About Jo
I believe kids have a lot more to say than adults give them credit for.
I'm Jo Phillips: speaker, youth resilience coach, restorative practice practitioner and facilitator.
I work with kids, teens, young adults and the adults who support them, through speaking, coaching, parent support, training and conversations about the things shaping their lives.
For more than a decade, I've worked at the intersection of youth development, education, justice, business and community. I've spent a lot of time in rooms with kids asking questions, listening to what they're actually saying, and helping the adults around them understand what they're hearing.
My work can look very different depending on who's in the room.
Sometimes I'm talking with a group of kids about resilience, relationships, social media or AI.
Sometimes I'm coaching a teen or young adult who's stuck and trying to figure out what's next.
Sometimes I'm helping a parent navigate a situation they have no idea how to handle.
Sometimes I'm working with a school, team or organization through conflict, harm or a complicated situation.
The common thread is always the same: listen first.
How Jo Works
I don't believe kids need to be fixed. I believe they need to be heard, understood and given the opportunity to build the skills to navigate their own lives. And I believe adults need better tools for listening and responding when things get hard.
That's why my work starts with curiosity rather than assumptions.
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Get in the room.
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Listen for the signal.
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Understand what's really happening.
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Then figure out what to do with it.
A little more about me
I bring a pretty unusual mix of experience to this work.
I'm a Youth Resilience Coach, public speaker, restorative practice practitioner and social media expert.
I also spent 11 years running a digital media agency, working inside the world of social media and digital communications long before today's conversations about what technology is doing to kids.
Alongside that, I've built and led businesses, worked in schools and restorative justice, and spent more than a decade listening to kids and the adults who support them.
That combination matters.
I understand the technology and the kids growing up with it. I understand organizations and families. And I've spent enough time in difficult conversations to know that the answer is rarely as simple as “take the phone away” or “kids these days.”
I've learned that the most useful thing I can bring into a room isn't a perfect answer. It's the willingness to ask a better question.