Save the Date for Beyond Pink 9: Uplifting Girl* Voice! Wednesday November, 15th 2023
Beyond Pink is a one-day summit and training for girl*-serving advocates and professionals who work in and across systems including schools, youth development, child welfare, juvenile justice, health, mental health and housing. This year we will be hosting our event online due to the health and safety risks of convening in large groups in-person.
This digital event is FREE to attend and we strongly encourage all girl*-advocates to join! Please let us know if there are any attendance barriers we can address.
Register for Beyond Pink HERE!
Draft Schedule
The morning session will be hosted from 9a-12p PST. This session will feature a keynote speech by Dr. Nina Walker, a program spotlight, and a performance by youth poet Savannah Parker!
The afternoon session will be hosted from 2p-4p PST. This session will feature a workshop led by Dr. Tonya Walls and co-facilitated by Brooklyn Cruz, Naika Belizaire, and Zuriah James!
Announcing Our Keynote Speaker: Dr. Nina Walker
Dr. Nina Walker (she/her/hers) is the founder of RAGOH Speaks LLC, an educational and research consultancy focused on combating the disproportionate exploitation of Black girls through sex trafficking and equipping schools/communities to play a role in prevention. She has spent two decades fostering restorative and healing-centered spaces for marginalized youth, especially Black and Brown girls. Her interdisciplinary lens stems from a dynamic career as a school counselor, outpatient therapist, nonprofit founder, researcher, educational consultant, and professor. Through all these experiences, amplifying the voices of Black and Brown girls drives her to partner with schools and organizations to recognize the power and brilliance inherent in every young person. Schools have the opportunity to be amazingly protective and empowering spaces in the lives of young people, and Dr. Walker continues to partner with schools, youth-serving organizations and communities in achieving just that.
Dr. Walker's Keynote "Do You Hear Us? Centering the Voices of Black Girls in the Fight Against Sex Trafficking" draws from her two decades as an advocate in many roles and her doctoral research, and will illuminate the intersection of injustices faced by Black girls, with a paramount focus on schools engaging in trafficking prevention through centering their voices and sharing their journeys through the educational and societal systems. Our shared endeavor during this talk will be to lean in and listen to their voices, affirming their humanity in confronting one of the most pressing crises of our time and striving for a world where justice for Black girls is not just a dream, but a reality.
Announcing Our Workshop Leader: Dr. Tonya Walls
Dr. Tonya Walls (she/her/hers) is a mother, educator, Nationally Board-Certified Teacher, university professor, restorative practitioner, and Oakland, California native. Her preferred pronouns are she, her, and we. She earned a B.A from UCLA, an M.A from California State University, East Bay, and PhD. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Cultural Studies, International and Multicultural Education, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her teaching journey began in the Oakland Unified School District in the 1990s, and she currently serves as the Founding Executive Director of education adjacent, social transformation nonprofit, Code Switch: Restorative Justice for Girls of Color in Southern Nevada. She also serves as a part-time instructor at UNLV where she teaches restorative justice and multicultural education courses. Her community-embedded restorative advocacy work centers anti-racism, healing praxis, advancing girls rights, and building power with Black and other Girls and Women of Color. Tonya is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and when not hard at work, she enjoys traveling, reading, writing poetry, and spending time with family.
Dr. Wall's Workshop titled "Restorative Justice for Our Girls: A Humanizing and Healing Engaged Praxis" will guide participants through a reflection of what it means to advance girl's rights through a culturally affirming, anti-racist, and transformative justice-informed lens. Participants will walk away with steps they can take and strategies they can employ to build stronger relationships and power WITH the at-promise, resilient girls they serve. Strategies to promote practitioner self-care as well as mental wellness will also be broached.
You can follow Dr. Walls on Instagram and Twitter at @drtonyawalls or on Facebook at Tonya Walls
Register for Beyond Pink HERE!
Need more information?
Contact Tristan Eddy: teddy@jfgcoalition.org
*“Girls” refers to gender expansive youth (cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth).