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My early life was defined by deep emotional pain and turmoil. In exchange for all that I endured, I was gifted reunification with the Motherland. As a young person, I stood on the same shore where my ancestors lost their freedom as the clear blue ocean water licked my feet and enticed me with her beauty. It was an anointing. Finally, I was home. For the past 27 years, I have been deeply submerged in West African culture. Throughout that time, I have lived on and off the Continent; spending...

Growing up in suburban New Jersey, Dana Kwitnicki, a physician assistant, says she always wanted to be in health care. Her dad is a dentist, her mother a teacher, and she grew up with several other family members also in medicine. Kwitnicki learned about becoming a PA while attending Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where she earned a degree in health sciences. After undergraduate school, she earned a Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies at Philadelphia University through a vigorous...

Next Episode of A Better Normal-Education Upended July 9th, 2020- 12 PST ACEsConnection is on holiday July 3rd but please join us on July 9th as we host special guest Pamela Black to discuss a back to school survey that aims to gather information from staff regarding what they need to feel safe in their return to school. If you want to catch up on past Better Normal-Education Upended over the holiday weekend we have our own YouTube channel ! Have a safe holiday and see you July 9th! Weekly...

Karen Clemmer, the Northwest community facilitator with ACEs Connection, was already deeply interested in the CDC/Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study when she and a colleague from the Child Parent Institute were invited to lunch by ACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens in 2012. But that lunch meeting changed everything. Karen Clemmer “Jane helped us see a bigger world,” says Clemmer. “She came with a much wider lens. She didn’t look only at Sonoma County, she...

Please express interest for this interdisciplinary, online Community of Practice by July 15th: https://wertknowing.com/online-community The presence, connection, and trust born of authentic relationship are necessary for integral Early Childhood Learning & Wellness. Please consider joining this interdisciplinary Community of Practice (online) to build relationships with others who are committed to justice and equity for all children, families, and communities. Connected, we can! Let’s...

@Gail Kennedy (ACEs Connection Staff) let me know about these weekly meditations because she knows I'm a fan of Rick Hanson. If you'd like to try some free meditations followed by Q&A discussion you can find out more below (or here). The copy is from the Rick Hanson e-newsletter.

The ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau allows you to search for ACEs & Trauma-informed speakers & trainers! You can locate speakers & trainers in your local area on the Map tab and access their speaker/trainer profile pages, allowing you to message them directly. Speakers & trainers are organized into 15+ different sectors(such as faith based, education, youth organizations, ect.), with many more subsections to also sort by. So far, we have speakers & trainers...

By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Moyers on Democracy, June 24, 2020 Here is an incomplete list of things I left unfinished last week because America’s boiling racism and militarization are deadly for Black people: a policy memo to members of Congress on accelerating offshore wind energy development in US waters; the introduction to my book on climate solutions; a presentation for a powerful corporation on how technology can advance ocean-climate solutions; a grant proposal to fund a network of...

By Alexis Okeowo, The New Yorker, June 26, 2020 On June 11th, near twilight, Camara Jackson was in Marcus Garvey Village, a sprawling low-income housing complex in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville, checking in with residents and handing out hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves. Jackson is the executive director of Elite Learners, a community anti-violence organization that tries to mediate conflict on the street without the involvement of the police. Jackson was with her team of...

By Darren Walker, The New York Times, June 25, 2020 I have lived on both sides of American inequality. I began life in the bottom 1 percent but found my way to the top. And I know, all too personally, that the distance between the two never has been greater. Last winter, at a black-tie gala — the kind of event where guests pay $100,000 for a table — I joined some of New York’s wealthiest philanthropists in an opulently decorated ballroom. I had the ominous sense that we were eating lobster...

By Christopher Edley, JR. and Maria Echaveste, EdSource, June 25, 2020 Weeks of racial justice protests and the coronavirus pandemic have together drawn much-needed attention to the race-based disparities embedded in our institutions, from policing to health care. These disparities are also deeply rooted in our communities and schools. During these prolonged school disruptions, Black, Latinx and low-income students have been disproportionately affected. As we learned in real-time, these...

Building Resilience with Children During Racial Discrimination & Violence: This attached Resilience Brief for Children has been the hardest one I have written yet. I have been an active advocate for the equal treatment of people from all backgrounds, religions, ethnic heritages, orientations, and families my entire life. It is hard to see the pain present today, not only due to COVID19 but also due to the harm and anger we see daily in the news. I want to share a story about the person...