Sacramento, CA · San Francisco Bay Area · Available Nationally
Dr. Monica Hudnall
Ed.D., CCC-SLP
Transforming how professionals, families, and systems understand autism, communication, and leadership.
Book a Speaking Engagement Looking for consulting services? ↓Watch Dr. Hudnall
Stop Shrinking
Social Emotional Leadership for Black Women Leaders — a keynote talk by Dr. Monica Hudnall.
What I Do
Speaking Engagements
Dr. Hudnall brings research, story, and systems thinking to conferences, universities, professional development events, and parent workshops. Her sessions are not lectures — they are experiences that shift how audiences think about autism, communication, and equity.
Serves
Conferences & Summits
Universities & Graduate Programs
School Districts
Healthcare Organizations
Parent & Family Workshops
Consulting Services
Organizations and systems working to improve autism service delivery, AAC program development, or culturally responsive practices engage Dr. Hudnall as a strategic consultant. She brings the lens of a practitioner, researcher, and policy professional.
Serves
School Districts & SELPAs
Healthcare Systems
State & County Agencies
Nonprofit Organizations
University Programs
The Process
How We Work Together
Whether you're booking Dr. Hudnall for a keynote or engaging her for organizational consulting, every collaboration begins the same way — with a real conversation.
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Submit an Inquiry
Use the form below to share your event details — the audience, the goal, and what you're hoping to achieve. No lengthy questionnaires. Just the essentials.
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Discovery Call via Zoom
Dr. Hudnall will review your inquiry and reach out to schedule a focused 30-minute Zoom conversation. She comes prepared — expect thoughtful questions, not a sales pitch.
Scheduling — Coming Soon -
Tailored Engagement
Every talk is original. Dr. Hudnall prepares specifically for your audience, your industry, and your moment. No off-the-shelf keynotes.
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Submit an Inquiry
Share your organization's challenge or goal. Dr. Hudnall works with a limited number of clients at one time — detail matters here.
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Scoping Call via Zoom
A focused Zoom conversation to understand scope, timeline, and fit. Dr. Hudnall is selective about her consulting engagements — this call goes both ways.
Scheduling — Coming Soon -
Custom Engagement Plan
A bespoke approach built around your organization — timelines, deliverables, and outcomes defined together before any engagement begins.
Speaking Topics
Available for keynotes, workshops, panel discussions, and professional development.
Autism & AAC
Augmentative and alternative communication strategies that actually work in real service delivery contexts
Culturally Responsive Practice in SLP
Moving beyond cultural competence to structural accountability in speech-language services
Leading Whole: SELP™
Social-Emotional Leadership Praxis for Black women navigating institutional systems
Understanding Autism Across the Lifespan
Evidence-based frameworks for parents, educators, and clinicians
Systems Change & Policy in Disability Services
From direct service to statewide impact — how policy shapes outcomes
The Research-to-Practice Gap
Why good research doesn't always reach families, and how to close that gap
Burnout, Identity, and Sustainability for SLPs
Honest conversations about what it costs to lead in this field
Featured Presentations
CSHA 2026 Annual Convention
Autism & Cultural Responsiveness in Service Delivery
Autism Parenting Summit
Understanding Autism: What Families Need to Know
Sacramento State, College of Health & Human Services — Research Webinar
Navigating Autism Services: A Systems Perspective
Coming Soon
Book
Leading Whole: Race, Gender, Emotion, and the Praxis of Change
Coming SoonLeadership is never neutral. It is always situated. It is always embodied. And for Black women navigating systems rooted in racism and sexism, it is always emotional.
Leading Whole reclaims the space between survival and thriving, offering Black women leaders — and the organizations that employ them — a radically different framework for leadership.
The Problem
Black women are educational powerhouses. They earn advanced degrees at high rates, lead with excellence, and contribute significantly to their fields. Yet they remain vastly underrepresented in senior leadership roles, face constant bias and scrutiny, and are asked to prove their competence repeatedly. The emotional toll? Burnout, isolation, and the exhausting work of “shifting” — adapting your authentic self to fit systems that were never designed for you.
Traditional leadership models ignore this reality. They treat emotions as liabilities and identity as irrelevant. They fail Black women leaders.
The Solution: SELP™
Social-Emotional Leadership Praxis (SELP)™ is different. It is grounded in the lived experiences of Black women and rooted in three core dimensions:
- Self-Awareness & Identity Integrity — Understanding yourself fully and refusing to fragment your leadership
- Social Awareness & Cultural Literacy — Reading power, recognizing bias, and seeing whose voices are heard and silenced
- Action Orientation & Transformation — Moving from insight to systemic change
What This Book Offers
- Research + Story: Drawing on scholarship, institutional analysis, and the powerful voices of Black women leaders themselves
- The Business Case: A 3-year ROI model showing $113K–$222K in organizational benefits through improved retention, reduced burnout, and stronger internal promotion pipelines
- Real-World Proof: Three detailed case studies (urban school district, tech company, healthcare agency) with measurable outcomes and timelines
- Actionable Roadmaps: A resistance playbook, a 30-60-90 day implementation plan, and a complete 6-month facilitator training curriculum
- Reflection Tools: Self-assessments, identity mapping exercises, and journaling prompts
Research & Publications
Clinical Approaches to Autism and AAC in Diverse Populations
Published in American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Vol. 31, 2022
doi.org/10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00338 Peer-Reviewed ArticleContributing Writer — Autism Parenting Magazine
Contributing author to Autism Parenting Magazine since 2018. Recipient of the 2025 Autism Parenting Magazine Contributor Award.
About Dr. Hudnall
Dr. Monica C. Hudnall is a speech-language pathologist, autism specialist, educator, and author with a career spanning direct clinical service, academic research, policy, and statewide systems leadership.
Dr. Hudnall is based in Sacramento, California and serves clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the broader Northern California corridor — including Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties — as well as organizations nationwide via Zoom.
She currently serves as Autism Training Director for the Autism Services Branch at the California Department of Developmental Services (CA DDS), where she develops and delivers training across a complex statewide service delivery system. She is a UC-LEND Fellow and a published researcher in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Dr. Hudnall has presented at major professional conferences including the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CSHA) Annual Convention and served on the ASHA and CSHA boards (2014–2021). She is a contributing writer to Autism Parenting Magazine and was honored with their 2025 Contributor Award.
Her forthcoming book, Leading Whole: Race, Gender, Emotion, and the Praxis of Change, introduces the Social-Emotional Leadership Praxis (SELP™) framework — a research-grounded model built from the lived experiences of Black women in leadership.
Let's Start Your Communication Journey
Availability is limited. Every engagement begins with a brief inquiry — no lengthy forms, no commitment required.