BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Social Current - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.social-current.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Social Current REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20270314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20271107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T140000 DTSTAMP:20260410T145451 CREATED:20260106T163559Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260205T161018Z UID:10000580-1773838800-1773842400@www.social-current.org SUMMARY:Cultivating Policy Expertise: Building Skills\, Confidence\, and Clarity Among Human Service Professionals DESCRIPTION:Register \n \n Engaging in policy and advocacy often presents complex challenges\, especially as the federal environment shifts rapidly and the resulting regulations and legislation carry far-reaching impacts. This webinar is designed to demystify policy conversations and provide practical tools to help staff feel informed\, confident\, and empowered to participate in advocacy efforts. \nParticipants will review strategies to simplify complex policies into clear\, relevant messaging\, while connecting program experiences to broader systemic issues. This session will include strategies for preparing staff to speak with legislators\, funders\, community partners\, and the media\, regardless of prior experience. Participants will explore how advocacy can amplify their organizations’ missions; discuss pathways to communicate unified\, strategic concerns; and review considerations to ensure advocacy does not restrict their roles and responsibilities. \nThe session will also address common challenges\, including differing levels of policy literacy\, uncertainty about nonprofit advocacy rules\, and anxiety around answering difficult questions. Facilitators will offer tools and templates to lead advocacy trainings and create a values-aligned culture that supports policy engagement. \nTakeaways\n\nApproaches to helping staff increase comfort\, fluency\, and preparedness for policy discussions\nTools to translate complex policies into accessible and action-oriented messaging\nTechniques to connect frontline experiences to systems-level challenges and opportunities\nGuidance to prepare staff for legislative meetings\, site visits\, public events\, and media interactions\n\nWho Should Attend\n\nMembers of the Social Current Grassroots Advocacy Network: Join online\nExecutive Directors and Senior Management: Leaders responsible for setting organizational strategy and engaging with policymakers and stakeholders\nAdvocacy and Policy Directors: Individuals who develop and implement advocacy strategies and engage in policy analysis and outreach\nCommunications and Public Relations Managers: Professionals focused on crafting and disseminating the organization’s message to the public and media\nProgram Managers and Coordinators: Staff who oversee program implementation and need to align program goals with advocacy efforts\n\n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Blair Abelle-Kiser\, PhD\n \n Senior Director of Government Affairs\nSocial Current \n \n Biography\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Blair Abelle-Kiser\, PhD\n Senior Director of Government Affairs\nSocial Current \n \n Blair Kiser\, Ph.D.\, joined Social Current in 2022 after working in health policy on Capitol Hill\, the non-profit sector\, and as a biomedical researcher. Most recently\, Blair served as Director of Government Relations & Advocacy for NephCure Kidney International. \nDuring their time in public service\, they served as a Professional Staff Member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. They led a corporate investigation regarding insider trading and financial improprieties\, conflicts of interest associated with Operation Warp Speed’s leadership\, and scientific information politicization. Prior to joining the Select Subcommittee\, they worked for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)\, where they served as a Health Policy Fellow. In Senator Brown’s office\, they led a range of legislative and oversight efforts involving public health and healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic\, they worked with several community hospice advocacy organizations and a Republican office to help craft the bipartisan COVID-19 Hospice Respite Care Relief Act of 2020. \nPrior to public service\, Blair spent several years as a medical research scientist on several industry and NIH-funded projects. Their work focused on developing research projects and clinical trials to improve the lives of African Americans with Sickle Cell Disease. They earned a doctorate in Biomedical Science from Morehouse School of Medicine in 2017 and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Kentucky in 2011. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Abigail Levine\n \n Field Mobilization and Policy Manager\nSocial Current URL:https://www.social-current.org/event/cultivating-policy-expertise-building-skills-confidence-and-clarity-among-human-service-professionals/ CATEGORIES:Policy ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.social-current.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Policy-Advocacy_1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T150000 DTSTAMP:20260410T145451 CREATED:20260205T201746Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T145946Z UID:10000592-1773842400-1773846000@www.social-current.org SUMMARY:Uncovering Development Needs with the Leadership Gap Indicator (LGI) DESCRIPTION:Register \n \n This is the second in a series of webinars that discuss the benefits of assessments to individuals\, teams and/or the entire organization. Assessments are important tools for identifying strengths\, gaps\, and opportunities for growth and transformation for individuals\, teams\, and organizations. \nDuring this session\, we will discuss the Leadership Gap Indicator (LGI). The Leadership Gap Indicator (LGI) is a team and organizational assessment that evaluates existing organizational leadership capabilities and how they relate to future success. The LGI gathers and analyzes leaders’ opinions about development needs. Results can be used to create plans for developing leadership talent within teams\, departments\, or the entire organization. We will explore the specific features of the LGI and how the results can inform strategic decisions for leadership development and organizational success. \nRelated content: \n\nHow Assessments Can Fuel Personal and Organizational Growth (on-demand webinar)\nUse the Right Tool for the Right Job: How Assessments Can Fuel Growth (blog post)\nAbout the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®)\n\nTakeaways\n\nAn overview of the LGI and its features\nHow the LGI can be used to support staff and build more effective teams/departments/ organizations\nHow the LGI can be used to develop organizational training\n\nWho Should Participate\n\nTeams/organizations looking to understand the strengths and development needs of their leaders\nTeams/organizations committed to providing relevant development opportunities that support the professional growth of leaders and the success of the organization\nOrganizations interested in developing/or expanding their strategic pathways for training and development\n\n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Robena Spangler\n \n Senior Director\, Leadership and Organizational Development\nSocial Current \n \n Biography\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Robena Spangler\n Senior Director\, Leadership and Organizational Development\nSocial Current \n \n Robena Spangler is an innovative senior executive with over 30 years of experience in behavioral health\, human services\, and advancing equity and inclusion work. The majority of her career has been dedicated to systems improvement within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Spangler held several leadership roles in the public and private sectors. She has provided professional coaching and leadership development for teams and individuals on a national level. \nIn addition to her public and private sector work\, she is an adjunct instructor at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS)\, responsible for facilitating accelerated programs in human services for adult learners. Her current role\, as an EDI and leadership strategist\, is to design and manage all aspects of Social Current’s leadership and organizational excellence portfolio. Spangler holds a bachelor’s in sociology and human services along with a master’s in leadership and professional advancement. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Phyllis Richards\n \n Director of EDI & Research\nSocial Current URL:https://www.social-current.org/event/uncovering-development-needs-with-the-leadership-gap-indicator-lgi/ CATEGORIES:Leadership Development and Organizational Excellence ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.social-current.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Org-Excellence_Data_1.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR