In this episode, founder and executive director of Courage to Caregivers, Kristi Horner, shares what it truly means to lead from lived experience in both personal and professional caregiving. In this conversation, Kristi unpacks the practical side of trauma-informed leadership—how self-care, emotional check-ins, and boundary-setting aren't luxuries, but essential tools for sustainable leadership.

Drawing on her experience as a family peer supporter and non-profit leader, she offers real-world strategies to prevent burnout, build workplace cultures of support, and advocate for caregivers inside and outside the workplace.

Learn more about Kristi:

Kristi Horner is the Founder and Executive Director for Courage to Caregivers. She is certified through the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a Family Peer Support Specialist and NAMI Ohio Trainer for this program. She is also certified through the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board as an Ohio Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant (OCPSA), and is a Question Persuade Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Instructor.

In 2014, she lost her brother to suicide. She had been one of her brother’s mental illness long-distance caregivers for four years. He lived with depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. As someone who supported someone she loved very much, living with mental illness, she knew there had to be a better way to support caregivers of those living with behavioral health needs and the idea for Courage to Caregivers was born!

Connect with Kristi:

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