Rebekah Gregory
- Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor
- Mental Health Advocate
Travels From
Florida
Rebekah Gregory Speaker Biography
Rebekah Gregory is a Boston Marathon bombing survivor, internationally recognized keynote speaker, and Founder of Rebekah’s Angels Foundation.
Named one of People Magazine’s Most Inspiring Women Leaders and a Woman to Watch by ESPN, she has shared her story with audiences of all kinds, from intimate rooms to large-scale stages.
In 2013, Rebekah sustained life-altering injuries, including the loss of her leg, just feet from the first explosion at the Boston Marathon. In that moment, she instinctively shielded her young son, her body taking the impact of the blast.
In the years since, she continues to navigate recovery, trauma, and rebuilding her life, with ongoing surgeries along the way. Rebekah has learned that it is not one defining moment of strength, but a series of choices made day after day to keep moving forward.
One of the most powerful moments of her journey came during her victim impact statement in federal court, when she looked at the remaining bomber and told him she was not his victim and that she would do her part to change the world for the better. That promise became the foundation of her work today.
Through both lived experience and more than a decade of studying trauma and human resilience, Rebekah brings a perspective that is not theoretical, it is earned.
Today, she is the Founder of Rebekah’s Angels Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to funding trauma therapy and providing emotional support for individuals and families navigating life after traumatic events. Her message is clear. While we cannot control every hardship we face, we can choose how we move forward, and that choice, made consistently over time, is what builds resilience, even on our last leg.
Survival Starts the Story. Resilience Builds the Rest (Signature Keynote)
Every person and every organization will face a moment that changes everything.
A moment you didn’t plan for, didn’t see coming, and don’t feel ready to handle.
What you do in that moment matters. But what you do next matters even more.
For Rebekah Gregory, that moment came in 2013 at the Boston Marathon finish line, when she was critically injured while shielding her young son from the blast.
But survival was only the beginning.
Because most people don’t struggle to get through the moment. They struggle with everything that comes after it, the uncertainty, the identity shift, and the pressure to keep going when nothing feels the same.
In this powerful and deeply human keynote, Rebekah shares what she has learned through lived experience and more than a decade of studying trauma and human resilience. She speaks to what it actually takes to move forward when life doesn’t go back to normal.
This is not resilience in theory. It is resilience when you are still in it.
Through honest storytelling, hard-earned perspective, and her signature humor, Rebekah challenges audiences to rethink how they respond under pressure, lead through uncertainty, and keep showing up when the path forward feels unclear.
Because while we cannot control what happens to us, we can choose how we move forward.
Because survival starts the story. Resilience builds the rest.
Key Outcomes
*How to move forward when life changes without warning and the path ahead feels uncertain
*How to make clear, grounded decisions under pressure instead of reacting from fear or overwhelm
*How to rebuild identity, purpose, and direction after personal or professional disruption
*How to lead yourself and others through adversity with resilience and clarity
When Strong People Struggle:
There is a version of strength we celebrate.
The kind that pushes through. Keeps going. Shows up no matter what.
And then there is the reality most people live in.
The pressure to hold it together when you’re exhausted. To perform when you feel overwhelmed. To lead, support others, and meet expectations when you are not okay.
For Rebekah Gregory, that reality became impossible to ignore in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.
In the years that followed, she faced not only physical recovery, but the ongoing mental and emotional weight that comes with trauma, loss, and the expectation to keep showing up.
Because the truth is, many of the strongest people in any organization are carrying more than anyone sees.
And most don’t know what to do with it.
In this powerful keynote, Rebekah opens an honest conversation about mental health, burnout, and the hidden cost of being the strong one, especially in high-pressure environments.
Drawing from her lived experience, not only from the bombing but from a lifetime of navigating trauma, and more than a decade of studying human resilience, she shares practical tools to help individuals recognize when they are running on empty, navigate the weight they carry, and continue showing up in a way that is both effective and sustainable.
Because strength is not about pretending you’re okay.
It’s about knowing what to do when you’re not.
Key Outcomes
*How to recognize when you are running on empty before burnout takes over
*How to navigate the mental and emotional weight of high-pressure environments without losing yourself
*How to continue showing up and performing in a way that is both effective and sustainable
*Practical tools to manage stress and move forward when you are not okay
(Each keynote can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your audience, with experience speaking across corporate, healthcare, first responder, educational, and faith-based environments.)
