A custom message for Edmund Burke School
Helping Burke Students Turn Courage Into Purpose, Stories Into Superpowers, and Concern for the World Into Ethical, Meaningful Action
Planet Courage is a student-centered speaking and storytelling experience that helps young people build resilience, discover their voice, strengthen their self-awareness, and connect who they are with how they learn, lead, advocate, and make a difference.
Today's students are navigating pressure, uncertainty, anxiety, big questions about the future, and a world that can often feel overwhelming. At Edmund Burke School, students are already being seen, challenged, respected, and supported as unique learners in a community rooted in progressive education, critical thinking, creativity, equity, inclusion, and civic responsibility.
Planet Courage builds on that foundation.
Through storytelling, reflection, media, and real-world examples of changemakers, Planet Courage helps students recognize that their lives already hold the raw material for courage, creativity, advocacy, moral reasoning, leadership, and impact.
This is not just a talk students listen to. It is an experience that helps them name their gifts, reflect on what they care about, and take one meaningful step toward becoming the ethical, active citizens and authentic people Burke prepares students to become.
Why Planet Courage Fits Edmund Burke School
Planet Courage connects directly to the values Burke already nurtures in students: curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, self-awareness, open discussion, equity, inclusion, social responsibility, civic engagement, and the courage to make the wider world more just.
Purpose, Self-Awareness, and Resilience
Helping students navigate uncertainty, pressure, fear, self-doubt, and big life questions with courage, reflection, curiosity, and a stronger sense of who they are.
Student Voice and Leadership
Helping students see their voice, story, values, and ideas as tools for leadership, connection, advocacy, and meaningful change.
Hope, Belonging, and Emotional Strength
Offering a non-clinical but deeply human message about courage, anxiety, grief, belonging, self-worth, and the strength that comes from being seen, respected, and supported.
Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Helping students move from awareness to action by asking: What do I care about? Who is affected? What values guide me? What responsibility do I have? And where can I begin?
Climate Courage and Global Citizenship
Helping students face climate anxiety with stories, solutions, and real-world examples of responsibility, stewardship, justice, and possibility.
The Student Experience
Planet Courage is designed for Burke students who may be wondering:
- Who am I becoming?
- What gifts, ideas, and talents do I have?
- What do I care about?
- How can I use my voice with courage and care?
- What does it mean to advocate for myself and others?
- How do I face the future without feeling overwhelmed by it?
- How can I help make my community and the wider world more just?
By the end of the experience, students are invited to see themselves as people with real-world superpowers:
What Students Walk Away With
A stronger sense that their story matters
A clearer understanding of their "real-world superpower"
Language for naming their gifts, values, and purpose
A hopeful way to think about fear, pressure, and uncertainty
A deeper connection between self-awareness, advocacy, creativity, and social responsibility
Examples of everyday people making meaningful change
A practical invitation to serve their school, community, city, and world
A reminder that leadership can begin with one honest question, one true story, one thoughtful conversation, or one brave next step
Featured Work
Explore examples of storytelling, speaking, hosting, and media work connected to the Planet Courage approach, including stories of climate solutions, civic engagement, community leadership, social responsibility, and everyday changemakers.
Drawdown's Neighborhood
A storytelling series highlighting climate solutions and everyday heroes in communities across the country.
Watch / Learn More
The Global Solutions Diary
Stories of changemakers around the world turning climate solutions into action.
Watch / Learn More
20s & Change: San Francisco
A pilot film passing the mic to changemakers who often go unheard. Join the conversation on identity, inspiration, and impact.
Watch / Learn MoreTrusted by Colleges, Universities, and Institutions Including:
What Students, Educators, and Partners Are Saying
"Matt's 'pass the mic' project is beyond inspiring. It is so smart, so creative, so needed. Several students said to me how much they enjoyed Matt's presentation and conversations… And how much they learned from him. Getting to know him and working with Matt has been an immense pleasure and privilege. He is such a special and gifted person. I have enjoyed our collaboration – and look forward to much more."
Frank Sesno
Emmy-winning journalist; Director, School of Media & Public Affairs and Alliance for a Sustainable Future
The George Washington University
Talk Experiences
Planet Courage can be adapted for Burke assemblies, advisory programming, Health, Values, and Ethics connections, civic engagement programming, leadership development, wellness programming, Middle School and High School experiences, climate and sustainability conversations, and community-wide events.
Pricing note: Lower-end investment reflects an experience with Matt Scott (based in the DC area). Higher-end investment reflects an experience with both Matt Scott and Erik Douds (based in the Denver area).
Keynote Experience
$2,500–$5,000
+ travel & lodging
Half Day
A powerful single talk designed for a Burke assembly, advisory program, civic engagement event, wellness day, or community-wide gathering.
Includes:
Best for: Schools looking for a high-impact assembly or featured speaker experience.
Inquire About KeynoteDay of Talks
$5,000–$10,000
+ travel & lodging
Full Day
A full-day experience that brings Planet Courage to multiple Burke student groups, classes, and divisions across campus.
Includes:
Best for: Schools that want to reach multiple class years, leadership groups, or student communities in one visit.
Inquire About Day of TalksPlanet Courage Embed
$10,000–$20,000
+ travel & lodging
5 Days Total
A deeper engagement designed to build momentum with Burke students over time. Typically across two visits of approximately 2.5 days each.
Includes:
Best for: Schools that want Planet Courage to support a larger initiative around student voice, advocacy, civic engagement, climate, or community impact.
Inquire About EmbedPlanet Courage Residency
$25,000–$50,000
+ travel & lodging
10 Days Total
A signature multi-visit experience that helps Burke students move from inspiration to storytelling, action, and community celebration. Three campus visits.
Includes:
Best for: Schools looking for a transformational, community-wide experience that builds student voice, creativity, advocacy, and civic engagement over time.
Inquire About ResidencyA Message for Burke Leaders
You are not just booking a speaker. You are creating a moment for students to pause, reflect, feel seen, and connect their own stories to a larger sense of curiosity, courage, creativity, justice, and purpose.
Planet Courage meets students at the intersection of the questions they are already carrying: Who am I? What gifts do I have? What matters to me? How do I deal with fear? What kind of future is possible? What role can I play in building it? And how can I use my voice and story to advocate for myself, others, and the wider world?
For Edmund Burke School, this experience can support the values already woven through school life: progressive education, student-centered learning, open discussion, critical thinking, equity, inclusion, social responsibility, civic engagement, creativity, collaboration, and the development of students who are ethical, active citizens and their best, authentic selves.
Planet Courage gives students language, stories, and tools to begin answering those questions with courage.
Customize This Experience for Edmund Burke School
Every Planet Courage visit can be shaped around Burke's goals, values, calendar, divisions, and student needs.
Bring Planet Courage to Edmund Burke School
Help Burke students turn courage into purpose, stories into superpowers, and concern for the world into ethical citizenship, advocacy, and meaningful action.