2022 Passport to Careers State Conference Highlights

Over 180 people came together virtually on April 19-20 for this year’s Passport to Careers State Conference. The conference focused on what it means and looks like to cultivate fortitude – especially in partnership with people we serve, who have experienced foster care or unaccompanied homelessness. Let’s start by defining “fortitude”:

Fortitude
Noun | for·ti·tude | \ ˈfȯr-tə-ˌtüd , -ˌtyüd \
Definition of fortitude:
1: strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage
2: STRENGTH

Fortitude is something the people we serve embody every day; they are surviving in the face of adversity. Arguably, we may be able to learn from them even more than they can learn from us. One goal of the conference was to incorporate and center the voices of people with lived experience. Thus, lived experience voice was weaved throughout the conference, from the keynotes to some of the workshop and learning session presenters.

Session topics included self-care, trauma and resilience, and empowerment, among others. Click here to explore more.

Many attendees shared how powerful the keynote speeches were. Each keynote speaker shared from their lived experiences, in order for us to use that knowledge to improve in our work. Although there were many highlights from the presentations and conversations over the course of the two days, this blog focuses on the lived experts as their remarks were so impactful.

Day One Keynote: Yvonne-Monique Aviva
In her keynote, Yvonne-Monique humbly reminded us that we live in a culture dominated by spaces where we are expected to suppress certain parts of ourselves in order to be accepted. While that may seem trivial to a lot of people, the inability to be one’s whole self specifically attacks and further isolates people that are struggling to survive, especially those experiencing foster care.

Yvonne-Monique unpacked part of her experience of being separated from the family she grew up with and waking up in a stranger’s home. She emphasized how that experience is often accompanied with layers of complexity and grief that is impossible for the person experiencing it to ignore.
Yvonne-Monique challenged us with a question:

“Who do young people experiencing foster care belong to?”

It is a potent question to ponder, because it’s not just about who people experiencing foster care legally belong to. It’s about the lack of societal infrastructure to support and humanize people experiencing foster care, compounded by the fact that just about everyone in the youth’s life is receiving payment.

Losing people we love is immeasurably agonizing, even for adults. It’s hard to even imagine a child being physically removed from the people and places in their life that often are most meaningful and familiar to them. Who and what are they left with?

With tears in her eyes, Yvonne-Monique candidly explained, “we are hurting and we are not allowed to tell you because it makes you uncomfortable… You are creating barriers preventing us from being able to show up.” The room was silent as people tried to reckon with and understand that truth. She reminded us that “grief is unapologetically intimate.”

Yvonne-Monique described that if we don’t allow people who experienced foster care to show up as their whole self – including the parts of themselves that are grieving – we are just another person showing them they are unworthy of anyone being willing to hold their reality with them.

Providing us with some relief, Yvonne-Monique then told us a memorable example of a time she felt supported by a colleague. Someone told her, “When there’s a tornado and you are in a tornado zone, you open the windows so the storm can move through. You have to remember to open the windows and that you are not the storm; you are telling us the storm is coming.” It was a beautiful reminder that we need to co-create the capacity to hold truth, pain, compassion, and humanity by “handling our own discomfort”, and that we need to “tell the truth and let other people tell the truth”.

In summary, Yvonne-Monique shared that “cultivating fortitude means [shifting power to young people] so they can drive us to new futures.” She continued on to say, “I promise you that our young people know the way.” She challenged us to consider that the role we get paid to play and are measured on is not always in the best interest of the people we are trying to support.

Yvonne-Monique’s remarks moved all of us. Somebody get this woman a TED talk already!

Day Two Keynote Panelists: Courtney Canova, Katie Buxton, Janell Braxton, and Zematra Bacon
In our special keynote session on day two, we heard from three panelists and one moderator (all with lived foster care or unaccompanied homelessness experience) about the type of support they found meaningful. Unsurprisingly, what we heard from the panelists tied in beautifully with Yvonne-Monique’s remarks. As we listened, we noticed a theme: each person emphasized the importance of support that went beyond educational goals, but was rooted in relationships. Each panelist shared information and takeaways they believe is important for providers to understand as they strive to support youth and young adults with these shared identities:

• • • We generally feel more invested when we have someone that supports and encourages us as a whole person, not just parts of ourselves
    • Meet us where we are – get to know us and what our priorities are
    • Some of our experiences have long-lasting impacts that come up in everyday life
    • We can do everything right but still not have what we need
    • We know best about what we need and our goals may not be your goals for us

Onward and Upward
The annual Passport to Careers State Conference provides a platform for participants to share recommended practices, acquire skills, knowledge, and resources that advance professional development and enhance program impact, and inspire one another with stories of success and ideas for innovation.

When we asked attendees how they plan on cultivating fortitude in their role, here are some of the responses they shared:

• • • “Connecting with the human first, before the ‘work’”
    • “Centering the work will make for more effective, sustainable and invigorating programs. Being led by that impacted builds REAL fortitude so we aren’t causing harm, but supporting healing”
    • “Being in the moment with the student. Listening to them.”

We’re excited to maintain our inspirational momentum with continuing our webinar series. We are thrilled to host a team of Lived Experience Advisors and Think of Us partners at our webinar series on May 25, 2022 from 2-3pm to share about the “Vision for the Future” they created for how they want the foster care system to look and feel for their younger peers. Please check our events calendar for more information.

College Success Foundation and the Washington Student Achievement Council are grateful for all who helped make the conference a success. Thank you so much!