Speaking Topics
Ali Rothrock has been involved in the volunteer fire service since 2005, enjoying more than a decade as a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician. Ali began sharing her story in 2010 and has become a leading voice in trauma recovery and mental health in the emergency service. When the demand for her in-person presentations exploded, Ali launched On the Job and Off, an online platform dedicated to building more resilient first responders.
Ali is also the Executive Director of First Responders Care, a non-profit that educates first responders on how to take an active role in their community’s resilience. Ali volunteers as a behavioral health specialist with the Medical Reserve Corps and multiple Critical Incident Stress Management Teams, providing immediate counseling to first responders and medical professionals after traumatic incidents. Having worked in a domestic violence shelter, as a member of a sexual assault response team, and as a victim advocate for a children’s resource center, Ali is passionate about her work with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and abuse.
Ali has her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with an emphasis on crisis counseling and is a Certified Trauma Responder through the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists. In 2019 Ali delivered a TedxTalk entitled “Resilience is an Act of Rebellion” and has given over 750 other presentations. Ali hosts the Over a Cup Podcast, which features stories of first responders who had their mental health impacted in the course of doing their job.
Ali is the author of Where Hope Lives, a memoir that she self-published in 2010 which details her journey through her first few years in the fire service. Her second book, After Trauma, is forthcoming from Broadleaf Books in 2022. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband.
