Ali Blackmon

Ali Blackmon 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.

Ali’s independent writing began in October 2016. She has spoken publicly since May 2019 and founded Help Me Hope in January 2026.

She publishes her personal essays in Alive, Anyway. Help Me Hope is the nonprofit she founded to advance the science of hope.

Earlier interviews and features are collected on the Media & Interviews page.