Dr. Lisa Strohman is a psychologist, attorney, author, and national speaker. She holds a PhD and J.D. from an integrated program in law and psychology at Villanova and Drexel Universities. Her passions are to protect children from online dangers and to empower and educate students, educators, and parents on technology-related issues. To help accomplish this, Dr. Strohman created Digital Citizen Academy (www.dcakids.org). She explains her motivation for working in such a challenging area:
“Our future generations need a champion for their mental well-being and how much it is impacted by technology. For nearly two decades I have worked as a clinical psychologist with teens and families as an advocate in the area of technology and how it impacts our psychology. Beginning with my time working with the FBI as a visiting scholar, and more recently with internet crimes against children (ICAC) units, I have had the unique perspective from both psychology and law of what the younger generation is facing in this digitally connected world.”
Dr. Strohman’s background helped prepare her for this calling. “I grew up very poor. My parents got divorced when I was five and I was in and out of homeless shelters at times with my mom. Fortunately, my grandmother moved in with my dad and helped raise me for nearly 12 years. My grandma taught me the gift of having faith and how God works differently through different people. She taught me about the history of religion and would take me to a different house of worship every six months to immerse me in the various ways God brings peace to our world.”
Dr. Strohman was introduced to Kevin Youngblood, past Executive Director of the Arizona Chapter and Chairman of the Board for Arizona when her work with online safety programs was brought to his attention. “Kevin is one of the strongest advocates and supporters of what I’m doing to date,” Dr. Strohman says. “He’s somebody who has successfully navigated this space with his own company, Odysseyware, Inc., which produced educational software focused on reaching at-risk students.
“Kevin invited me to join a women’s leadership group in Pinnacle Forum that he had started,” she continues. “In one meeting he shared that the majority of the world’s wealth would be controlled by women in the next generation and that Pinnacle Forum wanted to do more to reach women who currently are and those that will become leaders and influencers.
“I joined the group eagerly, which is now being hosted by Kevin’s daughter, Julie Youngblood. Every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m., whether I am ready or still getting the kids ready for school, there is a video meeting. It’s 50/50 whether I open my camera and sometimes it is hard to make the call with such a busy family and travel schedule. However, this is by far my favorite time of the week because having their support, prayers and compassion in life really helps keeps me going. Our time together sometimes morphs into a supportive and reflective Bible study. For instance, right now we’re talking about Hannah from the First Book of Samuel and how it relates to having patience in our everyday lives.”
Given her credentials and public profile, Dr. Strohman spends a lot of time on planes to LA, New York, and points between. She speaks at schools, businesses, churches, and community groups on the challenges of raising responsible digital citizens. She is regularly featured on major media outlets like CNN and Fox News and quoted in numerous print publications including Forbes Magazine, Fast Company, and Huffington Post. She’s also raising a young family. So how does she find time for a Forum?
“I often touch on this very thing when I speak to groups,” Dr. Strohman says. “I talk about the importance of finding a connection with people who are like-minded in trying to shift our focus to the good in humanity in order to bring the world back from the brink. I share how thankful I am for my Forum group and point out that there are groups like Pinnacle Forum working to bring about change.
“Kevin’s nickname for me is ‘Governor’,” Dr. Strohman says with a smile in her voice. “When it comes to the Seven Mountains, I think he wants me to do several of them at once, but he especially thinks I should be in the political world. But I have worked as a legislative aid in Congress and have seen that system. And so I tell him, ‘No thank you, sir. I’m right where God wants me for now.”
Lisa has written Unplug: Raising Kids in a Technology Addicted World, which is available on Amazon. She also just completed her second book, The Digital Divide: Parenting in the Digital Age, scheduled to be published at the first of the year. For more information on her work, visit Digital Citizen Academy, www.digitalcitizenacademy.org.
