Rashida Saunders is a keynote speaker and public safety leader who challenges the myth that endurance is the highest form of strength.

After nearly two decades inside high pressure systems, she understands what high performers rarely say out loud:

Being praised for resilience often comes at a cost.

Her work invites leaders to dismantle the armor that once protected them, and redefine strength as clarity, emotional literacy, and grounded authority.

Rashida Saunders
Keynote Speaker. Public Safety Leader. Author of Permission to Break.

Strength built her. Softness refined her leadership.

SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Leading Without Armor

In demanding institutions, strength is rewarded. Silence is normalized. Over time, survival becomes identity.

This keynote challenges the belief that leadership requires emotional suppression. Rashida offers a new framework for navigating pressure without self abandonment.

Through lived experience and grounded insight, she equips leaders to:

• Recognize the hidden cost of high functioning strength
• Lead with clarity without disconnecting from themselves
• Build cultures where humanity and accountability coexist
• Redefine resilience as strength with boundaries

WHO THIS WORK IS FOR

Rashida works with:

• Executive and senior leadership teams
• Public safety and first responder agencies
• Universities and student leadership communities
• Women in high pressure professions
• Mission driven organizations navigating complexity

Her work resonates most with leaders who have been called “the strong one” their entire lives.