In this highly interactive workshop, participants will spend time in intentional dialogue around DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging). They will begin by sharing stories of times they’ve felt included/excluded. Next, we will hear the stories of those most impacted by the child welfare system. These stories will come from the lived experience of one of the presenters and a selection of stories curated online by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF). Then participants will discuss how this relates to their personal and professional relationships, particularly with young people. The audience generally leaves this workshop feeling better connected with their colleagues and often remarks about how interactive and eye-opening the material is.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Brice Mickey
Vice President of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Beech Acres Parenting Center

Ryshel Bowling
Manager, Training and Licensing, Foster Care and Adoption
Beech Acres Parenting Center

Social Current supports organizations nationwide in embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in their culture and operations. To walk the walk and not just talk the talk, Social Current has made its own commitment, beginning its EDI journey when it was formed in 2021.

This session will offer insight into the work that must be done across an organization at all levels – staff and governance – to truly embrace and build operations, governance, and organizational culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism. While the focus of each may take a different approach, to truly integrate and sustain an EDI culture requires ongoing involvement and investment of both staff and board members. One of Social Current’s staff leads and the chair of the board’s EDI committee will share their experience, including specific strategies and steps to take to move an organization forward on their journey. Candid reflection around barriers will help others to understand and prepare for the inevitable challenges that will be encountered along the way.

Learning Objectives

Moderator

Jody Levison-Johnson
President and CEO
Social Current

Presenters

Turaia Ahsan
Accreditation Coordinator
Social Current

Alexandra L. Cawthorne Gaines
Executive Director for Global Public Policy
JPMorgan Chase & Co
and
EDI Committee Chair
Social Current Board of Directors

In today’s diverse work environment, organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of fostering an inclusive culture that values and leverages differences. Effective intercultural communication and understanding are essential for the success of any organization, particularly human services organizations that work with people with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) has emerged as a valuable assessment tool for organizations seeking to understand and develop intercultural competence among their employees. By utilizing the IDI, organizations can assess and enhance their employees’ ability to navigate cultural differences, foster an inclusive environment, and advance their equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives.

This workshop is designed to equip board members, executives, directors, and managers with the knowledge and skills to effectively use the IDI to deepen EDI principles across the organization. The session will provide participants with a fundamental understanding of the IDI, its application within the organizational context, and strategies for integrating intercultural competence into everyday practices for staff at all levels as indicated below:

How IDI data and experiences can drive employee satisfaction, outcomes, policy change, board engagement, and overall cultural humility:

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Julius Mullen
Chief Inclusion Officer
Children & Families First

Edgard Martinez
EDI Program Manager
Children & Families First

In this intimate, informal workshop, panelists will work to initiate reflection and conversation among participants on how to create meaningful change in their organizations and communities. This session will focus on strategies for getting this work started, building champions and meaningful strategic partnerships, sustaining momentum, and navigating barriers given the current political landscape.

This will be a safe, welcoming space geared at those at the beginning of their EDI journey. Presenters and participants will work together to identify helpful resources, clear action steps, and networks to support forward progress.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will learn:

Panelists

Kelly Blackmon
Founder
B.E. Consulting

Lucia Garcia
Business Development Manager
Hillsides

Michelle Naples
Chief Integration Officer
Lutheran Social Services of WI and Upper MI

Sarah Hollstrom
Special Projects and Volunteer Manager
Family Forward

Facilitator

Emily Merritt
Senior Manager of Corporate Partnerships
Social Current

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

Joe Sack
Project Manager
OhioKAN

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 Buckner 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

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 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) aspects and socially just planning methods.

We will also help agency leaders, funders, and evaluators better attend to DEI 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