WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2023
Main Session: 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. PT
Optional Discussion: 4:15 - 4:45 p.m. PT
[Find your local time zone here]
Session 2 of 3 in the "Rising Practices & Policies in our Workforce: Interrupting Bullying & Fostering Belonging" 2023 Learning Series (view series page for full details)
How might we—as the youth and young adult mental health workforce—evolve our own practices and policies to meet the evolving needs of the people and systems we serve? Our Pacific Southwest Region’s national specialty area is the mental health of youth and young adults of transitional age; as such, on our second day of our three part series, we examine rising practices and policies, informed by research and the field, that expand the way we approach anti-bullying and foster belonging for youth and young adults (18-24 year olds). Panelists will highlight bullying and belonging within the context of LGBTQ+ youth populations, young adult perspectives with lived experience in the foster care system and the Navajo Nation, and a focus on cyberbullying within Latine youth communities.
Audience: Peer support professionals, young adult advocates, psychologists, counselors, community mental health workers, social workers, pre-service graduate students and whoever else is interested!
Ajahrain (Ajah) Yellowhair (they/them)Ajahrain (Ajah) Yellowhair is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and grew up in the canyons of Wolf Creek, Arizona. They are currently in their sophomore year at the University of Portland where they study Political Science in Global Affairs and Education. They work closely in community-led projects and have life experience in the foster care system, mental health institutions, and navigating Identity politics. Ajah is 18 years old, and brings valuable insight to the table and is honored to represent their Indigenous values as they relate to the conversation of fostering belonging as a mitigator to bullying.
Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them)Arc Telos Saint Amour, or Tay for short, is a neurodivergent, queer and trans, gender non-conforming person of Mexican Indigenous descent (Coahuiltecan), and a childhood victim/survivor of trauma who deeply believes in listening to youth voice and the power of holistic affirmation and self-agency.
Arc Telos spent over ten years in the national for-profit industry as an upper level manager/director and business developer opening start-ups and working with established organizations to expand into new territories all over the US. Following this, Arc Telos spent another ten years active in the non-profit field, working with organizations through-out Chicago, New York, Vermont, California, and Michigan centering Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) practices and using trauma-informed and critical intersectionality based frameworks. Currently they are the Executive Director of Youth MOVE National and a national public speaker and facilitator.
Arc Telos is of course more than just their career and identities. Arc Telos is vegan and practices indigenous animalism and Unitarian Universalism. They are deeply passionate about all genres of music, documentaries, hiking and other outdoor adventures (in which they are infamous for achieving minor injuries and the loss of shoes), hanging with their partner, three kids, and their two pets (Jeffrey the Pug and Rue the Ragdoll Rescue Cat), absolutely refusing to be anyone other than Princess Peach in Mario Kart or Mario Party, and consider themselves to be within the top 100 of all time high context ramblers that have an opinion on just about anything and everything.
Guadelupe (Lupita) Espinoza, Ph.D (she/hers) Lupita Espinoza is a Professor in Child and Adolescent Studies at California State University, Fullerton. She received her B.A. in psychology from San Diego State University and her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at UCLA with minors in Culture, Ethnicity and Education, and Quantitative Methods.
Lupita studies adolescent peer relations and how peer dynamics shape their psychosocial well-being and school adjustment. Much of Lupita’s research focuses specifically on the school bullying and cyberbullying experiences of adolescents from Latinx backgrounds. For example, she has examined how daily cyberbullying experiences are associated with Latino adolescents’ psychosocial, physical and school adjustment and relied on daily diary methods. In the last few years, she has focused on better understanding how adolescents managed their day-to-day lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lupita’s research has been published in journals such as Child Development, Journal of Youth and Adolescence and Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma. Moreover, her service work focuses on a variety of roles and committees centered on her commitment to student support, diversity issues and the child development field.
