Some of you may have heard my “call to action” story while I was at a WA state conference on ACEs with Dr. Rob Anda in Winthrop, WA on October 3, 2007 (yes, I remember the date!). Although I had already been active in using the ACE Study locally, in a research project at our Juvenile Justice Center (JJC), it was Dr. Anda looking straight at me (or so it felt), pointing his finger at me (at least I thought he was) and saying, “Go home and make something happen!” I almost saluted, reacting to my military family upbringing and the “Yes, SIR!” response expected to any commands. This was my aha moment, and in that instant I knew I wanted to make this a community-wide campaign. This was bigger than “just” a project at JJC — this was what every individual, organization and the full community deserved to have. As Dr. Anda had put it: “With this information comes the responsibility to use it.”
Laura Porter, our Director at the time, was another of my CHAMPIONS. On one of her trips to Walla Walla from Olympia, we sat in my car in front of our local pizza place waiting for the pizza order to take to one of our Community Café events. She did her Laura-thing and drilled in deep with a question. “So, is this just going to be about education and awareness, or are you advocating action, and if so, what is your end game?” I kinda lost my appetite for the pizza with that level of question! She inspired me to always dig deeper, to reflect and stay focused on the outcomes and metrics to measure them.
Or what about Bob Doppelt, the guru on transformational resilience and how communities come together to respond to the adversities of climate disruption? When I first read Bob’s book, I knew I had found a kindred soul. After presenting at one of his conferences and sharing ‘place’ with him, I knew I was with another CHAMPION promulgating our future way of being humans together by promoting resilience even in the face of extreme adversity.
Do you want to be inspired or re-inspired by these giants? CRI is hosting our 6th Annual Conference with headliners like Rob, Laura, and Bob to help support our theme:
At the heart of all adversities is the neurological threat response.
It is the important link to understanding the trauma caused by events and circumstances. Comprehending the threat response allows us to recognize the variations in the human experience that can lead to trauma. In addition to these three CHAMPIONS, we have other powerhouse speakers who will inspire you and ignite in you the same call to action in your community I felt from Dr. Anda on October 3, 2007. Our 25-minute Speed Conferencing template will give you the best of the best in 5 adverse categories on Day One and in 5 resilience themes on Day Two. And believe me, all 10 presenters and 2 keynoters are top CHAMPIONS in my book and now they will be in yours! Please, join us June 23-24, 2021 for “Speed Conferencing” to meet your 12 CHAMPIONS!
Register now so that you can share this information with the members of your community. Go home and make something happen!
Still have questions? Check out the video “Why should I attend the speed conference?”
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