In an ever-changing political climate, what is the role and responsibility of the social sector? Does the sector’s definition and practice of “health” adequately respond to the political agendas that shape the lives of the communities we serve? Are we aligned and united as a sector to address the politics affecting us all? Can we advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice without consideration of the political climate?

Ibram X. Kendi said, “Americans have long been trained to see deficiencies of people rather than policy. It’s a pretty easy mistake to make. People are in our faces. Policies are distant. We are particularly poor at seeing the policies lurking behind the struggles of people.”

This workshop seeks to create a candid conversation with a panel of experts. Does the mission and work of today’s human services sector encompass policy changes that address or remove root causes of poverty, mental and behavioral health issues, child maltreatment, and financial instability? Does it include responding to crises beyond offering thoughts, prayers and press releases? This session will explore ways to remain in a state of readiness for emerging crises as well as how to navigate the intersection of social justice issues and politics within your organization.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

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

Marlo Nash
Managing Director
Children’s Home Society of America

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

Kinship navigation programs across the country are innovating rapidly to meet the needs of families and prevent entry into foster care—but how are these programs strategically and equitably meeting the learning needs of their frontline staff and kinship caregivers? Join Ohio’s Kinship and Adoptive Navigation (OhioKAN) regional director and statewide trainer to learn how their program tackled the redesign of their onboarding training for new hires as well as the implementation of neuroscience-informed trauma training for kinship caregivers. In this workshop, you’ll learn about Ohio’s statewide approach to gathering feedback on staff onboarding experiences, how to leverage a variety of learning tools to promote learner engagement, how to strategize the implementation of a new learning management system (LMS), and a practical application of equity principles in developing curricula for frontline staff and kinship caregivers. If you or your organization are committed to equity and looking to facilitate a culture of continuous learning for both your staff and the communities they serve, this workshop is for you!

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Yvonne Fox
Associate Policy Analyst
Chapin Hall at University of Chicago

Maria Laib
Regional Director
Kinnect

Teresa Scrimenti
Statewide Trainer
Kinnect

During this informal and intimate candid conversation, presenters will establish a circle of trust, so that all attendees feel comfortable to be authentic and transparent speaking about experiences leading or participating in their organizations’ EDI journeys.

This session will be guided by two community leaders who were sponsored by longtime Social Current corporate partner Aramark to participate in Social Current’s Advancing EDI for a More Perfect Union training, as well as the Aramark EDI Implementation grant opportunity, helping to lead EDI implementation efforts at their organizations: Jessica Moore from Dallas-based Bucker Retirement Services and Regina Anderson from Washington, D.C.-based Food Recovery Network.

These two bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in the EDI space and are enthusiastic to share their struggles, successes, and lessons learned while leading organizational and community change efforts. They’ll walk through their specific EDI-related implementation efforts, while also digging into the personal aspects of the journey.

But their experiences are meant to serve as a jumping off point, allowing plenty of time for group discussion, questions, and sharing. Join us for this engaging deep dive into what this work takes, while building connections across the Social Current network.

Learning Objectives

Participants

Emily Merritt
Senior Engagement Manager
Social Current

Jessica Moore
Manager of Program Administration
Buckner Retirement Services

Regina Anderson
Executive Director
Food Recovery Network
@FoodRecovery @ReginaDM

The topic of equity is one that is central to many systems of practice. This session will examine the root threads of equity in community and society from a health and economic lens and follow through to the significant health and economic outcomes of inequity. Buzzwords are incredibly powerful indicators within our fields of practice, including, most recently upstream approaches.

In this interactive session, we will take a closer look upstream by examining equity from its true health and economic lenses and imagine together how this deep understanding can inform addressing these concepts in practice. This will include a discussion of the ways in which addressing equity can lead to a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, as well as the ways in which addressing equity can lead to more effective and efficient use of resources.

This session will also explore specific real-world examples and case studies of how addressing equity has led to improved health outcomes, including examples of policy changes and community-based initiatives that have worked to address issues of equity and promote health.

Finally, we will discuss the importance of ongoing efforts to address equity and the role that individuals, organizations, and communities can play in this work. This will include a discussion of the ways in which individuals and organizations can work to promote equity and the ways in which communities can work together to address structural issues and promote health.

The overall goal of the session is to raise awareness of the importance of equity in relation to health and to provide attendees with a deeper understanding of the ways in which equity and health are interconnected, and how addressing equity can lead to improved health outcomes for all.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Elizabeth Wendel
President and Co-Founder
Pale Blue.

Transforming the modern landscape of research and practice related to child- and family well-being requires innovative and meaningful partnerships between researchers and communities. This workshop will provide expertise related to designing and carrying out high-quality program planning and evaluation efforts that pay attention to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) aspects and socially just planning methods.

We will also help agency leaders, funders, and evaluators better attend to EDI concepts as they involve community members and people with lived expertise in their planning and evaluation activities. We will provide sample requests for proposals that illustrate how to build some of these concepts into actual funding announcements and a funder’s checklist of key dimensions to consider.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Julie Collins
Vice President of Practice Excellence
Child Welfare League of America

Sandra Killet
Owner
We All Rise

Peter J. Pecora
Managing Director, Research Services
Casey Family Programs
and
Professor, School of Social Work
University of Washington