Writer, Storyteller, Educator, Founder of Help Me Hope
Ali Blackmon
Personal essays and stories on the brutal beauty of being alive, and the humor, audacity, perspective, and gumption it takes to endure the catastrophic and embrace the wonderfully absurd.
Life saved by organ donation.
Founder, Help Me Hope.
Selected writing
Alive, Anyway
Explore the essay archivePersonal essays and stories on the brutal beauty of being alive, and the humor, audacity, perspective, and gumption it takes to endure the catastrophic and embrace the wonderfully absurd.
You’re a Writer?
A book festival, an imagined moment of recognition, and a day that refuses to follow the script. An essay about wanting to be taken seriously as a writer—and the absurd things that happen along the way.
Read the essayAll the Funny Things People Say
An encounter on a bus, the things people say, and the distance between intention and understanding.
Read the essayWhen Freedom Feels Like Freefall
On the unfamiliar freedom that arrives when survival no longer organizes the day.
Read the essayKeep reading.
Find new essays and the archive at Alive, Anyway. Subscribe there to receive the writing.
Visit Alive, AnywayAbout the writer
A life, in words.
Ali Blackmon (formerly known publicly as Ali Dugger) is a writer, storyteller, educator, and founder of Help Me Hope, an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing the science of hope.
Her personal essays and stories explore the brutal beauty of being alive, and the humor, audacity, perspective, and gumption it takes to endure the catastrophic and embrace the wonderfully absurd. Publishing publicly since 2016, Blackmon explores what helps us survive what feels impossible, live beyond what happens to us, and continue building a life worth inhabiting. She publishes Alive, Anyway and, through Help Me Hope, works to translate established hope research into practical tools and programs centered on agency and pathways.
Blackmon lived with Type 1 diabetes before receiving a kidney-pancreas transplant. That experience informs her work without defining its boundaries. Her work explores what helps us survive what feels impossible, live beyond what happens to us, and continue building a life worth inhabiting.
Speaking & conversation
Bring the conversation into the room.
Ali brings her writing, lived experience, and work on the science of hope to talks, interviews, and conversations.
Inquire about speaking
Conversations worth having
-
Finding meaning in ordinary life
The surprising and familiar moments that change how we see. -
Hope and perspective
How lived experience can open a different way of seeing. -
Writing and lived experience
Lived experience, emotional precision, and recognition.
A conversation begins with your audience.
For keynotes, moderated conversations, podcast interviews, and audience Q&As, share your event, audience, dates, and format.
Inquire about speakingMedia & Press
Conversations from the archive.
Selected interviews and coverage from Ali Blackmon’s public history. Earlier appearances were published under Ali Dugger, her former public name.
Type1Strong · May 2025 · Feature by Ginger Vieira
Fighting to Survive Type 1 Diabetes: Ali’s Journey to a Pancreas Transplant
A reported feature about Ali’s experience with diabetes complications, dialysis, and a kidney-pancreas transplant.
The Healthy Diabetic · June 6, 2025 · Interview
Diabetes Complexities Are Real: Ali Dugger
Diabetes Nerd · Interview
Ali's Fight to Live
An earlier conversation about diabetes and transplantation. The linked episode retains its original title.
Founder
Help Me Hope
Advancing the science of hope.
Ali founded Help Me Hope to advance the science of hope. Drawing on established research, the nonprofit is developing programs, digital applications, and practical tools to strengthen hope for individuals, organizations, and institutions. This work is in development and is not yet publicly available. Explore the mission and work in progress on the organization’s website.
Visit Help Me HopeGet in touch
Writing. Speaking. A conversation.
For writing opportunities, interviews, press, or speaking engagements, use the contact form. For organizational partnerships, connect directly with Help Me Hope.