When

Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 9:00 AM CST
-to-
Wednesday, January 19, 2022 at 12:00 PM CST
Add to Calendar

Where

This is a live online event; A link will be sent to you. 




Questions? Contact:

Sharon Meschke
SafeGenerations & ROK
833-723-3767
info@safegenerations.org

 

 

 

Who are The ROK and SafeGenerations?

We are an international group of child welfare leaders, consultants, and practitioners who have worked internationally in some of the most diverse but equally disadvantaged communities. Our collective experience includes well over 100 years in the field of child welfare. 

We are passionate about equity and bring highly adaptable skills for leading and managing at strategic levels, as well as leading services and units which are set-up to tackle equality and discrimination within the workforce and at service delivery. We are honoured to bring a workshop of this kind, to you, in this time of radical change.

Now more than ever before we need to bring our collective voices, wisdom, and passion to raise the bar for our children and young people who - for too long - have experienced inequalities. We believe this workshop will deliver to you the tools and methods to take this action forward in a meaningful way.

 

Scroll down to meet each of the team members! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaders across the world have prioritized their commitment toward race equality. But, if you've attended anti-racism workshops focused on child welfare in the past, you may have found yourself wondering:  

  • How can I contribute to healing and hope for dis-proportionality and disparity between racial groups?   

  • What must I do to make a difference?  

  • How would I know that what I’m doing is actually helping?  

  • How do I sustain my energy for change in the midst of ongoing adversity? 

 

To be clear, this is not your typical anti-racism workshop. Together, we'll build our skills, confidence, hope and energy to be able to take action as an ally within our work. 

Whether you're in frontline practice or leadership, you'll leave with practical and tangible steps you can put into practice tomorrow. 

 

 

Cost: $299 US

10% Discount for Group of 5 or More.

Use Coupon Code: BERHGRP5

Through this workshop participants will: 

  • Identify accumulated advantages and disadvantages that impact patterns of behaviour on child welfare practice. 

  • Understand decision making processes that are built on unhelpful vs helpful assumptions. 

  • Build awareness of intentional or unintentional, dominant cultural norms within your organization. 

  • Discover together what it means to be an ally. 

  • Identify what needs to happen next in your context to lead meaningful change.  

Follow-up opportunities include: 

  • Agency-Specific Workshops
  • Remote Leadership Consulting
  • Remote Case Consulting
  • One-on-One Coaching

Kay Whyte-Bell, MA Soc.Sci.

Consultant, Trainer, Coach, Practitioner Owner & Director, Arise Leadership

ROK, UK

Kay has 34 years experience of working as a practitioner, Leader and Strategic Adviser in child welfare and child protection in the UK, Europe and USA. Kay also runs her own successful business that includes Coaching and Mentoring of Senior Managers and Leaders from diverse backgrounds. During her many years of experience, Kay has also held high level positions specifically focused on Race and Equality, developing policy, procedure, training and auditing of strategic Equalities Plans as well as leading serious incident child care learning reviews that have focused on outcomes for children or young people from Black African heritage.


 Sherry Amelse, LSW                                     

Owner, Director, Consultant, Trainer, Practitioner

SafeGenerations, USA

Sherry has worked in child welfare for 25 years, 19 of those years in frontline practice. Throughout her career, she has had a heart for the hurting and has been a passionate advocate for the marginalized. In her role with SafeGenerations, Sherry works with agencies to implement family-centered practices, understand and tackle systemic barriers, and create a context where all practitioners and families can thrive. She is committed to her own personal journey toward anti-racist practice and to engaging others in the effort to understand and dismantle systemic racism in child welfare.

 Robert Maragh, MSc                       

Consultant, Trainer, Non-Executive Director, Director

ROK, England

Rob Maragh has 36 years in children's services as a practitioner, team manager and for 20 years Head of Service in a LAs in London and the South East England. Rob has innovated services pan London and was the Director of services for refugee and children and parents affected by life limited illnesses including HIV/AIDS. Rob is a non-executive director of 2 agencies in Health and Housing. He now works as a independent consultant working with agencies and professionals on anti-racist leadership and practice.

 Sarah Sundman, MA, LSW                       

Owner, Director, Consultant, Trainer, Practitioner    

SafeGenerations, USA

Sarah began her career in child welfare in 2002. She worked directly in child protection organizations for 9 years as a forensic interviewer, case manager and foster care licensor.  Sarah's advocated for children, youth and parents, especially for those who have been marginalized and oppressed, to not only be heard, but to be intimately involved in planning and decision-making for their lives.  In 2011 Sarah joined the SafeGenerations team as a trainer and consultant.  Sarah’s first-hand experience in working with families allows her to meaningfully connect with practitioners, while also consulting agency leaders in organizational change.


 Andrea Robideau, MA, LMFT                 

Owner, Director, Consultant, Trainer, Practitioner   

SafeGenerations, USA

Andrea’s fundamental belief that all people are created with immeasurable value drives her passion for personal and professional development around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. In her role as Executive Director at SafeGenerations, Andrea connects the team’s vision and strategy to the team’s values and passion for building hope and transforming lives by cultivating success in child welfare. Success in child welfare necessitates equitable systems and practice. SafeGenerations' partnership with ROK continues to enliven, challenge, and grow Andrea and the team's depth in this critical priority within human services.

 

Ophelia Mac-Kwashie,

Consultant, Trainer, Owner, En Hel By 

ROK, Sweden 

Ophelia Mac-Kwashie is a Social Worker who has 22 years of experience in the child protection field in Sweden. Ophelia has always been passionate about her work with children and families and has for the past eight years been working as Independent Social Worker and takes on difficult cases while at the same time supports and guides Child Protection Services in Sweden, mostly in cases involving children with different ethnic backgrounds. As a Social Worker with African origin, Ophelia is not unfamiliar with the treatment Africans and marginalized groups receive when they have to deal with the Child Protection Services in Sweden. Ophelia has reached a stage in her dedication to Child Protection work to create a forum that will enable Child Protection Services in Sweden to start having conversation and discussion about this delicate topic.

 Bill Schulenberg, MA, LMFT                            

 Owner, Director, Consultant, Trainer, Practitioner  

 SafeGenerations, USA
Bill's work with multi-cultural, high risk teen-agers 22 years ago marked the beginning of his professional commitment to what was already a personal calling; to be an ally to those who most needed one. The transition into working with families involved with the child welfare system gave him the opportunity to work closely with people who had very low trust for the child welfare system, and even lower trust if they were people of color. A real breakthrough occurred for Bill through his work with the anti-black racism leaders in the Toronto Child Welfare system. The team worked collaboratively to address personal and systemic racism and to help practitioners grow in their ability to be an ally to the families they serve. Bill continues to be passionate about becoming a better ally both personally and professionally!