Spoken Word Artist · Poet · Pessimistic Optimist

The heart
is the size
of a fist.

At 5'2", mine is smaller than average. But what it can hold — the tales it knows — is infinite. I write my heart. Then I say it out loud. Sometimes in arenas. Sometimes by a taco truck. Same heart, every time.

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200+ talks given UN · White House · So many schools I've genuinely lost count
writing is humanity distilled into ink

Don't let these photos fool you. I'm really not that tall. (You *were* fooled, right?)

Davos / WEF
MISK Forum
Corporate talk
Nepal / fieldwork
White House

Organizations I've worked with

IKEA
Pfizer
Boeing
Verizon
TOMS
Adobe
BCBS
BCG
MTV
Goodera
One Young World
NAMI

+ many more

Dear stranger,
I am about to commit the sin of posting politics on LinkedIn.
It was this or my SECRET TO GET 20,000 LEADS FAST IF YOU COMMENT YOUR EMAIL!
Well. LinkedIn was co-created by an immigrant, so I'm choosing the former.
March 2025
There's a painting on my wall, hidden behind the door.
I can't see it till I punch the door shut and seal myself in like leftover chicken.
It's cereal-shaped blobs of teal and black and blue. At the time I wasn't sure what to do
so I dumped all the paint onto a giant brush and traced out the word "live."
And then it felt a bit hollow, you know?
Live is a verb but verbs don't always imply action.
So I add the letter "a". And I put it in parentheses, a postscript where I've run out of space.
(a)live. I live. And I am alive. The two are not the same.
I am living when I wake to construction but I am alive when I make eye contact with the forklift man
raised eye level to my window.
I am Diana and then I am oh-sh**-why-did-he-notice-me
and then I fake myself asleep.
November 2020
Grandpa holds my hand and takes me to the river.
Tells me to stay quiet while the rooster wakes. Ca-caw. Ca-caw.
The morning sun is a ripe orange on my tongue.
"Xiao Cao," grandpa says. "See if you can poke a chopstick through the yams.
If it yields easily, it is ready to eat."
I forgot my chopstick, so I grab a nearby stick instead.
The yam budges like a sleeping gopher. Fast and painless.
Everything melts in my mouth so lazily, so easily. My cheeks blush under the rising heat.
"Xiao cao," grandpa says. "When you wake up, make some yams for me, okay?"
What does he mean, when I wake up? "But — But I don't want to!"
Gonggong hands me another yam. "It's not for me, hai zi. I don't want you to forget to eat."
July 2020
Being alive is an affirmation.
Of all the chaos and stupidity and joy and sacrifice
that we slingshot our ways through until we fall flabbergasted on our neighbor's newly-mowed grass.
It's embarrassment and apologies and confessions and smiles wide enough to touch the moon.
It is, simply, a noun and a declaration and a promise.
Alive is no longer an afterthought. It is the entire story.
And for reading me into protagonist, I thank you.
November 2020
— Diana
I-managed-to-graduate-with-honors-so-I-have-to-mention-it-somewhere: Princeton '21 · Oxford MBA '24 · Founder & Executive Director, Letters to Strangers
Diana Chao
Pronunciation
Diana: Dye-AN-na
Chao: CHOW
Buyi: boo-YEE
L2S: El Too Es
A more formal bio

From NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
to making Prince William laugh.

Diana Chao is a first-generation Buyi Chinese-American from California. She founded Letters to Strangers at 14 after bipolar disorder and a blinding eye condition nearly ended her life. By beginning to heal through letters, she discovered that writing is humanity distilled into ink. Today, L2S is the largest global youth-for-youth mental health nonprofit — exchanging 60,000+ unique letters and impacting over 660,000+ people in 72 countries. L2S published the world's first youth-for-youth mental health guidebook, taught to 150,000+ students worldwide, and operates the first toll-free 24/7 Pan-African mental health hotline out of Liberia, now part of the national budget. In line with her mental health work, she was once a conceptual photographer exhibited to millions worldwide through Vogue Italia and Adobe - and her Minority Mental Health Month self-portrait series went viral.

Diana's Buyi heritage taught her early to notice the intersection of climate and mental health. She became the youngest researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab at 17, and at 20 joined the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a science researcher. She graduated from Princeton University with Honors in geophysics, then modeled extreme weather events in the private sector — including providing real-time data the Philippine government used during Super Typhoon Rai. She completed her MBA at the University of Oxford as a Skoll Scholar.

