Vicki Hannah Lein, MS Counseling

• Conference Presenter and Keynoter
• Award-winning Distinguished Educator
• International Educational Consultant
• Drug and Alcohol Therapist
• Author
• Singer/Songwriter
• Creativity Recovery Specialist
• Artist
• Vicki has presented at: International conferences in North America, Central America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, India, Singapore, and Indonesia, and State and National conferences.

“Vicki’s music feeds the cravings I have for love, laughter and light. Her music is a smorgasbord of beauty, peace and outrageous silliness that fills my soul and tickles my funny bone. She is a soulful alchemist–laughter and soul become one inside her beautiful voice. Vicki feeds my heart whenever I hear her sing. She keeps me nourished, keeps me well, keeps a smile on my face, and brightens my day ….”

~ Francie O’Shea, www.teamcrown.net

Brief Summary of Education and Experience

• BA English
• High school teacher and speech coach
• Drug and alcohol counselor
• Employee Assistance Counselor
• MS Counseling, taught writing at Oregon State University
• Elementary school counselor. Wrote songs and presented assemblies to teach hope and life skills.
• Won some awards, including Distinguished Oregon Educator.
• Presented nationally with Seminars for Educational Excellence and Staff Development for Educators.
• Presented internationally to schools on five continents. (Penguins do not seem to be interested in what I have to offer. Go figure.)
• Present: I am performing musical keynotes, online workshops, group training, and private coaching.

A Little About Me

I have worked for forty years with all ages, genders, races, and many nationalities. I’m an award-winning educator, singer/songwriter, speaker, and humorist. As an elementary school counselor, I started writing songs and skits to teach life skills in a fun, interactive, unforgettable manner. My school was the one across the tracks, the one people told me would always be full of losers. Of course, they didn’t use those words, but that is what they meant.

My intention was to teach skills to help children reach their highest potential. My father was a violent alcoholic, and my mother dropped out of high school. Growing up, it was not safe to be myself or to make mistakes. I knew I wanted to give students something I didn’t get: safety to learn and encouragement to dream big. I did not want to produce assemblies where the same students won awards, and the same students sat in the back with their coats over their heads humming “I’m a Loser” to themselves.

I created musical assemblies that became so popular parents who never came to school for any other reason would come and participate. This led to several state awards, including Distinguished Oregon Educator.

I worked with alternative ed high school students who were fresh out of reform school. They taught me to be real and they revealed to me an amazing amount of creativity and art that their teachers had never seen. Once they felt safe enough to let their creativity flow, they could start imagining a positive future for themselves. They could start to hope. Hope, it turns out, is a better predictor of college success than SAT scores. Hope + Inspired Action = Achieving Your Dreams. You may put that on a poster if you like.

I’ve done workshops all over the world with the theme of Success for All Students. I teach writing to reluctant writers and in one lesson help them get in touch with the genius that is within them. “Vicki taught me I am the author of my own life” is one of the best compliments I’ve ever received.

“I have never witnessed anyone so full of belly-laughter wisdom along with deeply illuminating truth of our shared stories. Vicki shines the light on our common humanity like no one else on the planet. Don’t miss any opportunity you can to experience this amazingly talented and brilliant soul—she will change the way you see!”

~Marcia Jaffe, Founder/Chair of the Bali Institute for Global Renewal, Ubud, Bali/Sausalito, California

“Vicki may be legally blind but her heart has 20/20 vision.”

~Elizabeth England

Radical Kindness Warriors

My current mission is to stamp out cruelty and “bystander-ism” by training a world of Radical Kindness Warriors. I am doing this through humor, song, and inspired action. Unlike an anti-bullying program, which accidentally shames and glues bad behavior to a person who is in great pain, my program invites us all to admit we have all bullied and we have all been bullied. We are all innocent and we are all guilty. Let’s unmask cruelty and show it for what it always is: a leaking wound.

Radical Kindness Warriors are not wimps. They walk confidently in the world because they know they will take action when pain is being passed from one wounded heart to another. They will never put themselves at risk or add aggression to a situation, but they will always do something to make the situation better.

They may sing “Happy Birthday or fake a coughing attack. They may knock over a glass of water when Uncle Ted starts to tell a racist joke at Thanksgiving dinner.

They walk tall in the world with their heart open, their brains working, and their feet on the ground. Do you think this will make them better students? How could it not?

What Prompted Me to Start the Cruelty is Not Cool Campaign?

What would you do if you saw a young man with Down Syndrome being verbally abused by a customer?? Watch this video to see what got me all stirred up and ready to change the world:

 

My grandson Carter has Down syndrome. I want to do everything I can to create Radical Kindness Warriors who will step up and take action instead of standing by and allowing cruelty to flourish.