At the first ACEs summit in California in 2014, it seemed as if participants were still becoming familiar with the import of ACEs science. This year’s 2016 Conference on Adverse Childhood Experiences, which brought 450 people to the Park Central Hotel in San Francisco, reflected an ACEs movement that’s got enough history, data and evidence under its belt to become unstoppable.
The first day of the conference, which had swiveled from focusing only on California in 2014 to take a more national perspective, examined the nuts and bolts of the ACEs movement.
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness, which hosted the conference, provided an overview of the state of the movement. Dr. Christina Bethell, professor at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, reviewed the latest data on ACEs and resilience.
A panel comprising Dr. Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of The California Endowment; Ted Lempert, president of Children Now; and Michael Newman, director of the state Bureau of Children’s Justice, examined trends and opportunities in the field. Breakout sessions examined current practices and interventions in early, middle and adolescent childhood; the determinants of ACEs and toxic stress; trauma-informed systems and workforce development; and how local ACEs initiatives can leverage the tools and resources of ACEs Connection Network.
If Thursday focused on nuts and bolts, Friday was all about inspiration, and featured people who stimulated, encouraged, and made people cry as well as laugh
Nelba Marquez-Greene, founder and director of the Ana Grace Project, brought nearly the entire room to tears as she told the story of how she used the worst possible tragedy that could happen to a parent — in her case, losing her daughter, Ana Grace, in the massacre in at a school in Newtown, CT, nearly four years ago — to create a movement of compassion and love.
Sarah Pauter, founder and CEO of Phenomenal Families, told the inspiring story of her journey through the foster care system, how caring adults helped her persevere to finish college, and how she’s taking her program statewide to help other youth.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI, where she told the 
story of how that community, which had lost not only its car plants but its
democracy, is redefining itself from a community grappling with a public health disaster of lead-contaminated drinking water to a community that is healing itself and reclaiming hope.
An afternoon panel featured members of three communities — Teri Barila of Walla Walla, WA; Dr. Ariane Marie-Mitchell of San Bernardino, CA; and DeAngelo Mack of Sacramento, CA — who told of their “hero’s journeys” as they struggled to successfully integrate practices based on ACEs science.
That was followed by a keynote by Bryan Stevenson, founder and CEO of the Equal Justice Initiative, who urged conference attendees to get close to the people who are suffering, change the narratives that sustain the problems, including changing the narrative of race in the United States, be willing to do uncomfortable things, and to stay hopeful.
As every ACEs summit or conference I have attended, this one was remarkable, inspiring, and recharged my spirits. More than other conferences, this one clarified the role of ACEs Connection Network. Gail Kennedy, ACEs Connection Network’s director of programs, put it best: We are the connection that often provides and always accelerates hope. And that’s a good thing.
One measure of how far we’ve come since the last California ACEs summit in 2014: Sylvia Paul, a strategist, networker, a consultant who has been part of the ACEs Connection team since the network’s beginnings five years ago, said: “This time I didn’t have to explain to anyone what ACEsConnection was.”
Congratulations to the conference hosts and all who worked to put it together, especially Sara Marques, who led the way. It’s a massive undertaking, and they made it look oh so easy.
And a big thank you to the incredible ACEs Connection Network team who were there and their incredible energy in meeting and connecting people: Dana Brown, Jen Hossler, Gail Kennedy, Emerald Montgomery, Sylvia Paull, and Sarah Rock. (Val Krist, Elizabeth Prewitt, and Samantha Sangenito: You were there in spirit!)
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