Donovan Taylor Hall

Active Minds Speaker

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Donovan Taylor Hall is a professional mental health speaker from Active Minds.

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About Donovan

Donovan Taylor Hall is a youth advocate and educator that teaches kids how to build positive self-identity. He has been featured on the Today Show, NowThis, DailyMailTV, and several podcasts to discuss the importance of positive youth development. Donovan teaches his self-skills curriculum through coaching, speeches, and online content. He is currently creating an educational entertainment show to help reach an even bigger audience of kids.

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Donovan Taylor Hall is an educator, coach, speaker, content creator, and above all else, youth advocate. Donovan believes deeply in youth empowerment as the way to move our society forward. As a young person, he struggled deeply with his self-image, which led to low self-esteem and mental health issues. In his early twenties, because of the stigma of mental health and the lack of resources he had, Donovan got to a point where he became suicidal. What saved him was actually losing his friend to suicide, someone who was also fighting a private battle with depression. Donovan decided to learn as much as he could about mental health tools and how to create higher levels of well-being. When the work started working for him, he decided to start teaching it to kids. This is where Donovan found my true calling and passion. 

 

Donovan aims to equip kids with tools to build positive relationships with themselves. A child’s positive self-identity will experience higher levels of life satisfaction, motivation, and self-determination. He is committed to the full development of kids, not just academics. Through social-emotional learning, educational psychology, and positive youth development, he has created programs and curriculum that aims to help kids become their own best friend. The point of the work is not to stop kids from struggling but instead to empower them to take care of themselves through the struggles that make them who they are. 

 

Donovan attended George Mason University, where he studied Communications with a focus on Public Speaking and Journalism, as well as a minor in Theater. He also studied educational psychology and social entrepreneurship. He is currently working on an educational entertainment show to help bring this work to larger audiences to empower kids and the people who support them.

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Booking information

Key topics

  • Anxiety 
  • Depression
  • ​​Gratitude
  • LGBTQ Community
  • Life Transitions
  • Self-Care/Recovery
  • Youth Empowerment
  • Youth Mental Health

Donovan's Presentation Options

“BYOBF” stands for Be Your Own Best Friend and in this presentation, Donovan helps his audience recognize the importance of having a positive relationship with themselves. Lots of people know how to be a good friend to others, but many people struggle with being a good friend to themselves. By helping others recognize that when they take better care of themselves they can take better care of other people, Donovan helps youth learn how to show up for themselves in kind and loving ways.

“Struggle, Don’t Suffer” is designed to help youth understand the difference between going through a difficult time in life and dealing with mental health issues like depression, and suicidal thoughts. Helping distinguish between when they are struggling or suffering allows them to get the help and support they need. Through personal anecdotes, Donovan helps youth recognize struggling as an opportunity to grow and become stronger. He also helps his audience recognize when they may be silently suffering and need to reach out for help. 

 

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