Youth Leadership Webinar Series
|
Over the next few months, the National Empowerment Center will be offering several webinars on approaches to youth leadership.
Our next webinars in the series are Thursday, September 16 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time and Tuesday, October 12 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time.
|
Year One Lessons as a Youth Mental Health Non-Profit Leader at The Jed Foundation
Thursday, September 16, 2021
4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. ET
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. CT
2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. MT
1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. PT
Henry Zhu will share some key insights from his first year working at The Jed Foundation (JED), a national mental health non-profit focused on protecting the emotional health and preventing suicide for teens and young adults. He will highlight ways in which his perspective as a recent college graduate has advanced JED's mission and impact, several youth-focused initiatives that he has contributed to or led within JED, and offer practical recommendations for those hoping to contribute to youth-focused mental health programming, support, and/or advocacy efforts. He will also introduce a project he will initiate focused on peer mentorship for Asian-American, male-identifying teens and young adults.
Presented By:
Henry Zhu
Henry Zhu currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the Chief of Programs and Operations at The Jed Foundation (JED). He recently graduated in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College, where he was involved primarily with peer mentorship, academic support, and student journalism. His interests are focused on adolescent development, identity formation, and school-based mental health policies, and he intends to pursue a professional degree in psychology. Henry is a lifelong New Jersey resident and enjoys anything to do with soccer, the outdoors, and competitive reality television.
Moderator: Shira Collings
|
New Frontiers for Activism: Youth Involvement & Leadership in Research
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
4:30 p.m. ET - 6 p.m. ET
3:30 p.m. CT - 5 p.m. CT
2:30 p.m. MT - 4 p.m. MT
1:30 p.m. PT - 3 p.m. PT
This webinar will showcase different ways in which youth leaders are influencing research and using research in order to challenge existing ideas and practices and to further advocacy for systems change. Projects conducted both within and outside traditional academic settings will be featured. Although a still under-developed area in other communities, youth activist research and scholarship have played a powerful role in systems transformation. We hope that this webinar will help inspire more discussion and interest in the strategic use of research within the youth and adult peer communities, and among academic allies.
Presented By:
Kristin Thorp
Kristin Thorp is the Youth Program Director and the Peer Center Project Director at Youth MOVE National. She supports the implementation of the Center’s initiatives, including providing technical assistance to the mental health field on integrating and expanding youth peer support and other recovery-oriented approaches to care. In her previous role as the Continuous Quality Improvement Coordinator at THRIVE, Maine’s Trauma-informed System of Care, Kristin offered technical assistance, training, and consultation to government agencies, service providers, and communities on incorporating and embedding trauma-informed principles and practices. Capitalizing on her prior experience working for Youth MOVE Maine, she advocates for and incorporates youth voice into all elements of system change; she understands that the well-being of young people hinges on their participation across all levels of program development and enhancement. She is a strong believer in working with youth as equal partners and pushing for policies and services that will improve the lives of young people.
Kelly Davis
Kelly Davis is the Associate Vice President of Peer and Youth Advocacy at Mental Health America, where she works on the expansion of peer support and young adult leadership. She is passionate about lived experience-driven programs and policies. In 2019, Kelly received the Disruptive Innovator Award from the National Association of Peer Supporters; this award is given to a young person making positive change in the mental health arena through disruption. She is a certified yoga teacher and holds a certificate in Applied Positive Psychology from The Flourishing Center. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ben Ballman
Ben Ballman is a freshman at Vanderbilt University. The mental health crisis in America has always been very present within and around his life. With many around him struggling with mental health challenges, he sought from a young age to make change where nobody else seemed to be doing so.
To make this change, he has started and led several projects to support the mental health of his community. These have included leading a team of students to conduct research into his school district’s counseling departments, which culminated in meetings with county leaders. He also founded a mental health coalition, DMV Students for Mental Health Reform, which seeks to unite student advocates, clubs, and schools from around the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area into a cohesive unit for change.
To create an immediate change for students, he developed the Students for Students program at Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, from which he recently graduated. This program is based on the group peer support model and seeks to act as an extension of Winston Churchill's counseling department, Ben said.
Shannon Padgon
Shannon Pagdon (she/they) is a Program Coordinator for the Mental Health Association of San Francisco and a Research Assistant for the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Shannon is passionate about shedding light on historically neglected experiences of psychosis, shifting language around mental health, and using her personal experience with a diagnosis of schizophrenia to inform all aspects of her work. Shannon is also an early career researcher, youth advocate, and consultant. She has worked with Medscape, the National Institute of Behavioral Health, OnTrack NY, and other organizations to inspire change and shift these narratives. Shannon hopes to continue to expand access to mental health care into smaller communities across the nation, open language used to discuss mental health, and develop research from a lived experience perspective to continually grow systems of care.
Moderator: Nev Jones
Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
|
This flyer was developed [in part] under grant number SM082648 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The views, policies, and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or HHS. |
| |
