Family Engagement and Cultural Effectiveness
OVERVIEW|REGISTRATION|SCHEDULE|PRE-CONFERENCE|CONFERENCE|SPECIAL EVENTS|CURRICULUM FAIR|EXHIBITORS-SPONSORS|HOTEL & LOCAL INFORMATION|CONFERENCE SWAG|SOCIAL MEDIA HUB|PROGRAM BOOK|2017|2018|2019
October 28 – November 1, 2019 | Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu HI
Since Head Start inception more than 50 years ago, family engagement has always been a pillar of the program. Underlying the Head Start focus on the whole child is the understanding that parents are the primary educators and advocates of their child. Moreover, when parents engage with their child, they not only improve the child’s happiness and success—but theirs as well.
The Family Engagement and Cultural Effectiveness conference is designed to celebrate the different cultures, traditions and practices that are reflected in the modern family. In so doing, participants learn how to use the strengths and attributes of culture to aid a child’s own successful walk through the world. In this conference, nationally and internationally known practitioners, researchers and motivational speakers share their knowledge, to teach us and to learn from us, about parent engagement through the lens of cultural awareness.
2019 Family Engagement and Cultural Effectiveness – Keynotes
Opening Session – Wednesday October 30, 2019
Sacha Klein, Ph.D., M.S.W. is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Michigan State University where she teaches child welfare, social policy, and community and organizational leadership. Her research focuses on maltreatment of infants and toddlers; early care and education for foster children; and racial/ethnic disparities in child welfare involvement. Sacha has more than twenty years of social work experience, which includes working on home visiting policy as a consultant to the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Home Visiting Data Performance Initiative and as a Society for Research in Child Development Policy Fellow with the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.
General Session – Thursday October 31, 2019
Dr. Deborah Bergeron is the director of the Office of Head Start. Known as “Dr. B” to former students and teachers, she has spent three decades in pre-K–12 public education as a classroom teacher and elementary and high school administrator. In the course of her career, Dr. B also started, grew, and ultimately sold her own educational services company. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University. She earned a master’s in education leadership and doctorate in education policy from George Mason University.
Closing Session – Friday November 1, 2019
Elizabeth Philipose, Ph. D. is a meditation teacher, scholar, and speaker; a published author; human rights advocate; spiritual counselor; yoga teacher; reiki practitioner; and professor of gender, sexuality, race, culture, and global studies. She has a PhD in International Politics, created the radio show A Spiritual Guide to Politics, co-edited the book Dissident Friendships (2016, University of Illinois Press), and published articles in leading journals that raise consciousness through her analysis of some of the darkest aspects of the human condition. Elizabeth offers classes, retreats, workshops and individual sessions that activate whole-soul creativity and dynamic wellbeing for individuals, couples, schools, workplaces and organizations. She grew up in a ranch town in the Canadian prairies, studied Politics in Victoria and Toronto, and now lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their dogs.
2019 Family Engagement and Cultural Effectiveness – Special Events
During the 2019 Conference Week, we will offer several special events included with your conference badge –
- Tuesday October 29, 2019 – 1-4 pm, Director’s Exchange
- Tuesday October 29, 2019 – 4-6 pm, Aloha Reception
- Wednesday October 30, 2019 – 1-4 pm, Leadership Discussions
- Thursday October 31, 2019 – 1- 4 pm, Family Engagement Curriculum Fair
Hear from our conference presenters!
2018 R9FEC PHOTO ALBUM NOW AVAILABLE!