To thrive in the demanding and often stressful field of human services, we must understand how brain function shapes our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. As Dr. Bruce Perry states, “A brain-aware perspective helps me when I’m trying to understand people.” When we integrate this perspective into our work and build brain-friendly environments, we can strengthen our executive functioning skills, which are the key to staying well while working in challenging environments and partnering with individuals with complex needs.

Everyone possesses executive functioning skills—the 12 brain-based skills that influence how we plan, respond, and accomplish tasks. By identifying our strengths and addressing our challenges, we enhance our ability to work efficiently, reduce frustration, and foster deeper trust, stronger relationships, and more productive conversations. Understanding how these skills develop—and how they are shaped by individual experiences, resources, and environments—allows us to shift from self-judgment and deficit-based thinking to greater self-compassion and empathy for others.

We can develop executive functioning skills most effectively in brain-friendly work environments—spaces that support cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and clear decision making. This interactive workshop will provide practical, science-backed strategies to promote psychological safety, self-regulation, and healthy expectations, which support employees’ ability to plan, adapt, and collaborate with greater ease. Join us to explore how a brain-science approach can support executive functioning and transform both personal well-being and organizational success.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Karen Johnson
Senior Director, Change in Mind
Social Current

Dana Emanuel
Senior Director of Learning and Innovation
New Moms

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has released three opportunities for Building a Continuum of Care to Support Youth Success. This planning funding includes a fiscal realignment of programming to focus on prevention. JBS International and our partners have focused on delivering technical assistance to these grantees that has a holistic, family-centered, culturally relevant, and trauma-informed lens. In doing so, we have worked with planning committees around issues related to social determinants of health and other impediments to youth well-being. We are seeking to help youth thrive in the community and in parallel process the community will thrive.

This session will introduce the Continuum of Care framework. We will discuss the successes and challenges faced by grantees thus far in the planning processes. Much of the work being done requires creating and navigating partnerships and collaborations while including youth and family voice. This session will discuss strategies used to engage the necessary representation and participation occurs to plan a continuum that serves all youth and helps the community thrive.

Learning Objectives

Presenter

Jennie Cole-Mossman
Technical Expert Lead II
JBS International

In this practical, hands-on workshop, presenters from Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a multiservice organization in Philadelphia, will share their homegrown Human-Centered Design Toolkit and information about innovative design tools that participants can take back to their organizations for thoughtful service design and delivery.

Congreso has been using human-centered design (HCD) as an innovative framework for its service design process, reimagining human services for its largely Latino population. Specializing in “last mile innovation,” Congreso uses its design toolkit to empower staff at the end-user client level to redesign their programs to generate data-rich insights, leading to improved experience and outcomes for participants. Staff and leaders are empowered to thoughtfully advocate for their teams and communities.

In building the design toolkit, Congreso tested more than 75 HCD tools and methods used throughout the private sector to determine which techniques translate and have the greatest impact in the social services field. In doing so, Congreso has learned a great deal about how to bring practical design and social innovation techniques into program teams, providing professional development opportunities for staff via “design labs” and building the organization’s culture and acumen around using design for increased impact and advocacy.

In this session, participants will learn about Congreso’s human-centered design journey, see the design toolkit firsthand and participate in mini design labs to gain hands-on experience of putting design practices into action.

Congreso will walk participants through each tool in the design toolkit, provide tips for use, and give everyone a chance to experience the tools in action. Presenters will guide participants in applying the tools to real-life design challenges in their programs so that they gain experience in using HCD to rethink challenges and explore new ideas.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Brendan Conlin
Chief Program Officer
Congreso de Latinos Unidos

Jamie Hughes
Vice President of Programmatic Development
Congreso de Latinos Unidos

You’ve got this! If you are taking your organization through COA accreditation for the first time or you are new to serving in the lead role for your organization’s reaccreditation, this workshop is for you.

We will walk you through the steps that are on the path to accreditation and talk about the process, the challenges, and how this journey can be enjoyable. It doesn’t need to be stressful—in fact—it shouldn’t be! After all, you are raising the bar for your organization and helping it be the best it can be. Presenters will share strategic planning tips and how to create useful logic models or enhance what current ones.

You don’t need to do this alone. There are engaging and fun activities to get staff and volunteers to join you and be excited about accreditation.

We will share our experiences working with organizations and how to achieve success. There will be time for questions and group interaction.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Maddi Noleen
Retired Executive Director
Bethany Christian Services of Colorado

Kristen Schmidt
Retired COO
Catholic Charities – Arizona

Data shows there are over 100,000 behavioral health provider organizations, with less than 20% connected to any state or national provider association. In an evolving landscape where behavioral health nonprofits face increasing challenges, mergers and acquisitions are emerging as a strategic pathway to protect Medicaid dollars and ensure sustainability and quality service delivery.

This session, led by the CEO of Consulting for Human Services, a specialist behavioral health consulting firm, aims to reframe the narrative around mergers and acquisitions, moving beyond the traditional perceptions of loss and toward a vision of growth and opportunity. The session will guide participants through the complexities of identifying potential mergers that align with their mission, recognizing bad actors that could derail the process, and the critical role of board alignment in navigating these waters successfully. This presentation will dissect real-world examples, provide actionable insights, and explore the strategic considerations necessary to make informed decisions that secure the future of nonprofit provider organizations.

