In today’s ever-changing political climate, what is the role and responsibility of the social sector? This workshop will discuss how organizations in the social sector, with varied missions, programs, and services can find alignment and become more united in addressing the political issues that affect us all. Further, as we are challenged by our tenuous political climate and continual shifts in our elected officials, we will discuss how our sector can create sustained momentum around advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Undraye Howard
Vice President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Social Current

Kim Peterson
Vice President of Change Management
Aviva Family and Children’s Services

Our transgender youth are facing unconscionable movements to restrict their rights and present concomitant risks to their lives. They are already at greater risk of violence and other traumas, such as homelessness, human trafficking, food insecurity, educational exclusion and failure, and suicide.

Transgender youth of color are at exponential risk across these domains. According to The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Mental Health, 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. In addition, in a 2022 poll by The Trevor Project, two-thirds of LGBTQ youth reported that the recent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people impacted their mental health negatively. This impact is even more dramatic among transgender and/or non-binary youth, where more than four in five of them (85%) reported it impacted their mental health negatively.”

The anti-LGBTQ and anti-transgender legislation that’s proposed in Texas, Florida, and other states that follow suit are standard echoes of pan-historical actions to exclude a group from a right, service, opportunity, and space as a means of oppressing them. This formula remains clear and discernable—and when we pare down the exclusionary blueprint of these tactics, we arrive at the certainty that we cannot combat anti-LGBTQ+ exclusion initiatives without pro-inclusion action.

On the other side of these grave facts are the tremendous realities of resilience among our LGBTQ+ youth, when provided the affordable and attainable supports that we can provide them. In this workshop, participants will learn about the barriers to belonging and strategies to transform all spaces into trans-inclusive spaces.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Jenny Sloan, LMSW CTRT CTRP-C
Clinical Supervisor
Starr Commonwealth

Michael Rosewood, LLMSW CTRP-C
Behavioral Health Clinician
Starr Commonwealth

The child welfare system is impacted by and is an agent for systemic racism in the U.S., with Black and Brown children disproportionately represented. Inequity and trauma are negatively impacting the children in their daily functioning, as well as staff dealing with vicarious trauma and burnout. All these factors and more encourage us to avoid conversations about race and identity within residential treatment facilities, and we simply cannot.

This workshop is an introduction to ways in which the Hephzibah Children’s Association has puzzled through these complex issues. The organization’s Children’s Equity Committee tackles ways to address issues of race, ethnicity, power, and gender both in direct work with the kids and in support of staff and the Hephzibah community. It is a voluntary and open group of staff within the group home in varying roles ranging from direct care staff on the units to the social workers, therapists, a behavioral-analyst, and a nurse. Its focus has been twofold; creating safety within the group to support difficult and emotional topics and not burden staff of color, and consistently reassessing according to the feedback from the children on what they need. This session will help participants prioritize perseverance over perfection with lessons learned from Hephzibah Children’s Association.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Lucy Scott
Clinical Coordinator
Hephzibah Children’s Association

Nicole Roby
Behavior Analyst
Hephzibah Children’s Association

Addressing complex challenges of oppression and structural inequity requires that we initiate on a journey of healing and transformation. In this session you will learn five compelling shifts that are the cornerstones to approaching meaningful change. The Five Shifts for Transformation are essential in creating an organizational culture of belonging and oneness. These shifts, such as moving from your head to your heart, are the catalyst for changing our thinking and finding solutions to difficult racial and inequitable thoughts and systems. Participants will learn the shifts and how to apply them to their own personal transformation and to help their organizations transform through an equity lens.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Erin Madden Read
Wellbeing, Healing, and Resilience Educator
Starr Commonwealth
@starrcommon 

Ken Ponds
Vice President of Oneness and Special Advisor to the President
Starr Commonwealth
@starrcommon

Community-based organizations provide critical direct supports to individuals, families, and communities who are often left disenfranchised due to the racial inequities embedded in our country’s systems that marginalize the health and well-being of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. It is imperative for these organizations to recognize the larger transformative potential they, as the nexus to communities, have in improving the context in which people live their lives (i.e., the social determinants of health).

Social sector leaders must recognize that the journey to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is a process that oftentimes is messy, uncomfortable, and reveals vulnerabilities. Social sector leaders will understand and apply the equation of leaning into the EDI journey, which requires adaptive leadership skills, showing up as our authentic selves, and relentless persistence.

This session will explore specific ways organizations can deepen their commitment to advancing EDI using a matrix developed by Social Current. From the board to every staff member in an organization, we recognize the significant role every person in an organization has in this work.

We invite you to hear from organizations who are currently deeply engaged in EDI work and at different points in the journey. Learn about their respective challenges and opportunities, as well as how their organizations and communities are becoming more equitable, as a result of measurable systems change.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Undraye Howard
Vice President of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Social Current

Marlena Torres
COO
Children’s Home Society of Washington

Angela Bell
Director of Program Operations
The Up Center