Keynotes and conference workshops with Luke Rodgers BEM
I went into care at 10. At 15 I was living in a B&B, and at 18 I was in a caravan. I gave my first keynote at 19, standing in front of a room of professionals and telling them what care had felt like from the inside. I’ve been doing it ever since, because it’s still one of the fastest ways I know to change how people see children in care.
That’s why I set up The Care Leaders: to go from care leaver to care leader, and to help others make the same move. Since then I’ve led the national engagement on England’s new fostering standards, been a Knowledge Equity Fellow at Saïd Business School, Oxford, and been awarded the British Empire Medal. Every talk brings together stories of care from my lived experience, the theory behind it and tools your audience can use the next day.
- In person or live online
- Up to 90 minutes
- A workbook and 12 months online for every delegate
Luke at a glance
British Empire Medal
Awarded in 2018.
Knowledge Equity Fellow
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
National leadership
Engagement lead on England’s new fostering standards.
Spoken at
Community Care Live, the Local Government Association, NAVSH national conferences, and online to audiences in Australia.
On stage
From national conferences to staff days, in person and online.
Who’s in your room?
Choose your audience to see the talk written for them. Every talk follows the same spine: stories of care from Luke’s lived experience, the theory behind them, and tools people can use straight away. Can’t see your audience? Choose “Someone else” and we’ll talk about a custom keynote.
Living a Careless Life
What it is really like to grow up in care.
Staff and leaders make decisions about children in care every day without hearing what it is like from the inside. Language, processes and missed moments can make a child feel like a case, and nobody in the room notices. This is the talk that changes that.
By the end, delegates will
- What children in care notice that adults miss
- The moments that build trust, and the ones that break it
- How systems and language can make children feel like a case
- What one adult can change
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
Just Say Yes
Inspiring foster carers to say yes.
Saying yes to a child often starts with a profile full of risks, behaviours and past moves, and rarely the full story. Then carers are asked to meet needs shaped by trauma and loss without training that explains why. That is not a failure of fostering. It is a gap in how we prepare carers, and this talk bridges it.
By the end, delegates will
- Understand how profiles shape what carers expect
- Know the basics of trauma, attachment and behaviour as communication
- Respond to hard moments with empathy, not fear
- Leave with simple tools for daily care, and the confidence to say yes
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
The Power of the Profile
One day, the child will read what you wrote.
The profile a social worker writes becomes a child’s introduction to a school, a carer or a panel. It is often built from inherited case notes and incident logs, so the child is described by what went wrong. When the answer is no, it is the social worker who carries it. This talk is for the practitioner who knows the young person behind the paperwork.
By the end, delegates will
- Write profiles that inspire belief, not fear
- Reframe behaviour through a trauma-informed lens
- Understand the emotional and ethical weight of telling a child’s story
- Feel renewed confidence in advocating for a child
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
Tools for Schools
Read the behaviour, then reach for the right tool.
For a child in care, school can become another place to feel misunderstood, especially when their past arrives as a behaviour record. Most teacher training doesn’t cover trauma or children in care, yet schools are expected to be a critical support. This talk gives staff the understanding and the tools.
By the end, delegates will
- Read behaviour as communication and respond in the moment
- Know what attachment and trauma look like in school
- Understand how language and stigma shape a child’s school life
- Know where school and social care clash, and what to do about it
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
Lived Experience Leadership
Engaging young people in service delivery and improvement, wherever they are on the Five S framework.
Most services involve young people in the same way: a consultation, a survey, a seat on a panel. That suits some young people and leaves others out. The Five S framework gives leaders a way to see where each young person is, from telling their story for the first time to leading the work and bringing the next person through, and to offer a role that fits. This talk shows senior leaders how to build participation around that journey, so young people help deliver and improve services rather than only being asked their views.
The Five S framework
- Storytelling. Sharing their experience safely, on their own terms.
- Skills. Recognising and building the skills their experience has given them.
- Strategies. Helping shape plans, services and decisions.
- Scaling. Leading pieces of work, such as training staff or running projects.
- Succession. Mentoring and bringing the next young people through.