Learning Objectives

Presenter

Stacy DiStefano
CEO
Consulting For Human Services, Inc (CFHS)

The pandemic initiated a reckoning in philanthropy, revealing the urgency for more equitable nonprofit investment strategies. Trust-based philanthropy, an approach prioritizing trust, collaboration, and minimal restrictions, took off as a buzzword in 2020, but has retained staying power as a new paradigm to build organizational capacity and shift the power dynamics between grantmakers and grant recipients.

For some funders, this was straightforward: restricted funds were converted to general operating support, lengthy applications were streamlined into accessible forms with brief reports, and check-in calls or visits replaced traditional interim submissions. Others have taken smaller but significant steps, like eliminating duplicative information or accepting another funder’s materials.  Similarly, many nonprofits began advocating for better approaches to grantmaking that build relationships and support communities with more meaningful methods.

This session’s focus will be on practical and purposeful steps that take your organization closer to a trust-based philanthropy paradigm. Whether you are a grantmaker or grant recipient, we’ll guide you on effective strategies that center trust, diminish unequal power dynamics, and empower nonprofits, grantmakers, and any changemakers to lead with trust and the impact of their work. Learn how to build a trust-based philanthropy culture in your work, and shift from a donor-centric model to practices centered on your mission and community.

Learning Objectives

Presenter

Sarah Angello
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Resilia

Science is catching up with wisdom. For thousands of years, humans have recognized the power of somatic and embodied (SE) practices to support individual and collective well-being. And in recent years, advances in neuroscience have allowed us to better understand the neurobiology behind the healing and resilience-building that body-based approaches can offer.

In this session, we will go beyond the brain and explore why the entire nervous system and body are important to consider when developing a program or services and when developing an organizational culture that is trauma-informed and healing-centered. Facilitators and participants will build a shared understanding of stress and trauma, as well as key components and functions of the nervous system. We will also examine models, such as the polyvagal theory, to help understand the connection between our bodies and mental/emotional health.

Participants will discuss foundational SE practices, and the session will offer a space to practice with some of these simple strategies. Participants will also reflect on which embodied practices might be most supportive to their own well-being at work, as well as what approaches can best contribute to workforce wellbeing in their teams and organizations.

Additionally, facilitators will engage in discussion around the connections between SE approaches and anti-oppression work. Specifically, this conversation will center around how mind-body practices can help uproot and unlearn unconscious biases and how embodiment is a strategy for sustainability in equity, diversity, and inclusion and antiracism work.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Kelly Martin
Director of Practice Excellence
Social Current

Karen Johnson
Senior Director of Change in Mind
Social Current

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

This session will focus on both transactional and transformative strategies that create the conditions for an organizational culture that fosters authentic healing, resilience, and equity. It will directly address a critical need in community-based and human services organizations: To understand and mitigate the effects of stress, adversity, and trauma, especially as they relate to historically oppressed and marginalized groups.

Presenters will delve into innovative strategies based on the intersection of trauma-responsive practices and antiracism, equity, and belonging. This session is a blueprint for actionable change and will discuss the practical application of concepts at various levels within the organization. Participants will be guided through various ways of implementing and sustaining a culture that is both trauma-responsive and equity-focused. The goal of this approach is not only to enhance staff well-being and retention but also to significantly improve the experience and long-term engagement of employees and service recipients.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Kesha Carter
Chief Diversity Officer
CCSI

Elizabeth Meeker
Vice President, Consulting & Technical Assistance
CCSI

For professionals navigating the human services ecosystem and wanting to level up their logic model game, this interactive presentation offers invaluable insights. Participants will gain expert guidance to foster a deeper understanding of logic models and emphasize their potential for usefulness in program/service delivery.

Let’s cut to the chase—a well-constructed logic model isn’t just a piece of paper; it’s a powerful tool. Think of it as the master key unlocking success, allowing you to realize the full potential of your plans and initiatives. During this session, presenters will spill the beans on insider tips for crafting a logic model that transcends mere aesthetics, ensuring it’s not just a showpiece but a conduit to improved outcomes.

This session’s focuss will be on maximizing value, transforming these activities into practical and purposeful steps rather than mere tasks on your to-do list. Building a logic model is step one; what comes next? We’re here to guide you on extracting every ounce of usefulness. Presenters will delve into effective program evaluation, data analysis, and presenting results to your team. Learn how to move toward continuous improvement and ensure your logic model becomes an ongoing asset.

Get ready for hands-on exercises that transition from creating a basic logic model for your service to crafting one that resembles the grandmaster of all logic models for your organization. The presenters will even throw in a template to simplify your life.

Key Takeaways:

Join this session for an engaging and practical exploration of logic models, where presenters will break down the barriers between theory and real-world action, making it all about building useful models and getting real results.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Shannon Wichlacz
Senior Evaluation Associate
CCNY Inc.