Resources

Leveraging this Moment to Improve Schools and Systems from WestEd on Vimeo.

Our current national context is one of major upheaval and reckoning with deep-rooted systemic racism, the effects of which can be seen in widely disparate discipline for Black students and the devastating effects of the school-to-prison pipeline. In response to this movement, the Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety at WestEd convened a panel of experts in youth development, trauma-informed practices, and school-based law enforcement to discuss challenges and opportunities to improve schools and school systems through the lenses of social and emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and anti-racism.

Speakers:

• Moderator: Leonard Burton. Leonard Burton is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy where he serves on the Systems Change team, including working as lead of the Youth Thrive community of practice. He also supports the Equity Inclusion and Justice portfolio and provides subject matter expertise on youth engagement to the Alliance on Mixed-Income Housing. Leonard is also a WestEd Board Member and was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
• Dr. Mary Crnobori is the Coordinator of Trauma-Informed Schools in the Department of Student Support Services at Metro Nashville Public Schools. She is dedicated to equipping educators with information and strategies they need to promote compassionate school environments that support healthy development and school success for all. Her work includes collaborating across district programs to raise awareness of the impacts of childhood adversity on school success and lifelong health and wellness and leading the implementation of whole-school and individualized trauma-informed classroom practices.
• Nathaniel Hilliard is the Training and Program Replication Manager for the Wyman Center, which strives to empower teens from economically disadvantaged circumstances to lead successful lives and build strong communities. He has extensive experience delivering direct services to youth and providing general program administration accumulated over more than a decade of working for nonprofit organizations and public institutions. In his current role, Nate provides training, organizational capacity building, and technical support to organizations implementing Wyman’s evidence-based programs.
• Lisa Thurau is the Founder and Executive Director of Strategies for Youth, a nonprofit advocacy and training organization dedicated to improving police/youth interactions and reducing disproportionate minority contact. Currently, Strategies for Youth provides training, outreach programs, and policy reviews in 20 states and has provided consultation to state legislators, state agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Education on the impact of policing on youth and recommendations for policy development, statutory reforms, and best practices.

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