Turning Pain into Power
Helping emerging adults reclaim their strength, resilience, and voice.
What if we could take the negative energy of harm and turn it into strength?
For most of my life, I’ve known what it feels like to be “othered.” Growing up, I was bullied at home and at school. Later, in the tech industry, I faced sexual harassment and racism that left me questioning my worth. Even in nonprofit spaces, I felt patronized or dismissed.
Each experience chipped away at my sense of belonging, until I began to ask a different question: What if the very pain meant to silence me could become the power that connects and heals?
During the 2020 pandemic, I began a formal transition into work that unites my professional background with my personal experiences. I returned to school and earned my Master’s in Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, focusing on interventions that support marginalized youth.
Today, my work centers on developing social programs that help emerging adults (ages 18–25+) who were bullied or marginalized in their youth reclaim their sense of power and build lasting resilience.
Susan Barahia
312-612-0442
susan.barahia@gmail.com
http://linkd.in/sbarahia