Presentations

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Presentation Resources

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Learn More About Dr. LaWanda Wesley

LaWanda Wesley currently serves as Oakland Unified School District’s Director of Quality Enhancement and Professional Development of Early Education. She supports a cadre of dynamic 200-plus teachers and an early leadership team. Dr. Wesley also co-directs a statewide leadership fellowship titled the California Consortium for Equity in Early Childhood Education Fellowship and is the Co-Founder and Co-Director for the Center for Equity in Early Childhood Education in service of disrupting race inequities at its root cause. Wesley is the co-author of the second book in the trauma series titled Culturally Responsive Self-Care for Early Childhood Educators and contributor to the recently published California Department of Education document, Responsive Early Education for Young Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness. Additionally, Dr. Wesley trains on trauma responsive practices and healing in a highly specialized area for the Center for Optimal Brain Integration. She is audaciously dedicated to changing the lives of all children, especially those from communities of color, poverty, and furthest reach from opportunity.

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Presentation Resources

Learn More About Erica Wortherly

Erica N. Wortherly is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in working with educators and parents to improve their understanding of mental health. She earned her BA in Communications from University of North Florida and Masters in Social Work from Florida State University. Erica travels for speaking engagements in schools, churches, and conferences for professional development, community, and caregiver workshops on topics including: self-care practices, mental health awareness, becoming trauma-sensitive, and more. She is also the author of two children’s books which are intended to be read with children about difficult emotions: “I Scream Because I’m Angry” and “Dear Everybody, Admit There’s Hurt.” Her current projects include two books which specifically address educator mental health.As a former teacher and social worker, she will always be an educator. Through her private practice and Teaching with Mental Health in Mind, Erica advocates for shifting mindsets to create more flexible, empathetic and comfortable environments for children and the adults who care for them to thrive.

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Learn More About Alexis Shepard

Alexis Shepard is a 9^th year educator in Upstate, South Carolina with both middle level and elementary experience. After multiple encounters with burn-out, a desire to take steps towards self-care led to the creation of her brand, The AfroEducator. Originally intended to facilitate connections with like-minded educators, a passion was ignited in Alexis to empower teachers towards wellness. In her work, Alexis seeks to create pervasive perceptions of wellness that will improve teacher outlook and sustainability. As The AfroEducator, Alexis champions teacher self-care through education, reflection, and dialogue. She believes that by sharing her stories, she can inspire and empower teachers to take control of their own narratives.

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Learn More About Birdie Cunningham

Birdie is a social-entrepreneur with twenty years of experience in public health developing and implementing multi-faceted programs, interventions and outreach for health and wellness, with a concentration on sleep research and behavior change. In addition to starting Spndle, she is currently the Associate Director of Health Promotion, at the Center for Well-Being at the University of St. Thomas, and past Director of Operations & Programming for the Center for College Sleep. She is past president of the North Central College Health Association and in 2017 received the Ruth E. Boynton Award for Distinguished Service to the American College Health Association. Birdie has otherwise been helping organizations with population sleep strategies for over a decade.

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Learn More About Amber Harper

Amber Harper is an author, educator, Teacher Burnout Coach, and Certified Google Trainer whose mission is to Activate Teacher Self-Empowerment to beat burnout and live a happy, fulfilled life. She’s the founder of www.burnedinteacher.com and is obsessed with helping educators go from burned-out to BURNED-IN. She also hosts a weekly podcast dedicated to action, inspiration, and support for teachers dealing with teacher burnout called The Burned-In Teacher Podcast.

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Learn More About Julia Bantimba

Julia earned her MS in occupational therapy at Boston University’s Sargent College, and has been practicing as a licensed occupational therapist since 2013. Currently, Julia works for Seneca Family of Agencies as a full-time trauma-informed care/occupational therapy consultant to their five non-public schools. There, she provides support to staff through modeling strategies with students, clinical consultation, trainings to their multidisciplinary team of staff, as well as consultation regarding school policies and procedures. Prior to Seneca, Julia worked for A Better Way, Inc. in Oakland, CA providing direct therapy for children birth through adolescence, who have extensive trauma and/or are involved in the child welfare system, and who have difficulty with sensory and emotional regulation. Additionally, Julia’s consultation and trainings in the community focus on the ways in which early childhood trauma impacts the development and function of the sensory system, highlighting the ways in which providers of any discipline can utilize sensory-based strategies to regulate their clients. Julia is a certified Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics trainer, faculty member and graduate of the UC Davis-Napa Infant Parent Mental Health Fellowship and is trained in multiple models. She has completed certification in: Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT Phase I and II), Attachment, Regulation and Competency Model (ARC), the Newborn Behavior Observation (NBO), Fussy Baby Level 1, NCAST Feeding Scale, and various Cultural Humility trainings including train-the-trainer.

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