting a new series to learn about strategies to build deeper connections, particularly among the most vulnerable.
This session offers insights on loneliness from two leading grief experts and writers: psychotherapist Meghan Riordan Jarvis and veteran journalist and author Leslie Gray Streeter. Everyone is welcome and to bring your most pressing questions!
About Reimagine
Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and–at our own pace– actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth.
Speakers
Meghan Riordan Jarvis, MA, LCSW is an author, podcast host, two-time Tedx Speaker, and psychotherapist specializing in trauma and grief and loss. After the deaths of both of her parents within two years of each other Meghan began speaking on a larger scale about the importance of supporting grievers. Founder of MRJ Consulting, Meghan and her team consult regularly with companies addressing grief in the workplace. Meghan’s podcast “Grief is My Side Hustle” and grief writing workshop “grief mates” can be found at www.meghanriordanjarvis.com. Meghan’s memoir, The End of The Hour, published with Zibby Books in November 2023, and Can Anyone Tell Me Why: Essential Questions About Grief and Loss publishes with Sounds True Media in 2024.
Leslie Gray Streeter is an author, veteran journalist and speaker. whose memoir Black Widow was published in March 2020 by Little, Brown and Company. She is the lifestyle columnist for the Baltimore Banner, and the co-host of the pop culture podcast “Fine Beats and Cheeses.” Leslie was the longtime entertainment and lifestyle columnist and writer for the Palm Beach Post. A native of Baltimore, Md and a University of Maryland graduate, she and her work have been featured in The Miami Herald, the Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlantic, CNN, the Today show, SiriusXM, O, The Oprah Magazine and more. She lives with her son Brooks in her hometown of Baltimore. She’s a slow runner, an amateur vegan cook and a true crime and “Law and Order” enthusiast.
https://lesliegraystreeter.com/
Host
Allison Gilbert is host of Reimagine’s “Making Connections” and “Passed and Present” conversation series and co-author with Dr. Ruth Westheimer of the forthcoming book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life (Rodale: October 22, 2024). Pre-order The Joy of Connections here.
Allison is also author and co-author of numerous other books, including Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman; Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive; and Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is a past Board Member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. A regular contributor to the New York Times and other publications, Allison launched Pub Day, a literary consultancy, to help women writers best-position their book ideas for publication.
