Upcoming Events & Training

The Alliance is excited to welcome back three of our state’s agency leaders to our All Member Meeting on Friday, May 17th.

We will be welcoming:
• Marcus Johnson, Deputy Director of Community Engagement and Regulatory Affairs, AHCCCS
• David Lujan, CEO, Arizona Department of Child Safety
• Angie Rodgers, Executive Deputy Director and Cabinet Executive Officer, Arizona Department of Economic Security

As you may recall, all three graciously joined us last August to share the vision and direction of their agencies under their new leadership.  Almost a year since, they will be with us to provide updates and insights on the last year.  There will also be an opportunity to hear from each the connections between their work and our family support community and to ask questions of all three.

Please join us for this opportunity to dialogue and engage with key state leaders in the family support and human services space.

We look forward to seeing you in May!

Please RSVP by Tuesday, May 14th for each individual planning to attend.

If you or a member of your team misses the registration deadline, please still plan on joining us!  We can get you signed-in on site and we’d hate to miss having you there.

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully.  To be respectful of those with allergies and environmental sensitivities, we ask that you please refrain from wearing strong fragrances.  For inquiries about accessibility, please contact info@maricopafamilysupportalliance.org.

“Leading Through the Intersections” is a journey into the heart of intersectionality, showing how our mix of identities – like race, gender, and background – shapes the way we see and interact with the world. It’s about first getting real with ourselves, recognizing our own stories and biases, and learning how to create spaces where everyone feels empowered to be their authentic selves. Frank Velásquez Jr. will help attendees do a bit of self-exploration so that we can tackle the tough stuff together. We will discover ways in how to step up and when to step back. Join us as we shake up the white space and make it an equitable space where the global majority can lead with authenticity, courage, and joy!

This will feature Frank Velasquez Jr. of 4 Da Hood, LLC and is part of the AZ Emerging Leaders’ Network 2024 JEDI Learning Series.

Imagining and Rehearsing for our Dream World is an introduction to abolition and transformative justice. We’ll practice stretching our imaginations to think about a world without prisons and policing and the types of shifts materially and culturally that would be necessary for an abolitionist future. We’ll also spend time discussing how to be in alignment with abolitionist principles, especially for conflict resolution within our organizations.

This will feature Denee Jackson of …& Liberation LLC and is part of the AZ Emerging Leaders’ Network 2024 JEDI Learning Series.

More about Denée

Beginning in college, I found myself deeply and urgently immersed in racial justice equity work, which informed all of my career choices and a lot of how I spend my time and live my life. I identify as an abolitionist, transformative justice practitioner, and birthworker and I really try to ground in truth and love in everything that I do. Recently I’ve spent time organizing with Jewish Voice for Peace, Black Lives Matter LA, Queers for Palestine LA, and the Tempest Collective. I lean into this work imperfectly: I believe in a vulnerable and brave commitment to centering the most marginalized communities which requires the space to learn from mistakes and collaboratively remain accountable to them. My approach is gentle, direct, and always with care.

In Foundations of Equitable Youth Engagement, participants will explore the essential ingredients of authentic youth engagement, using the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative’s four pillars of youth engagement (youth-adult partnerships, preparation, opportunities, and support) including the levels of youth engagement and holding a youth engagement perspective that is informed by adolescent brain science and racial equity and inclusion.

This will feature Antoinette Rucker & Meghan Arrigo and is part of the AZ Emerging Leaders’ Network 2024 JEDI Learning Series.

Antoinette Rucker is a child welfare consultant based out of Atlanta and is currently a Master of Public Administration candidate at Clayton State University. Antoinette is the founder of Fostering Through College (FTC), a comprehensive support program that strives to empower foster youth transitioning into post-secondary education at Albany State University. She strives to empower agencies and organizations to rethink the ways in which they service young people impacted by the child welfare system. Antoinette has served as a Jim Casey Young Fellow for six years and in 2018, she was selected as a participant for the first round of the Results Count Leadership training hosted by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Results Count leadership program was born out of a conviction that results-driven leaders are vital to achieving measurable and lasting improvements for kids and families. Antoinette has also served as a member of the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council and as a board member for a girls empowerment initiative out of Atlanta called G.E.M.S (Girls Empowered and Motivated to Succeed). Antoinette believes that giving back is a universal opportunity regardless of a person’s background and she holds that anyone who cares has the capacity to create change.

Meghan Arrigo is an activist, coach, and consultant. She has spent the last twenty years coaching and collaborating with young people, community members and system leaders to re-imagine communities centered in justice, equity and inclusion. Meghan is the founder of Arrigo Consulting LLC where she has a private coaching practice focused on holding space for people to design a future rooted in their values, freedom, peace and possibilities. She also currently partners as a Senior Youth Engagement Consultant with Cetera Inc. Cetrea is a proud partner to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Initiative focused on supporting authentic youth engagement efforts in communities across the country. The Initiative works to ensure young people who have experienced foster care have equitable access to resources, relationships and opportunities they need to achieve positive wellbeing in adulthood. Meghan works in collaboration to support these results and partners with young leaders with lived experience in the foster care system to inform policy and practice change at federal, state and local levels.

Meghan is a graduate of Leading for Change; holds a degree in International Relations and Social Policy. She is certified in Positive Youth Development and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach through the Coactive Training Institute. She is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory.

Most importantly Meghan is a mother, sister, wife, daughter and friend. She grew up in Midwest, and most recently after living in the desert for 17 years, she now resides with her husband, son and mother in the Pacific Northwest. Meghan loves to cook, hike, explore, and most of all laugh.

Advancing Equity Internally: Fostering Cultures of Collective Care and BelongingHas the internal work of your organization often felt disconnected from the external equity and justice work you are seeking to advance? Does your culture feel draining with constant spaces of conflict, disconnection, and burn out? Does it feel like you are seeking more depth to your shared purpose? In this workshop, we will support you to reimagine what is possible when we create spaces of collective care and belonging. Rooted in liberatory design and practice, we will uplift key components of liberatory cultures that center shared dignity, relational trust, learning, healing, and deep courage as foundational in sustaining the people and the work of REJB toward greater impact.

Learning takeaways:

• Participants will deepen their understanding of how liberatory values and practices can support organizational cultures
• Participants will walk away with practical tools to apply in their organization, as well as considerations on how to hold accountability towards their equity, belonging, and justice goals

This will feature Elena Mireles-Hill and Sara A. Farooqi and is part of the AZ Emerging Leaders’ Network 2024 JEDI Learning Series.