By the end, delegates will
- Know the five stages of the Five S framework: storytelling, skills, strategies, scaling and succession
- Recognise where the young people in their service are on it
- Match young people to roles in service delivery and improvement that fit their stage
- Plan how young people move through the stages, and who leads next
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
From Care Leaver to Care Leader
Your story as a strength, not a setback.
Care-experienced young people are often described by other people’s words: case notes, risk assessments and plans that follow them into school, housing and work. This talk helps them see that what they have lived through has built real skills, and that they can lead because of their experience, not in spite of it.
By the end, delegates will
- See their care experience as a strength, not a weakness
- Recognise the skills they already have
- Feel more confident about their future
- See themselves as people who can lead change
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
Be the First Yes
Opening doors for care leavers in the workplace.
Care leavers often start working life without the family networks, references and safety nets most people take for granted. Employers want to do the right thing but worry about getting it wrong. Care leavers aren’t asking for special treatment. They are asking for a chance, and this talk shows how to give one.
By the end, delegates will
- Understand who care leavers are and what support really looks like
- Know how to make recruitment and induction care-aware
- Plan mentoring and onboarding that helps people stay
- Feel confident, not cautious, about being the first yes
- Length
- 45 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or conference workshop, in person or online
- Comes with
- The recording and an on-demand course for 12 months, plus a workbook to keep
Don’t see your audience here?
Tell us who’s in the room and we’ll talk through a custom keynote.
The seven talks cover the audiences Luke speaks to most, but plenty of events don’t fit a list. Tell us about your conference theme, who’s coming and what you want them to leave with, and we’ll shape a talk around them. It follows the same spine as every other talk, with the recording, the on-demand course and the workbook included.
More than a keynote
Every booking, in person or online, comes with the same four things, so the learning doesn’t stop when the session ends.
A planning call
We talk through your audience, your theme and what you want people to leave with, and shape the keynote around it. Luke speaks from lived experience of care and professional experience of leading change in children’s services, so the talk fits a room of foster carers as well as a room of directors.
- A 30-minute planning call
- The keynote shaped around your audience and theme
- A title and blurb for your programme, plus Luke’s photo and bio
The keynote
One of seven keynotes, or one built for you. Story-led and practical: Luke draws on his lived experience to share stories of care, the theory underneath gives it rigour, and the room leaves with something to do differently. In person or live online.
- A keynote of up to 90 minutes
- Time for questions and discussion
- The slides, so you can share them with delegates
A workbook for every delegate
A printed or digital workbook built around the keynote, with activities that help delegates take the learning back into their teams. Written in plain language, and theirs to keep forever.
- A workbook per delegate, print-ready or digital
- Activities for individuals and teams
- Theirs to keep forever
The recording and course, for 12 months
Every delegate gets the recording of the keynote and an interactive, on-demand course on The Care Leaders Online covering everything in the keynote, both for 12 months after your event.
- The full keynote recorded
- 12 months’ access for every delegate
- An interactive, on-demand course on the keynote
What people say
“Nothing was as transformative as hearing Luke speak about his life.”
“I have seen them in action at many conferences and have heard professionals report changes in their own behaviour.”
“You demand bravery and humanity in equal measure.”
How booking works
- 1
Tell us about your event
The booking form takes 2 minutes. Tell us the date, your audience and whether you’re after a keynote, a workshop or both.
- 2
Get availability and a fee
You’ll get an email with Luke’s availability, the fee and the talk we’d recommend for your audience. If Luke is free, we hold the date for 14 days.
- 3
Confirm by email
Reply to confirm and send a purchase order if your organisation uses them. Our booking terms come with the email.
- 4
Before the day
A short call to shape the talk around your audience, and a checklist of what Luke needs on the day.
For your information: keynotes and conference workshops are contracted and invoiced by Luke Speaks Ltd, powered by The Care Leaders.
Tell us about your event
It takes 2 minutes. We’ll come straight back to you with Luke’s availability, the fee and the talk we think fits your audience best. If Luke is free, we hold the date for 14 days.
Questions first? Email hello@thecareleaders.com.
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