According to The Aspen Institute’s “From a Nation at Risk to a Nation at Hope” report, school-community coordination is critical to supporting children's well-being. Building on this, new research from the National Academies of Sciences highlights the role of summertime – a unique opportunity to foster such cross-sector partnerships. This workshop will share success stories and best practices of school and community collaboration to support children's mental and physical health. Attendees will have the opportunity to brainstorm and action plan in small groups.
In this session, a team of California Technical Assistance providers will share the story of how they used Compassionate Systems tools layered with a lens of equity and adult social-emotional learning to begin to “build something new.” Participants will discover new tools and learn about this emergent strategy around capacity building for a system that supports nearly 900,000 of the most vulnerable children, youth, and families in California’s Expanded Learning programs.
In April 2018, 11 promising youth leaders from the Detroit region were invited to embark on a youth immersion and leadership development program as an alternative to their normal Spring Break activities. The pilot program, created by the Detroit Historical Society in collaboration with activist, designer, and engineer Chanel Beebe, represented the culmination of a community engagement initiative honoring the 50th Anniversary of Detroit’s 1967 Uprising. This workshop will detail this powerful programmatic framework utilizing historical context, design theory, positive youth development, and unique forms of collaboration to create a youth-driven environment. Lessons learned from the project can be adapted to spark new ideas for engagement.
What is an Anti-Racist Organization? What is Step Zero? How do we become ready to do this work? To continuously grow and change organizational culture, anti-racism must be at the forefront of the conversation. Eastern Michigan University’s Bright Futures anti-racism leaders will discuss their journey of implementing an anti-racist framework within their program and the characteristics of what readiness looks like. Attendees will have an opportunity to gain insight into how Bright Futures navigated this anti-racism space from beginning conversations to current work. Participants will also have the opportunity to take inventory of their readiness to implement an anti-racist framework in their organization.
Since 2011, the Opportunity Index has provided a picture of opportunity in America’s communities that goes beyond economics. With 20 indicators on education, health, community, and economic well-being, the Index can be used to identify gaps in and improve access to opportunity. The purpose of this session is to allow participants to problem-solve using Index data. Through questions brought by participants or prompts provided by session organizers, groups will explore solutions and generate ideas on how data can provide practitioners, advocates, policymakers, and others with the information they need to ensure children and communities have the best opportunities to thrive.
This session will provide an in-depth and behind-the-scenes look of the state of today’s leading youth-led movements, including the areas of equity in education, climate change and gun violence prevention. This session will explore the role adult allies can and have had in amplifying and strengthening social movements through authentic youth-adult partnerships, and how these movements have used digital storytelling to mobilize millions across the country.
