About Marianne Larned
Marianne Larned is a dynamic speaker who inspires people to help make the world a better place. She has served great leaders and worked with people from all walks of life. Many are featured in Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Kindness & Courageous Acts of Service.

Marianne's zest of life encourages people to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams. After overcoming a life-threatening illness, she realized that if we can each heal ourselves, together we have the power to heal our planet.

Using the Stone Soup metaphor, Marianne helps us see that when we work together we can do more than we ever thought was possible. Connecting people with new ideas and ways of doing things gives her great joy. She loves sharing inspiring stories and rekindling people's enthusiasm for making the world a better place. She's like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, spreading seeds of hope wherever she goes.

As founding Director of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute, Ms. Larned works with other Stone Soup heroes to train future and emerging leaders to develop public-private partnerships to build healthier communities. She's assisted corporate, government, civic and community leaders including Fortune 500 companies, healthcare systems, Chambers of Commerce and internationally, Foundation for Education & Economic Development in the Philippines. As the guest columnist for The Business of Education series, a year-long monthly column for the San Francisco Business Times, she helped create an educated constituency of companies prepared to be active participants in education reform initiatives.

For her pioneering and humanitarian work, Ms. Larned has received numerous awards including Outstanding Young Woman of America and World Intellectual, 2000 Notable American Women and the World's Who's Who of Women. Her undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Rudolph Steiner Center in Aberdeen, Scotland prepared her to become a teacher. Her graduate work at Boston University and California State University gave her the tools to assist corporate America to be leaders in building a better world.

An inspiring speaker, she has addressed corporations, professional associations, school districts, youth and community organizations. Her speeches motivate volunteers, energize public-private partnerships and mobilize resources to build healthier communities.

To schedule Ms. Larned for a speaking presentation
or someone from the Stone Soup for the World Speakers Bureau,
please contact: Zoe Bachelor at 415-646-0416 speakers@soup4world.com

Speaking Engagements

Business

• National Launch of Bank of America's NEIGHBORS Volunteer Program, NationsBank, Dallas, TX
• Take Your Community to Work DayÑMentoring Our Youth, United Airlines, Chicago, IL
• Team Spirit in the Workplace, United Airlines, Atlanta, GA
• Leadership for the New Millennium: LEADERship Baltimore, MD
• Doing Well By Doing Good, Business for Social Responsibility Conference,World Trade Center, NYC
• The Spirit of Giving, Learning is Leadership Forum, San Francisco, CA
• Planned Giving and Community Investments, Paine Webber, San Francisco, CA
• Creating Business-Education Partnership Strategies, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Chamber of Commerce, CA Chamber of Commerce and No. California Human Resource Council
• Corporate Health Promotion and Worksite Wellness, Federal Reserve Bank, Boston, MA
• Health Care Cost Containment Strategies: National Labor-Management Conference, Washington, DC ; So. California Personnel Management Association, New England Benefits Council, New England Life

America's Promise

• Building Community Partnerships; St. Louis Metropolitan Children's Summit with America's Promise, St. Louis, Missouri
• Passing on the Dream: in honor of the 35th anniversary of Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech with President Clinton and Congressman John Lewis, Oak Bluffs, MA

Volunteer Centers

• Marin County, CA; The Service and Volunteerism Coalition of Shasta County, CA
• The Governor's Conference on Volunteerism, Honolulu, HI; Young Leaders for the New Millennium, Volunteer Center of San Mateo County, CA
• Make A Difference Day award winners: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Educational Institutions

• Inspiring Character Education, Santa Cruz Co. Office of Education's Alternative Programs, Santa Cruz, CA
• Encouraging Community Service, Cornerstone School, Santa Monica, CA; Edgartown & West Tisbury, MA
• Leadership for the New Millennium, Kailua, HI High School,
• Building Educational Partnerships, FAMILY 2000 National Conference, San Francisco, CA
• Parent Involvement with Community Service: PTO's across Martha's Vineyard
• Inspiring Service Learning: The Martha's Vineyard Literacy Program
• Stress Management for Educators: Los Altos School District and Sierra Community College, Sacramento, CA
• Massachusetts State Department of Education and Waterloo School District, Iowa

Health Care Systems and Associations

• Building Public-Private Partnerships and Healthy Communities
• American Hospital Association/Hospital Research&Education Trust, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Southwest General Health System, Middleburg Heights, OH; Ohio Hospital Association, Greenbrier, WV; Hospital Council of Northern and Central California; Mercy Hospital, Redding, CA; Hawaii Rural Health Association; AHA Executive Retreats: Wisconsin and Illinois Associations.
• The Spirit of Giving and Healthy Living: Learning Exchange, Sacramento, CA; Whole Life Expo, Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; Association of Fitness in Business, Washington D.C.
• Creating Health Promotion Initiatives: Arizona State Department of Health Education, Phoenix, AZ and Lewis Clark College, Boise, ID

Civic Associations

• Motivating Your Volunteers: Making a Difference in Your Life and the World, Junior League of Mobile, AL
• Community Cooperation; Mentoring Our Youth, Hilo, Hawaii Rotary Club, St. Helena Kiwanas
• Celebration of Heroes with Walter Cronkite, The Rotary Club of Martha's Vineyard, MA
• Community Service Awards, Daughters of the American Revolution, New England Regional
• The Spirit of Giving, The Zonta Club of Martha's Vineyard

