Texas CASA is excited to launch the Distinguished Speakers Series, a new, advocacy-focused learning opportunity for the CASA network and other community partners involved in the child welfare system. The multi-part series will feature high-caliber speakers sharing their expertise on topics and issues impacting the child welfare system and how we can all enhance our advocacy for children and families involved in the system.
The series begins on Thursday, Oct. 29, with Dr. Jessica Pryce and wraps up on Wednesday, Nov. 18, with Professor Ibram X. Kendi. The full schedule and speaker bios are below.
Register now to secure your spot for all four episodes! Reminder emails with the link information will be sent before each episode.
Thursday, October 29 | 11:00 AM CDT
Jessica A. Pryce, Ph.D., MSW
Dr. Jessica A. Pryce is an Assistant Professor at Florida State University and currently the Executive Director of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. For the past 10 years, Dr. Pryce has been involved at multiple angles of child welfare (direct practice, teaching + training & policy and research). She has published on child welfare related topics, such as, training and education, racial disparity and anti-poverty practices. She has presented her research at 50+ conferences both nationally and internationally. Her TED Talk on Implicit Racial Bias in Decision Making has since been viewed over 1.2 million times. Dr. Pryce has worked on the frontlines of child welfare, conducted primary research, and taught graduate level courses in child welfare.
Thursday, November 5 | 11:00 AM CST
Riki Wilchins
Riki Wilchins is Executive Director of TrueChild, a network of researchers and experts devoted to helping improve life outcomes among at-risk youth by reconnecting race, class, and gender. Riki has trained such agencies as the White House, CDC, Office on Women’s Health, and Office of Adolescent Health; funder networks like the Assn. of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP), and Women’s Funding Network; and the Chicago, DC, LA, San Diego, Stamford, and East San Jose public schools. Her writing on gender norms and philanthropy has been published by the Council on Foundations, GrantCraft, GuideStar, and the Natl. Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Riki’s work has been profiled in The New York Times. TIME selected her one of its “100 Civic Innovators for the 21st Century.” The author of six books on gender theory and politics, Riki’s newest book for funders and nonprofits is titled, “Gender Norms & Intersectionality: Connecting Race, Class and Gender.”
Thursday, November 12 | 11:00 AM CST
Kevin Campbell
Kevin Campbell is an internationally known youth permanency expert, founder of the Center for Family Finding and Youth Connectedness and developer of the Family Finding model, a set of strategies now utilized throughout the world to establish lifelong supports for children and youth in foster care. Prior to developing Family Finding, Campbell was an administrator, director and vice president in the social service sector for more than 28 years. Campbell continues to develop strategies to address the epidemic levels of loneliness that youth in foster care experience, and is a renowned motivational, inspirational speaker and story teller.
11:00 AM – Presentation by Kevin Campbell
11:45 AM – Live Q&A with Kevin and Vicki Spriggs
Wednesday, November 18 | 11:00 AM CST
Professor Ibram X. Kendi
Professor Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News correspondent. Professor Kendi is the 2020-2021 Frances B. Cashin Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. He is the author of many books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and three #1 New York Times bestsellers, How to Be an Antiracist; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. His next book, Be Antiracist: A Journal for Awareness, Reflection, and Action, will be released in October.
11:00 AM – Live Q&A with Professor Kendi and Vicki Spriggs*
*The recording of this episode will only be available for two weeks.