This spring, members of our staff and a Youth program participant presented at the 2019 In Solidarity We Rise conference, sponsored by the National Crittenton Foundation. In Solidarity gives young leaders, advocates, social service professionals, community-based organizations and policymakers the chance to engage, learn and connect with other girls, women and gender nonconforming youth from across the country.
The conference includes intensive deep-dive learning sessions featuring presentations by leaders and experts on critical and urgent topics as well as interactive sessions sharing creative models and ideas for programming, community organizing, communication and policy reform. At this year’s conference, Assistant Director of Programs Nikki Beasley, Youth Transitions Coach La’Shante Grigsby and Youth programs participant Maryam K., who you may recognize as one of our Sweet Success Honorees last year, facilitated a workshop on transcending trauma through relationships and creative expression.
Through dialogue and experiential learning activities, the workshop provided a shared experience as well as an opportunity to address and re-frame biased narratives, promote advocacy and advance holistic systems change. You can learn more about the Crittenton conference here.