First Choice & A Second Chance
(Assembly/Keynote)
This program begins with an introduction video aimed at knocking down the stigma attached to substance use disorder, educating the audience on the current drug epidemic, and setting the stage for a powerful, honest and heartfelt story. During interviews with Stephen’s family, it becomes clear he had a great childhood. “No one saw this coming.”
Through sharing his lived experience, Stephen shows how mental health struggles can lead to addiction, the consequences of substance use, and how stigma prevented him from asking for help and contributed to his inability to recover. His storytelling technique allows each individual person to draw conclusions in their own meaningful way as it relates to their own life.
By focusing on the progression of his dependence—beginning to end—attendees will gain a better understanding of how the choices they make today will affect them, and those around them, for the rest of their lives. The trifecta gateway drugs of nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana introduced to Stephen in 8th grade by older peers was just the beginning, eventually leading to self-destructive behaviors, criminal convictions, and a deadly opioid addiction that Stephen directly states he would have never made it out alive if fentanyl was as prevalent during his addiction as it is today.
He takes you through his struggles and extremely difficult times, then slowly transitions into sobriety—emphasizing that recovery is possible. Through practicing gratitude, healthy routines, and changing his mindset to view his challenges as opportunities to inspire others, profound changes began to happen in Stephen’s life.
The pivotal moment occurred just before he celebrated one year of recovery. Stephen was given a second chance to turn his mess into a message by working in the field of addiction treatment and prevention. From there, he gained the confidence to share his story, go back to college and eventually law school. Today, he speaks all across the country to inspire others to lead healthy, substance-free lives.
Attendees will leave this program better educated on mental health and substance use, with practical tools and coping skills to work through challenges, and with a goal-oriented mindset to build a life worth protecting.
Break The Silence
(Breakout/Classroom)
If you are looking for breakout sessions after Stephen’s keynote presentation, then this program is perfect for you! Implemented as a follow-up to the assembly, breakout sessions are held in Health, PE, or other classes throughout the school day. This is a unique opportunity for students to ask Stephen personal questions and engage in open discussion in an intimate setting where students feel more comfortable.
Breakout sessions expand on the substance of Stephen’s talk and are geared toward knowledge retention. Each session is a deeper dive into the specifics of the most important topics covered in the assembly. Stephen provides thorough explanations of healthy coping skills and other important topics that will have more staying power.
Before concluding a breakout session, Stephen will ask each student to share one positive message, lesson, or take away from his story.
Transforming Youth Discipline and Justice with Restorative Practices
(Professional Development: Assembly or Classroom)
Transforming school discipline and criminal justice policies from punitive to restorative practices for youth struggling with substance use disorder not only saves lives—it builds lives worth protecting.
School administrators and prosecutors face significant challenges to find the most effective response when a young person—anyone under the age of 25—breaks the law or violates a code of conduct for drugs and alcohol.
Stephen Hill brings extensive personal and professional experience on this topic. His unique perspective comes from his work as a criminal defense attorney with a focus on drug and alcohol related offenses, recovery coach, and youth motivational speaker.
His work was inspired by his own adverse childhood experiences—out-of-school suspensions, removal from school sports teams, felony convictions—and the labels and stigma that came with it.
We often hear administrators and prosecutors, when faced with an individual who violated the law or code of conduct, must make decisions by balancing the best interests of the individual and the community.
Stephen’s training helps people recognize how the best interests of individual offenders and communities align more than most people think. Through sharing his personal testimony and advocacy work today, Stephen reveals innovative solutions for schools and communities to develop systems to achieve better outcomes for young people facing behavioral and/or criminal justice challenges because of substance use disorder or a co-occurring disorder.
NOTE: This program can be tailored specifically for schools, drug free communities coalitions, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, government officials, etc.
Not My Kid: Parent Program/Community Event
(Assembly)
How does 1 of 4 brothers, all raised in the same home by loving and supportive parents, end up addicted to drugs for over a decade while the other 3 brothers take a positive path to business school and law school without any substance use issues whatsoever? Stephen answers this question by showing parents and community members how his personality traits, mental health struggles, and adverse childhood experiences made him more vulnerable to substance use disorder than his brothers.
When speaking to parents, Stephen places a great deal of emphasis on prevention through protection. Using his personal experiences with his own parents, as well as knowledge gained through working in the field of prevention and treatment, Stephen pinpoints potential threats and warning signs for parents to look out for. He equips parents and community members with essential insights gained through his lived experience and shares strategies needed to foster resilience, support mental well-being, and prevent substance use in young people.
Parents never think it’s going to happen to their kid, but when it does, most have no idea what to do. Stephen’s parents, like many parents who have a child suffering from a substance use disorder, dealt with the emotional and financial hardship as a result of their child’s addiction. Members of their community, friends, and even family labeled Stephen with stigmas that made it increasingly difficult to recover, for his parents to confide in others and seek help for their son’s addiction.
By sharing his family’s experiences, Stephen highlights the mistakes made, the turning points where things went right, and how he successfully lives in long-term recovery. His story offers hope and guidance to families facing similar challenges so they can avoid the costly hardships that his family suffered.
He stresses the importance of parents keeping an open line of communication with their children and how fear of punishment prevents teens from being honest with their parents. He uses his background as an attorney to directly discuss potential criminal and civil liability for parents allowing underage drinking and/or drug use in the home. Stephen’s presentation will leave parents with a better understanding of how to prevent and treat substance use disorder.
*Ask about our Father-Son program with Stephen and his father, Kevin Hill.
Know The Law, Save A Life
(Breakout/Classroom)
A comprehensive seminar educating on drug and alcohol laws with the following learning outcomes for students:
• Make better informed choices
• Understand the legal and moral consequences of their actions
• Help SAVE LIVES
Stephen begins this seminar by qualifying himself through his criminal justice education and personal experience with drugs and alcohol as it relates to the criminal justice system. During his decade-long drug addiction, Stephen was arrested numerous times for drug and alcohol related offenses which resulted in criminal convictions, probation, court-mandated treatment, drug testing, and even jail.
On the other side, during his 10 plus years of recovery, Stephen received a Bachelor of Science with Honors from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, won 1st place at an undergraduate moot court competition, earned his Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School, and was sworn into the New York bar as an attorney. He has interned at a District Attorney’s Office working with a prosecutor assigned to drug court, and also held summer associate positions at two criminal defense firms. He has spoken on numerous panels with police and prosecutors at substance use prevention programs. It is safe to say that very few people have such extensive experience with the criminal justice system on both sides of the law.
After qualifying himself as an expert in this field, Stephen tells a story about an underage drinking party he and his friends attended during his sophomore year of high school. What occurred that evening implicates various laws related to drugs and alcohol which could have had serious legal and moral consequences.
Looking back on that night, Stephen realized that he and his friends were ignorant of several laws related to drugs and alcohol—some of which, had they known, could have altered their behavior and potentially SAVED A LIFE. Good Samaritan/911 Immunity Law, Social Host Law, DWI/DWAI & Zero Tolerance, Breathalyzer Refusal, Possession of alcohol under 21-years-old, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Hazing, and Civil Liability are some of the laws discussed in this seminar.
Stephen breaks down each law in a way for students to understand, explaining how those laws are implicated in the story he told. Students will answer a series of multiple-choice questions to test their knowledge. Stephen will reserve time at the end of the seminar to answer questions and engage in an open discussion.
Best Substance Use Prevention Mental Health Speaker 