Main International Keynote – Bridgette Hamstead – Unapologetically Neurodivergent: Writing My Way Home

Each year, the ND Pride team invites two daring pioneers in the Neurodiversity Movement, to share their message with the neurodivergent community. For the 2025 edition, we have invited activist Bridgette Hamstead and author Dr Ludmila Praslova to do these ‘main’ keynotes.

Introducing Keynote Speaker: Bridgette Hamstead

We are deeply honored to welcome Bridgette Hamstead as one of the two official keynote speakers for Dia do Orgulho da Neurodiversidade 2025, a global celebration spanning over 50 countries and organized by the Neurodiversity Foundation.

Bridgette is an accomplished writer, speaker, and community builder whose work centers on the intersections of neurodivergence, trauma, and identity. Through her consulting practice, she empowers individuals and organizations to move beyond performative inclusion and build truly affirming spaces. Her background in higher education, policy research, and mental health advocacy shines through in her dedication to equity and systemic change.

Bridgette’s keynote, “Unapologetically Neurodivergent: Writing My Way Home,” is a deeply personal reflection on discovering her neurodivergent identity later in life. It explores the journey of shedding the pressures to perform for others and instead embracing an authentic sense of self. Bridgette’s words speak to language, grief, reclamation, and the quiet, daily work of building a life that fits.

In her own words, this keynote is “a story… what I needed to hear years ago… and what I hope might reach someone else who is just now starting to put the pieces together.” It is a celebration of the brilliance, joy, and resilience that exist within the neurodivergent community—a reminder that pride is not just a performance, but a grounded and deeply personal reclamation of self.

We are profoundly grateful to Bridgette for sharing her wisdom, vulnerability, and strength with us, and for contributing her voice to this global moment of visibility and empowerment.

On this page, we will share the link to the talk, and add the embedded version. The talk will premiere on June 16th, before this date, there is no link or embedded version yet.