Hardwired for Fear and Connection: The Intersection of Brain Science and Equity

Undraye Howard leads Social Current’s efforts in providing strategy, solutions, and support to develop leaders in the social sector, with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Through his strategic leadership and direction, he and a team of network leaders have co-created helpful resources, consultation, and practices that uplift and disseminate best practices to help community-based organizations advance their EDI Journeys.

In addition, Howard was instrumental in developing Social Current’s leadership model, rEvolutionary Leadership, enabling the development of change leaders driving for system and population-level results. Other endeavors he has led include the annual Executive Leadership Institute. This transformational experience equips leaders with the knowledge and skills of adaptive leadership, so they are equipped through times of uncertainty.

Howard has served on the board of AD2LUV Senior Housing (2006-present), Father Hood Initiative (2012-present), and the board of Holy Cathedral (1999-present), where he also led as youth director and deacon. He also served as a member on the State of Wisconsin Strengthening Families and Children.

Howard holds a doctorate in business from Bellevue University. He received his master’s in communication and bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Romero Davis brings more than 20 years of experience in the social sector to his work at Social Current.

He is recognized as a bold leader in his community and has had the opportunity to speak nationally in areas such as juvenile justice, youth violence and trauma, polyvictimization, domestic/family violence, and sexual assault and human trafficking.

Prior to his current position at Social Current, Davis taught high school youth in need of mentorship and college and career readiness opportunities at Pacific University. Davis also served as program director of family violence intervention for the San Joaquin, Contra Costa, and Stanislaus counties in Northern California. There, he served adult and youth victims of family violence along with ones that caused harm. Davis also created a youth and adult development program that focuses on building skills and teaching core concepts such as service, health, aptitude, resolution, purpose, and excellence.

In addition, Davis served as program manager of Sow A Seed Community Foundation within the San Joaquin County School District for over six years. In this role, he coordinated opportunities in lieu of suspension and expulsion for at-risk youth. He also facilitated groups and trainings and provided case management and access to mental health services for youth and young adults most at-risk for trauma, violence, and poor outcomes.

Davis has used his unique lens, including professional work, and lived experience, to share with educators, law enforcement, probations and corrections, students, and agencies throughout the U.S.

Karen Johnson brings knowledge of the advancing science around resilience, brain development, adversity, toxic stress, equity, and trauma-informed approaches to the complex challenges we face. This expertise, coupled with her 28 years of experience in child welfare, behavioral health, and community services, enables her to successfully partner with leaders, staff, community members, and participants across numerous settings to promote individual and organizational resilience.

Johnson leads the development of Social Current’s Change in Mind Institute, leveraging the latest advances in neurosciences and trauma-informed approaches across sectors and at the practice, policy, and systems levels. She oversees the Texas Change in Mind Learning Collaborative, through which 10 organizations from multiple sectors across Southeast Texas are working to embed brain science and equity principles with the goal of improving outcomes for children and families, as well as their organizational cultures and ability to collaborate with partners.

During her five-and-a-half years on the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s trauma-informed services team, and year-and-a-half as an independent consultant, Johnson trained and consulted with organizations, systems, and communities striving to strengthen their workforce and advance trauma-informed, resilience-oriented approaches. She worked in various roles in the treatment foster care department and led and developed community-based programs during her 19 years at Wellpoint Care Network in Milwaukee. Johnson combines the newest advances around adversity, relational health, and resilience to infuse hope and connection into our work.

Kelly Martin is the director of practice excellence at Social Current, with an emphasis on applied developmental psychology, healing-centered approaches, educational success, antiracism, workforce well-being, policy, and advocacy. In this role, she collaborates with stakeholders across the network to advance systems change through policy and advocacy efforts, and to build the capacities of leaders through networking, knowledge, and solutions. She has experience facilitating design sessions and learning opportunities with a wide variety of human service and education stakeholders which includes classroom teachers to frontline staff to executive leaders.

Prior to this role, Kelly was with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities (Alliance), supporting internal and external efforts to advance equity, leading evaluation and research projects, and working closely with educational success stakeholders. Before joining the Alliance in 2016, Kelly was a researcher in the Developmental and Educational Psychology Departments at the University of Pittsburgh. She spent her time connecting with young people, families, and educators across the city of Pittsburgh, as well as collaborating with multi-sector leaders to infuse developmental theory, research, and best practices into local and state initiatives.  She was an adjunct instructor during her years at Pitt, teaching a graduate course in developmental psychology.

Kelly holds a master’s in applied developmental psychology, and a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently working toward the completion of Yoga Roots on Location® Certified Yoga Teacher Training, an anti-racist and social justice Raja Yoga teacher training offered through the Yoga Alliance’s 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) Certification.