Bryan Specht
My blogs
Blogs I follow
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consulting |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Links | Audio Clip |
| Introduction | Bryan Specht is the founder of the Promised Land Society and the Awful Grace Project. A proud Appalachian, his roots run down the Ohio River into the working class hills of the Mid-Ohio Valley. As a child, he experienced repeated abuse, going on to battle depression, addictions and the self-destructiveness of a broken young man. It was the help of two complete strangers - one a policeman - that offered him the support he needed. He has spent the last fifteen years returning the favor: advocating for mental health and addiction services and child development and abuse prevention causes. His early advocacy work led him to staff positions in Congress, where he worked on Mental Health Court policies and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2000. Later, as a crisis consultant, he helped the families of the victims of flight 77 on 9/11 and worked on child trafficking and labor issues in West Africa. He went on to found the Promised Land Society, a foundation dedicated to reforming child wellbeing systems, as well as the Awful Grace Project, which seeks to promote abuse and neglect prevention through the efforts of survivors who’ve gone on to become thrivers. |
| Interests | The Washington Redskins, Chicago Cubs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Ohio Bobcats, movies, REAL country music and really funny things like 30 Rock, The Office, John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell, Stephen Colbert and my son. |
| Favorite movies | Good Will Hunting, Forrest Gump, Walk the Line, Good Fellas, Shawshank Redemption, Vision Quest, The Right Stuff, St. Elmo's Fire, Fear and Loathing and The Outlaw Jose Wales. |
| Favorite music | Johnny Cash is the greatest philosopher of the 20th Century. Period. I love REAL country music, which is defined by two key criteria: with only a couple of exceptions, the song was written and produced before 1990 and it doesn't suck. Springsteen is also a genius. |
| Favorite books | The Bible (the Billy Graham nonfiction version, not the Jerry Fallwell version), The Tipping Point, The World is Flat, Freakonomics, Live From New York, On Bullshit and In the Heart of the Sea. |