Science-backed connection for a disconnected age.

Marisa Franco

PSYCHOLOGIST

FRIENDSHIP & LONELINESS EXPERT

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SPEAKING FEE: $20,000 - $25,000

A woman with curly hair tied back, wearing a beige blazer and pink shirt, smiling against a light-colored textured wall.

Author of Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends

Collaborates with organizations to build belonging-centered cultures

Work centers on how we make, keep, and sustain meaningful relationships

Meet Marisa

An enlightening psychologist, international speaker, and New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Marisa G Franco is known for digesting and communicating science in ways that resonate deeply enough with people to change their lives. Dr. Marisa G. Franco received her B.S. in Applied Psychology from New York University and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at The University of Maryland.

She works as a professor at The University of Maryland and authored the New York Times bestseller Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends. She writes about friendship for Psychology Today and has been a featured connection expert for major publications like The New York TimesThe Telegraph, and Vice. 

She speaks on belonging at corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and universities across the country, including Harper Collins Publishers, Cisco, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and The Department of State. In a study of 1000 employees, her talk increased employee’s knowledge of and desire to belong at work.

SPEAKING TOPICS

  • "Marisa is the cream of the crop! She is our only speaker who consistently receives top marks from every single one of our attendees."

    Bill Emerson Hunger Fellows Program

  • "It's rare and difficult to deliver a talk that so delicately balances scientific rigor, practical application, and audience engagement, but we found Dr. Franco's lecture to weave together all these traits!"

    Lyft

  • "Marisa was able to demonstrate how to connect by not just telling people how to connect, but helping them do it during the presentation. This is by far the most engaging presentation we've had!"

    Maryland Association for Talent Development

  • "Her presentation, based on evidence-based science, was the perfect mix of informative, entertaining, interactive, and actionable."

    Sharp HealthCare

FEATURED MEDIA

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