Diana Fishbein, PhD, founder and co-director of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) , and John Roman, PhD, co-director. NPSC is the new 501 (c) (3) home of PACEs Connection, .

PACEs Connection, with more than 60,900 members, is being revitalized by two former employees who have found a strategic and mission-aligned national nonprofit home.

“We are thrilled to play a role in maintaining and growing this vitally important social network — the primary source of news and connection in the trauma prevention and resilience-building community on a national basis” said Diana Fishbein, PhD, founder of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC), the new non-profit home for PACEs Connection.

“The organization needed a mission-aligned 501(c)(3) under which it could operate and obtain funding to expand its membership and enhance its capacity to provide evidence-based resources to communities and inform policy on a national level," said Fishbein.

"NPSC focuses on prevention of problems before they surface and become entrenched. In doing so, we have developed strong partnerships with like-minded organizations including the Society for Prevention Research, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice, the American Society of Public Health and over 70 others to promote the research, systems change, service delivery, and advocacy to promote health and wellbeing in our children, families and communities. Our work will be significantly bolstered by the demonstrated and unique ability of PACEs Connection to broadly share news, approaches that have worked, and opportunities to foster engagement in communities across the country,” said Fishbein.

Promotion from a 2022 webinar series produced by CTIPP, NPSC, and PACEs Connection. To access video recordings of the eight webinars, please click here.

Fishbein went on to say that the NPSC executive committee and board of directors were excited about the prospect of significant expansion of our reach and impact when approached by Carey Sipp, the former director of strategic partnerships, and Dana Brown, statewide PACEs Science Educator.

Dana Brown, Vincent Felitti, MD, co-author of the 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, and Carey Sipp in San Diego in January, 2024. Brown and Sipp are the former PACEs Connection employees who, as volunteers, are leading effort to revitalize the PACEs Connection social network.

Brown was one of the first people hired in 2015 by founder and former publisher, Jane Stevens, and at the time of sunsetting in April, 2024, was the longest-serving employee on staff, as the statewide ACEs educator. Sipp had been with PACEs Connection for six years until December, 2023, having served as the southeastern regional community facilitator for four years, and as the director of strategic partnerships for two.

The PACEs Connection - NPSC Relationship

“Ultimately, the alignment, responsiveness, and timing with NPSC made the fit clear. Another plus was that Jesse Kohler, executive director of the Campaign on Trauma Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) and NPSC board member, has agreed to be the point person from NPSC to work with us,” said Brown.

Jesse Kohler, executive director of CTIPP and NPSC board member, will serve as the NPSC liaison to PACES Connection.

“We’ve heard from so many people who were concerned that PACEs Connection was ceasing operations given the substantial resources and networking opportunities provided. We were determined to continue to raise awareness of the impacts of adverse childhood experiences and how to promote conditions that foster positive child and youth development. This public health information needs to be part of decision-making by medical, business, education, and policy professionals, as well as parents and childcare workers,” said Sipp.

Home page is now open for members to post according to guidelines

The home page of the site is now available for members to share important information about positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) related practices, programs, policies, research, news, and other resources they want to share with the community, (posting instructions and trauma-informed community guidelines must be observed).

Financing and long-term planning

PACEs Connection assets have been transferred to NPCS, which primarily include the website and all the information that populates it. To continue to provide the services PACEs offers, there is the need to seek immediate funding. The platform which hosted PACEs Connection for the last several years must be paid close to $15K by November 11, 2024 or the site will vanish.

“We believe PACEs Connection to be vitally important as a catalyst for raising awareness and promoting community-level prevention and resiliency work, and are hoping all supporters from the past, and new donors and supporters alike, will help keep the site running with a generous online donation. Once the time-sensitive need for $15K is met, we’ll engage in a strategic process to determine long-term objectives and a sustainability plan. We will ask for input from members and donors to guide this process, ensuring we are responsive to community needs” said Brown.

“We also ask that members be patient with us as we update the social networking site. We know there are many broken links and there are scores of communities with new leadership. This process will begin as soon as possible. For now, please know we are working on a longer-term business and funding plan to revitalize and further build out the social networking site,” said Sipp.

A quick history of PACEs Connection: More to come!

For more information about the origins of PACEs Connection and the history of the relationship between Vincent Felitti, MD, co-author of the 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, and Jane Stevens, founder of PACEs Connection, please click here or visit ourHistory of PACEs Connection.

Support the revitalization of PACEs Connection today by making a tax-deductible donation online here, or mailing a check to the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives – noting PACEs Connection on the memo line – in care of Dana Brown, 4364 Bonita Road, PMB 322, Bonita, CA 91902.

For information about wire or other electronic transfers, please contact Carey Sipp at carey.pacescommunities@gmail.com.