Plenary

Nadine will discuss how anti-LGBTQ legislation harms parents and children and how in this time of great fear within LGBTQ families, it's even more important to have access to out-of-court solutions.

Speaker: Caroline Casey, founder of Coyote Network New, a Mythological News Service for the Liberating Trickster within us all

Speaker: Reverend Nontombi Naomi Tutu

Brad Heckman has been promoting peace and communitybuilding for 30 years, since living in Poland as the Berlin Wall fell and a negotiated revolution ensued. In his plenary speech, he’ll talk about his experiences, adventures, and happy accidents – as well as his mistakes, miscalculations and unintended consequences as a peacebuilder in more than 25 countries. The emphasis on mistakes is not an attempt at false modesty – it is in our mistakes that we learn, grow, and innovate.

In this interactive and highly engaging presentation, Dr. Campt will explore some scientific findings about unconscious bias, what we know are best practices for addressing it, and some surprising but challenging ideas about next steps for the country, for organizations, and for individuals.

A panel of Collaborative Practitioners who span our collective history—past, present and future—will lead a discussion sharing what inspired our Collaborative growth and visions for the next 20 (or 50 or 100 or…) years! Join us as we hear from our panel and ask you to share what your groups are planning for the future and how they are inspired.

According to Heine (2010), culture refers to “any kind of information that is acquired from members of one’s species through social learning that is capable of affecting an individual’s behaviors”. It also “refer[s] to groups of people who exist within a shared context, where they are exposed to similar institutions, engage in similar practices, and communicate with each other on a regular basis” (p.3). It can be postulated that today’s family structures are distinct cultural groups with their own beliefs and practices that inform their resilience and capacity to cope with change.