She has been honored by two U.S. Presidents at the White House, named a 2021 Princess Diana Legacy Award Winner by Princes William and Harry, and is a 2020 L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth. She has provided testimony and advisory to the FDA, SAMHSA, UK Office for Life Sciences, and the European Union.

Education
Princeton University
B.A. Geophysics, Honors · Minor in History & Diplomacy
 
University of Oxford
MBA · Skoll Scholar
The talks I give
200+
talks given.
Rural elementary schools → Congress Center at Davos

I've given these to health workers in Liberian villages who'd never spoken the words "mental health" out loud before; to 30,000-attendee global conferences; to President Biden. Everyone hears the same drum in my heart. (I've also been interviewed by Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes, and Elle Fanning — which remains one of the stranger sentences I get to say.)

01 / signature keynote ~1 hr

Dear Stranger: a mental health story & learnings

My story — from growing up under the poverty line with parents who didn't speak English, to bipolar disorder, to a suicide attempt at 14, to writing letters that found their way around the world. Includes real strategies for mental wellbeing woven through, not stuff you've already been told a million times. Q&A included.

Mental Health Personal Story Immigrant Experience Youth Spoken Word
02 / most intersectional ~1 hr

Mental Health & Racial Equity

Given at IKEA, TOMS, and every org that's tired of mental health talks that pretend race doesn't exist. Dives into history, policy, and the intergenerational weight that shapes who gets help — and who doesn't. Includes lots of history, in a fun way. Q&A included.

DEI Workplace AANHPI Policy
03 / most practical ~1 hr

Mental Health Education

For audiences who want frameworks and strategies, not just a moving story (though there's some of that too, inevitably). Built from years of direct mental health work, peer leader training, and interviews with people from everywhere. Q&A included.

Education Frameworks Practical Healthcare
04 / most science-y ~45 min – 1 hr

Climate Change & Mental Health

The intersection almost no one has thought to put in a talk — because you need someone who has actually worked in both fields, which I did (shoutout to the folks at the UN IPCC!). Cross-cutting risk factors, data you never knew could be true, how climate change and disasters affect marginalized communities first, and how to help beyond reduce/reuse/recycle (but do do that, please).

Climate Science Equity Resilience
How I show up

Keynotes, fireside chats, letter readings & more.

K

Keynote Speech

30 — 60 min

The full story, shaped to your theme. Includes original poetry, audience moments, and — where the venue allows it — a live letter exchange. Warning: people cry.

P

Panel / Q&A

30 — 45 min

Fireside chat, interview, or panel. I've done these at Davos, in film studios (see: Selena Gomez), and in boardrooms. I come without notes and leave with new friends.

W

Workshop

60 — 120 min

Smaller rooms, hands-on. Mental health education, racial equity + mental health, or writing-as-healing. People leave with things to actually do.

✦

Arts / Poetry Reading

Varies

Spoken word, conceptual photography exhibitions, live letter readings. For galas, festivals, and events that want something that lingers in the chest.

What people are saying

"Diana is poetic power, truly."

When Diana speaks — it actually takes my breath away. Her ability to use poetry, her own authentic narrative, and the passion that fuels her work in every one of her speeches is remarkable. I've never been more enchanted by someone's delivery before — not because Diana is the loudest in the room, but rather because I believe every word Diana says when she speaks. Diana is poetic power, truly.
— Ziad Ahmed · Head of Next Gen, United Talent Agency
Keynote · GirlBoss Edge
"Diana is a true superstar. She hit the stage with flair, passion, and energy. She moved our audience with her inspirational story. Diana's personal struggles have cultivated an undeniable personal strength and wisdom that is unlike any speaker I have ever seen. She pours radical empathy and revolutionary generosity into everything she does. Diana and Letters to Strangers is what the world needs, now and always."
— Alexia Hilbertidou, CEO, GirlBoss New Zealand
Featured Speaker · NAMI National
"The radical candor in addressing the challenges faced by people with Bipolar Disorder was authentic and powerful. Not a thing could've been improved — it was INCREDIBLE! You received the highest score in evaluations."
— Strategic Alliances & Development Dept., NAMI National
Mental Health & Racial Equity · TOMS Shoes
"Thanks so much for your presentation. It was soooo informative, interesting and impactful. One of the best presentations we've ever had at TOMS in my opinion, if not the best. You radiate authenticity and compassion alongside your expertise, and it's really inspiring."
— Employee feedback · TOMS Shoes
Mental Health & Racial Equity · IKEA
"Incredibly informative. Thank you so much for bringing to light the context and history of trauma. This was one of the most educational hours I've ever had. Thank you so much!"
— Employee feedback · IKEA
Ask the Expert · NAMI
"Diana Chao is an amazing, powerful human being and a beautiful person and poet. I will listen to this again to remember the power of compassion and feel this painful story with her as my guide. She has broken my heart and opened it up to greater love."
— Attendee, NAMI Ask the Expert
Workshop · NWVSA Leadership Summit
"Phenomenal and interesting. Very insightful and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed how transparent she is and appreciated her sincerity, enthusiasm, and vulnerability. Diana was an amazing presenter and I loved every moment of her workshop. It really resonated with me."
— Aggregate attendee feedback, NWVSA Leadership Summit
Keynote · Center for Human Development
"Diana was wonderful to work with from the beginning of the process to the end. She had a profound effect on the audience. Her keynote address was very powerful and it will stay with me for a lifetime."
— Aggregate feedback, Center for Human Development
Speaker · Multiplying Good
"Diana's presentation was extremely organized and easy to follow. Everyone was able to stay engaged because of her very passionate tone and great public speaking skills."
— Monica L., Head of Events, Multiplying Good
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In my own words —

