About Stronger U
Table of Contents
Stronger U is a liberatory wellness and education collective providing immersive, trauma-informed, and non-carceral services to organizations, private practices, individual practitioners, and survivors. Our mission is to co-create sustainable systems of care that uplift those who are most often excluded by traditional models—through strategic consulting, certification programs, coaching, and community-based programming.
What sets us apart is the intentional integration of lived experience, relational care, and decades of professional practice. Since 2007, we’ve supported clients navigating complex identities, systemic barriers, and chronic conditions—delivering not only insight, but practical, personalized solutions that support long-term wellbeing.
Whether you’re a practitioner seeking non-carceral mentorship, an organization looking to shift your systems, or a survivor ready to redefine your own wellness, Stronger U helps you move beyond survival—toward wholeness.
“Stronger U is built around you—your needs, your values, your definition of thriving. Whether you’re an individual navigating personal wellness or professional growth, a practitioner deepening your non-carceral care, or an organization reshaping how you support others, I’m here to listen, collaborate, and help you build a sustainable path forward.
From surviving through chronic suicidality, complex trauma, marginalization, or anything else that threatens wellbeing, to reimagining care systems and leading through complexity, our work is always personalized, relational, and rooted in liberation.
At Stronger U, we don’t just talk about strength. We co-create it—through intentional, lived-experience support that helps you grow, lead, and thrive on your own terms.”
~Ryder Fox, Founder / Wellness Coach and Educator
Vision
To ignite the capacity for people on the margins to heal, lead, and thrive.
Mission
To deliver trauma-informed, lived-experience coaching, education, and consulting that centers marginalized clients in care, validation, autonomy, and dignity.
Our Approach
At Stronger U, “Stronger Together” is more than a slogan—it’s the foundation of our co-active methodology. We don’t offer prepackaged solutions. Instead, we listen deeply, build with you, and co-create personalized paths to growth rooted in your goals and values.
Our services include:
- Strategic consulting for organizations and practices
- Immersive certificate programs for non-carceral practitioners
- Customized workshops and coaching for communities
- Event-based support including logistics, speaker engagement, programming and crisis care
- Individual and group coaching with a focus on sustainability, wholeness, and personal agency
Core Values (C.O.A.C.T)
We commit to working with you—not on you—using our C.O.A.C.T. framework to guide every service:
- Cultivating: Deepening awareness through ongoing, human-centered, evidence-informed education
- Optimizing: Promoting healing, stabilization, and intentionality in sustainable care practices
- Affirming: Upholding client autonomy with informed consent and trauma-informed validation
- Connecting: Reducing isolation through community care, relational support, and peer connection
- Thriving: Advancing clients beyond survival toward sustained, embodied wellbeing
Methodology
Our Whole-Human model recognizes that no single aspect of your identity or experience defines you. Our programming is built to meet real-world complexity with nuance and respect. We offer:
- Trauma-informed, lived-experience frameworks, built upon our 30 years of practice
- Flexible, consent-centered approaches
- No fads or gimmicks, no mind games, no false promises
Depending on your needs, you might interact with Stronger U coaches and community members through:
- Strategic organizational consulting or training
- Cohort-based certificate programs and professional development
- Peer and practitioner coaching
- Community workshops and group series
- Free and low-cost resources, including digital courses, SMS check-ins, and online peer spaces
History of Stronger U
Stronger U was founded by Ryder, a queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent coach and educator living with chronic illness and disability. Their work is rooted in both personal experience—surviving a religious cult, navigating suicidality and systemic harm—and in over two decades of professional service.
Stronger U began in 2007 with a simple goal: to help clients—many living with chronic pain, disability, and systemic oppression—feel stronger on their own terms. What started as individualized wellness coaching quickly evolved into a broader mission of redefining what it means to heal, lead, and thrive outside of traditional, often carceral, care systems.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Ryder founded THRIVE Lifeline, a nonprofit crisis line supporting multiply marginalized individuals with identity-affirming, anonymous support. This legacy of mutual aid, advocacy, and empowerment remains central to Stronger U’s mission today.
Today
Now, Stronger U serves clients around the world—supporting private practices, professional societies, advocacy organizations, care workers, students, and survivors with offerings that blend rigor, care, and justice. We know that “strong” means something different for everyone. Our goal is to help you define—and live—your version of strength, with tools that honor your full humanity.
Whether you’re restructuring your practice, facilitating healing in your community, or navigating your own growth, we’re here to come alongside you and elevate your visions.