ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The average person will spend over 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. This means that organizations have a tremendous opportunity to make a positive impact. Although not all employees have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, nearly everyone experiences mental or emotional challenges that employers can help support. Supporting the mental health needs of employees is both good for people and good for organizations. Resilient employees tend to be more engaged, more productive and more innovative.
Conference focused on the benefits of adopting resilience-based workplace practices and ways to enhance systemic drivers of resilience.
CO-CONVENERS
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AGENDA
CST
9:00-9:10
9:10-9:45
10:00-11:00
11:15-12:15
12:15-1:00
1:00-2:00
2:00-2:15
Welcome Address and
A Modern Modern for Well-being
Moderator
Panelists
Alexa James
Chief Executive Officer of NAMI Chicago since 2014. Alexa has made NAMI Chicago the leading voice on mental wellness in Chicago and beyond.
Tara Bynum
Tara A. Bynum, PhD is an Assistant Professor of English & African American Studies at the University of Iowa. Her book, Reading Pleasures (fall 2022), examines how black people experienced pleasure in the eighteenth-century U.S.
Melinda Linas
Melinda Linas is a 22 year veteran of the Chicago Police Department where she currently serves as Commander of the Community Safety Team, a Unit tasked with patrolling some of the most violent - and vulnerable - areas of our city.
Faith Townsell
Faith Townsell is a rising senior at Whitney M Young Magnet High School. She currently serves as the Chair of Neighborhood Development on Mayor Lightfoots Youth Commission. She also is the Co-President and founder of Feud for Food, an initiative which aims to teach students on the persistent issue of food deserts as well as their roots in systemic racism.
Panel 2: 11:15am - 12:15pm CST (12:15pm - 1:15pm EST)
The Impact of Mental Health on Workplaces: Ending Stigma and Opening Up Access
This session will focus on the importance of opening up conversations about mental health in the workplace. The panelists will each discuss, from their positions and viewpoints, how mental health stigma is not only harmful but not a good business decision. Each of the panelists will discuss how their workplaces are dealing with ending stigma and opening up access to resources in a safe and comfortable manner for employees. Click on image below to view video of the panel.
Moderator
Panelists
Bernie Dyme
President & CEO, of Perspectives, a company he co-founded in 1981, that has grown from a behavioral health provider to a top-tier employee assistance provider and organizational consulting company focused on driving success through well-being.
Clare Miller
Clare joined Meta in 2017 and leads the company’s mental health strategy and programs as part of employee benefits, called Life@. Clare’s career has focused on advancing mental health at the workplace and includes serving as director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health at the American Psychiatric Association, manager of the Center for Prevention and Health Services at the Business Group on Health, and director of public policy for Mental Health America.
Sally Spencer-Thomas
Clinical psychologist, award-winning mental health advocate and the lead author on the National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention. Her mission of giving voice to people who’ve lived through suicide thoughts, attempts, and loss and to help those in despair rekindle a passion for living. Sally has a TEDx talk and gave an invited address at the White House in 2016.
Dr. Teresa J. Garate
Dr. Teresa Garate has spent over 30 years working throughout Illinois and the US as an expert in public health, social and human services, and education. She has lead large complex systems through innovation and change and is a respected speaker, presenter and subject matter expert in the areas of mental health, disability, education and public health.
Panel 3: 1:00pm - 2:00pm CST (2:00pm - 3:00pm EST)
Using an Equity Lens to Amplify Impact of Resilience-Based Care Initiatives
This panel will focus on the benefits of using an equity lens in creating a resilient workforce. The panelists will discuss the meaning of equity, define systematic wellness and identify actions that employers can take to create positive system-wide change that supports all employees. Click on image below to view video of the panel.
Moderator
Panelists
Joel Jackson
Director of Inclusion and Equity Strategies, UChicago Medicine. Joel also serves as a Racial Healing Practitioner and co-facilitates Racial Healing Circles across Chicagoland.
Jeana Stewart
Training Specialist, Diversity Equity & Inclusion at UChicago Medicine and advocate for effective equity & inclusion action and consciously compassionate communication.
Maggie Gough
Chief Operating Officer at WELCOA (Wellness Council of America).
Denean Pillar-Jackson
Founding Executive Director at Chicago Resiliency Network.