Things I've written
that I hope stay with you.

Some time after my dad passed

Lately I’ve been feeling like someone spiked my heart with this thing called emotions.

"That’s to be expected, I suppose. Grief singes with no grace. But even now, I don’t know what grief is supposed to look like - if tears are a ritual, if anger should be scarce, if each stage is an act in a theatre and I’m the audience and the writer. I know there’s no right answer. I break mid-grin into horror. I stare at his memory unwrapped, petrified between dusting it with glitter and whistling til the ghosts come and take all of it away. I am a coward, and I am brave, and I have nothing to say, and I have so much I crave.

It’s simple, in the end. How do you bear the torch of a flame that still burns you? You let the light it does hold lead the way."

2021

And so what? We must keep going.

"Perhaps that's a naïve proclamation, but it is an investment in the human spirit. A gamble that I will find reasons to believe we are capable of rekindling joy and compassion for ourselves and each other, even when darkness blinds us into silence—that hope is not a question of if, but a deliberation of when."

2020

I'm holding this memory tight where my breaths escape.

"A full body shake under the magic of being alive. I close my eyes and wonder if this is what hugging the moon feels like. Solid ground where I thought I’d only find air; a rocky reassurance that I am not alone in this universe. For a very long time I was afraid of living, because i thought I’d already died, but how time bubbles up like soap! slippery and all-forgiving with a tinge of sage. I tell my shadow: you took your sweet time trying to extinguish the light. But look how the stars came out."

2016

I am stardust, solar wind, something the california earth is in summer when the lights go out.

"So I write this because I'm reminded today that oh god oh god there is so much shaking and trembling and breathlessness in this world and we are not robots, we do not wrestle mechanically with existence. We leap and crawl and tumble and slam and snap and that is all okay. But this also means that there will be moments when we forget the blood that rushes through our bodies and the voice that is stuck in our throats, and in those moments we need others to remind us of the incredulity of those things. So we exist, so we breathe, so we run onwards, so we forget, so we dream. But most importantly, sometimes we need reminders. And this is my stupid, ridiculous, but truthful reminder to you: what a life. What an existence. What a marvel it is to be here."

Selected stages & recognition

Where I've shown up lately.

2026 · Upcoming

NEXUS Asia Summit

Keynote to a global network of next-gen philanthropy and social sector leaders.

2024 · Davos

World Economic Forum White Badge

Featured speaker at the Congress Center. Data-driven narratives on inclusive growth and mental health.

2024 · Riyadh

MISK Global Forum Keynote

Keynote opening for Bill Gates. (No, he wouldn't give me a free Office subscription)

Booking & inquiries

Write me a letter.

When you want to chat, tell me who your audience is, what room you're trying to shape, and what you need them to walk out feeling. I'll be honest if I'm not the right fit.

The details you'll probably want

London, UK & Los Angeles, California — travels globally
English, Mandarin
just book direct, it's cheaper :)
8 weeks ideal, shorter possible
Keynote · Panel · Workshop · Poetry
discounted / pro bono considered
✉ Send a booking inquiry in / LinkedIn L2S →