Spring Quarter Speaker

Session Synopsis

This training and discussion will offer practical tools to help us sustain, individually and collectively, in the face of trauma, secondary trauma and overwhelm. Whether this is related to our work, our personal lives, the pandemic, systematic oppression and structural supremacy surfacing in exceedingly painful ways, or the unfolding of the climate crisis, we will discuss what the consequences are as well as strategies for sustaining ourselves and each other.

Guest Speaker

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky

Laura is the founder and director of The Trauma Stewardship Institute and author of Trauma Stewardship and The Age of Overwhelm. Widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of trauma exposure, she has worked locally, nationally, and internationally for more than three decades. Much of her work is being invited to assist in the aftermath of community catastrophes - whether they are fatal storms or mass shootings. Simultaneously, she has long been active in community organizing and movements for social and environmental justice and has taught on issues surrounding systematic oppression, structural supremacy, and liberation theory. Laura is on the advisory board of ZGiRLS, an organization that supports young girls in sports. She is a founding member of the International Transformational Resilience Network, which supports the development of capacity to address climate change. Laura also served as an associate producer of the award-winning film A Lot Like You, and was given a Yo! Mama award in recognition of her work as a community-activist mother. Read more about Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and her work.