About Steve
Witness to the Boxing Day Tsunami in Sri Lanka; Global Aid Worker; Workplace & Community Resilience Advocate reaching more than 20,000 people in 30 west coast communities; Keynote, Fortune 500 and TEDxPortland Speaker.
Tipping Point Resilience specializes in earthquake risk and preparedness culture in workplaces and communities facing the dormant threats throughout the west coast of North American. We aim to spark a preparedness movement that will inspire communities to adapt to the largest natural risks we face, saving future lives and livelihoods.
Tipping Point Resilience co-founders Steve Eberlein and Lydia Ledgerwood were living in Sri Lanka when a 9.1 subduction zone earthquake off the coast of Indonesia triggered a massive tsunami that took 230,000 lives in more than a dozen countries, including 35,000 in Sri Lanka. As aid workers, they were active witnesses to one of the largest multi-national relief efforts in history, starting from its earliest hours.
In 2006, they returned to their native Oregon only to learn that the Pacific Northwest, too, was due for a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami event. In 2016, Steve became wholly dedicated to motivating communities and companies to prepare for major earthquakes. His effort has included the delivery of nearly 150 presentations to more than 20,000 people in Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Anchorage, and dozens of other west coast communities. Steve has presented to Fortune 500 companies, senior public officials, and even a world-famous rock band. The renown of Steve’s efforts culminated with an invitation to speak at TEDxPortland – the largest independent TED event in the United States.
“There’s likely not a person in the Pacific Northwest who’s prepared more people for the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake than Steve Eberlein has.”
Tripp Robinson
Intel – Emergency Manager
“As Oregon’s Emergency Manager, I have attended dozens of lectures, presentations, and seminars on the Cascadia threat. Steve Eberlein’s is one of the most innovative, engaging and informative that I’ve seen.”
Andrew Phelps
Director, Oregon Office of Emergency Management
“I thoroughly enjoyed Steve’s presentation at the Association of Continuity Professionals (ACP) Conference. He is a gifted presenter as well as a passionate speaker on a very important, under-served topic.”
Scott Ream
ACP National Board Chairperson
“I highly recommend Steven Eberlein to anyone who wants to have a great presentation on earthquake resiliency in the Pacific Northwest. I worked with him for many years at the Red Cross, and his presentations were superb and engaging! They got people to rise to a level of action that got themselves ready. All of the ideas he presents are superb! He is a talented speaker!”
Professor of Geology, Portland State University
ACP National Board Chairperson
“Our employees left the event extremely impressed by the quality of Steve’s presentation, and how he shared his own personal experience with natural disasters. They also expressed how they already had action items to work on to get prepared.”
Annette Navarro
Corporate Giving and Volunteering, Daimler Trucks North America
Since experiencing Steven’s presentation, people at every level of my company have taken solid steps towards personal preparation and business continuity. Even with my best efforts, I don’t think the preparedness conversation would be as widespread or as informed had it not been for seeing Steven’s presentation themselves.”
Mack Stanley
Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager
“All I have to say is…wow!!! Although I had seen his TEDx Talk and knew what a great speaker he was, Steve’s simply tremendous live and in person. And more importantly, I think he had a serious influence on the attendees of our disaster symposium. His presentation was informative, incredibly engaging and action-oriented — exactly what our audience needs and loves.”
Dr. Jennifer Dimoff
Assistant Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Portland State University
