KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Dr. Wendy Ellis

Dr. Wendy Ellis is an Assistant Professor in Global Health and the Director of the Center for Community Resilience at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. The Center for Community Resilience seeks to improve the health of communities by enabling cross-sectoral partners to align policy, program and practice to address adverse childhood experiences in the context of adverse community environments–or as Dr. Ellis has coined it “The Pair of ACEs”. This innovative framing of ACEs, with an explicit focus on equity and prevention, has had a substantial influence on local initiatives, programs, public health initiatives and local, state and federal policy.

Dr. Ellis’ keynote is titled “Community Resilience: A Framework for Children & Families.” Dr. Ellis will discuss how to apply a community resilience framework with a public health perspective to address mental and behavioral health. Using the concept of the “Pair of ACEs” – adverse childhood experiences in the context of adverse community environments—Dr. Ellis will share concrete examples of how multiple sectors including housing, public education, law enforcement and criminal justice are collaborating to address many of the antecedents that contribute to maladaptive behaviors, criminality and negative health outcomes. Attendees will learn how to identify key community assets and resources, promote upstream efforts to address social determinants and build community resilience using the Center’s Resilience Tree framing.

Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler

Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler specializes in the development and delivery of equity, leadership, diversity, cultural responsiveness, and inclusiveness training programs and strategies. In addition to founding The Equity Project, she is also the founder of The HR Shop, a human resources firm designed to support nonprofits and small organizations. Dr. Mosby Tyler is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer for Children’s Hospital Colorado—the first Black woman to hold that position in the organization’s 100+ year history. She is also the former Executive Director of the Office of Human Resources for the City and County of Denver—the first Black woman to hold that position in the 63+ year history of the agency.

Dr. Mosby Tyler’s keynote is titled “Equity is our North Star”. This keynote takes participants on a journey of “deconstructing” the real meaning of equity, inclusivity, and diversity –and how these concepts show up in the workplace. We will explore the ways in which seemingly small decisions in the office can have significant and meaningful impact within an organization. This keynote is designed to inspire and energize participants to leverage their skills as both leaders and colleagues in the journey to create more equitable workplaces.

Vu Le

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities.

Vu’s passion to make the world better, combined with a low score on the Law School Admission Test, drove him into the field of nonprofit work, where he learned that we should take the work seriously, but not ourselves. There’s tons of humor in the nonprofit world, and someone needs to document it. He is going to do that, with the hope that one day, a TV producer will see how cool and interesting our field is and make a show about nonprofit work, featuring attractive actors attending strategic planning meetings and filing 990 tax forms.

Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com.