What People Are Saying About Marianne Larned

As the keynote speaker for our America's Promise Summit, your boundless spirit and creative energy inspired us and your framework for collaboration provided us a road map. The stones you left behind are symbolic of the soup we are creating together. As one of our civic leaders was heard to say, "This is the most optimistic I have been about St. Louis in twenty years.
Robert MacArthur,
America's Promise, St. Louis, Missouri

Marianne reminds us in a very creative way, that one individual can effect change in our world. With the skill of a surgeon, she touches the soul -- revealing a golden thread that unites the human race. Everyone who dreams of a better world will find her message inspiring.
Rev. Alvin L. Mills
Shiloh Baptist Church, Queens, N.Y.
Hampton University Ministers Conference

Marianne Larned helped us launch our national volunteer program in Dallas. Her remarks were bright, refreshing and right on target. Marianne's life experiences and perspective on volunteerism and humanitarian efforts serve as an inspiration to us all.
Pam McQuitty
NationsBank Corporation

Marianne Larned's presentation caused our employee volunteer coordinators to really think about community involvement in a very personal way. We were impressed with her wealth of knowledge. Her words of wisdom and her book will be a source of inspiration as we implement and expand our volunteer programming.
Caryn Cross
United Airlines

Marianne's passion combined with her excellent communication skills, make her a spectacular spokesperson. Having worked in corporate America, as well as the non-profit world, she relates well with all industry groups -- with a special spark that makes her message deeply meaningful. Marianne understands what makes people tick; her personal journey inspires as she lifts us beyond what we think is possible. She is all about growing our human potential to build a better world.
Patricia Johnson
President, Christmas in April

Marianne Larned provides us with new insights into the ancient admonition of " ..love your neighbor..." -- share what you have -- take what you need. In a society more interested in getting than giving, we need to learn the value of sharing what we have. Everyone has experience, some have wisdom, others have insight, and a few have great help to give to others. So it is with Marianne and her book, Stone Soup for the World. What a wonderful example of inter-dependence! How much better we would all be if just one person -- me-- followed this counsel. Or how about two people? You and me? Or how about the whole world?
Dr. Karen Johnson Hayter
Producer/Host, COPE Television Program

Marianne Larned helped us launch "Healthy Detroit," one of the largest community initiatives of its kind in the world. A gifted speaker, Marianne understands the incentives that cause business leaders to get involved. She is a very capable and visionary speaker for business/health coalitions. Stone Soup for the World should be a "must read" for all those committed to building healthy communities.
J. Sean Kenney
President/CEO, Greater Detroit Area Health Council

Marianne Larned is a gifted speaker and noted authority on building community partnerships. Under her leadership, we pulled together the leaders of six separate communities and formed an effective consortium to address issues facing us. As a true practitioner, Ms. Larned's guidance allowed us to establish a firm foundation that lead to our success.
Gifford M. Brown
Ford Motor Company

Stone Soup Speaking Bureau
Korina Smith

Kori Smith is the first youth member of the Stone Soup Speakers Bureau. A sophomore at California State University, Kori Smith is an inspirational speaker who will touch your heart and invite you to build a better world. Kori is a co-chair of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute's Youth Leadership Campaign, a multi-faceted, media-oriented, grassroots initiative designed to inspire millions of teens to take action in their schools, communities and in the world. Kori will be featured in the book, Stone Soup for the Teen World (nominated by Medisend featured in Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories Everyday Heroes.)

In May, Kori joined Marianne Larned as a speaker at the Michigan SuperConference for 800 members Non-profit Association: http://www.soup4world.com/teensoup/teensouphome.html
In June, Kori inspired people at a Stone Soup gathering in the San Francisco/Bay Area.

During high school in Saugatuck, Michigan, Kori founded Teens for Humanity and coordinated international humanitarian missions and local community service projects. Her entire community supported Kori's first mission to Guatemala. Kori organized local community service projects like an Easter Party at a local elderly home, a "Food Fight For A Cause" fundraiser and a benefit volleyball game. People sponsored orphans to buy Christmas presents and donated old computers for a rural Mayan village's computer school. The school declared THF's mission a school-related event, so participating students received credit. The local paper published an 8-part series on the mission so the whole city kept up with their trip. The community was thrilled to learn that they played such a valuable role in THF's mission- and how they affected the lives of others thousands of miles away. TFH has inspired over 500 teens to get involved in serving their local communities - and benefited thousands of people all over the world.

This summer Kori continued TFH's legacy on the college level with INSPIRE's first mission is to the Dominican Republic, where they organized a birthday party at an orphanage and helped construct a medical clinic. INSPIRE travelers paid tribute to Hector Algarroba's parents, who died in the American Airline's flight that crashed in Queens, NY, on it's way to Santo Domingo, after 9/11.

Kori has received numerous awards for her leadership and community service including: state honoree from the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, national award recipient of Kohl's Kids Who Care and the Daughters of the American Revolution's Good Citizenship Award. In the last few months, she's met some of the amazing young people from Stone Soup for the Teen World: with Bethany Yarrow (daughter of Peter Yarrow from Peter, Paul and Mary), Srdja Popovic, founder of Otpor, Jackie Bray, coordinator of Students Against Sweatshops, and Noah Nuer, director of Learning as Leadership.

It is so important for youth today to see the effect we can have on the world. Many teens today have problems with their families, drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, depression, and suicide. They can, in fact, affect someone's life for the better, and play an important role in our society. I want American youth to be more appreciative of their own situations and encourage them to be more selfless. Kori Smith