Sydney Ford

Sydney Ford is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in Public Relations, and a graduate of the Emory University School of Law where she obtained her juris doctorate degree. She is currently employed at Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services. Sydney wrote and published her own children’s book, “Grief Came to Visit Today,” and created a nonprofit, “Hope After Grief Inc.,” that provides scholarships to high school seniors who have had a parent or sibling die. She also runs the Hope After Grief podcast where she shares the stories of those who have turned their pain into purpose. 

​

Sydney lost her dad when she was 10 years and became an advocate for grieving children at age 16 when she began going into elementary schools and talking to classes about the emotions associated with grief. Since that time, she has found ways to support grieving children by working as a board member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief and meeting with Senators and the South Carolina Superintendent of Education to advocate for grieving youth. Sydney’s article on trauma-informed pretrial diversion programs for our grieving youth in the juvenile justice system was selected for publication by the Northwestern Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Online. She has also recently testified for the South Carolina Joint Committee on Children about getting grief resources for children into South Carolina schools.