The Virginia Lee Franklin Lecture
S.E.L.F. Community Conversations:
A Resilience Framework for Youth and Young Adults in Communities Vulnerable to Violence
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 4-5:30 p.m.
Reception to follow.
University of Maryland School of Nursing, Room 130
Explore the intersection of trauma, violence, and community resilience.
Objectives:
At the end of this interactive presentation, learners will be able to:
- Discuss how youth voices, when integrated into leading conversations through a trauma-informed methodology, address the effects of toxic stress and complex trauma, while supporting their resilience
- Discuss how S.E.L.F. Community Conversations, a strength-based, trauma-informed, resilience approach, supports agency and emotional regulation in youth and young adults.
Speakers:
Stacey Jefferson, MBA
Associate Director, Policy and Community Engagement
Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore
Stacey Jefferson, MBA, is a Baltimore native with more than 10 years of experience in community and legislative affairs. She is currently the associate director of policy and community engagement at Behavioral Health System Baltimore (BHSB), where she is responsible for managing government and community relations.
Before working at BHSB, Jefferson served as the Legislative Manager for the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration. She has always been passionate about improving access to behavioral health care for communities of color and uses her own experience as a family member to advocate and raise awareness.
Jefferson holds a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College and a Master’s of Business Administration from Strayer University.
Richard L. Norman, LCSW-C
Chief Executive Officer
The Martin Pollak Project
Richard L. Norman, LCSW-C, was born 1948 in the South Bronx, New York City. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Morgan State College in 1970 and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 1974 he earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, anchoring his professional qualifications and subsequent career as a clinical social worker.
Norman went on to teach, train, and practice in various professional settings including specialized foster care, primary health care, residential treatment, and Child Protective Services. Early is his career, Norman held training and teaching positions at the Community College of Baltimore City, Morgan State University, and University of Maryland School of Social Work. He has practiced, trained, and provided organizational leadership in service organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic region for more than 25 years.
Richard has served as president of the Board of Directors of Maryland Association of Resources for Children and Youth, a panel member for test development committee of the American Association of State Social Work Boards, and past Vice President of the Highlandtown Merchants Association.
He is currently the chief executive officer of The Martin Pollak Project, a strengths-based, family-centered child placement agency with headquarters in Highlandtown, Baltimore. From its inception, the project has been a proponent of community empowerment and family strengthening as the service of choice for enhancement of health and wellbeing for children and families in Baltimore and the region.
Michael M. Sinclair, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair, Urban Children, Youth and Families Specialization
Morgan State University School of Social Work
Michael Sinclair is a native New Yorker who recently relocated to Baltimore. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. He was awarded the Paige E. Cook Scholar at Columbia University for outstanding contributions to the profession of social work. He brings more than 30 years’ experience in the field, and his colleagues describe him as having a passion for helping people.
Prior to joining the faculty at Morgan State University, where he is the chair of the Urban Youth and Families specialization in the graduate School of Social Work, Sinclair worked as a clinical social worker in Virginia’s Department of Correction. He coordinated the aftercare services of youth who had served time with the Juvenile Justice Commission. He has also worked with inmates, returning citizens, and active gang members in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. Sinclair has co-authored several peer-reviewed articles on community violence, engaging urban adolescents in clinical treatment, and Baltimore’s uprising after Freddie Gray’s death.
Sinclair is nationally recognized for his work in traumatology and its impact on urban youth populations and fragile families. He has gained significant attention for his contributions to culturally competent work with youth exposed to trauma and adversity in the child welfare system. He has developed a broad repertoire of skills that provide psycho-education around helping youth, their respective families, and mental health providers to manage feelings regarding past complex trauma, grief, and loss. Safety, Emotions or Emotional Regulation, Loss, and Future (S.E.L.F.) are the foundational aspects of the recovery model he often utilizes.
Note: Former speaker Patricia Cobb-Richardson, MS, is no longer able to present.
Accreditation Statement: The University of Maryland School of Nursing is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.