Holly Kostrzewski is an international keynote speaker, consultant, and nationally recognized leader in traffic safety and resilience. At 18, she survived a traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle crash and had to relearn how to walk, talk, read, and write. Years later, her father became a paraplegic. These lived experiences shaped Holly’s mission: to transform hardship into hope and to save lives through both storytelling and systems change.

For more than 22 years, Holly served in Tribal, state, and federal government, leading groundbreaking work in Vision Zero/Toward Zero Deaths, rural and Tribal outreach, seat belt and child passenger safety programs, and interdisciplinary partnerships. She launched Minnesota’s first NE / NW regional Toward Zero Deaths programs, raised seat belt use from 68.5% to over 90%, and has received national recognition including the Kathy Swanson Outstanding Service Award, multiple Indian Health Service Awards, and the National Public Safety Award from the Lifesavers Conference.

As the founder of Kostrzewski Consulting, LLC – Where the Microphone Meets the Road, Holly now blends her consulting expertise with her dynamic keynote speaking career. She has inspired over one million people worldwide—across the United States, Canada, and New Zealand—with her signature Junk Drawer keynote and resilience talks, reminding audiences that “the other side of hard” is where humor, hope, and healing live.

Passionate about empowering women’s voices, Holly also co-hosts the Twin Cities Mic Drop Club, part of a 33-city network helping women speak with confidence and impact. Whether on stage or in strategy rooms, Holly’s work is rooted in one mission: to turn stories into strategies, and strategies into lives saved.