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AE Newsletter - August/September 2018
It's bittersweet to share that this is the last AE newsletter I'll write. After nearly three years, I'm leaving Multnomah County and moving on to a new adventure with the Center for Equity and Inclusion. I'm so excited to continue working on related issues and will stay in the Portland area.

So much has happened since I began working with the AE Initiative in late 2015 and I've loved working with each of you who are reading this.  Rest assured that the commitment to AE from the Youth and Family Services Division and Joint Office of Homeless Services is stronger than ever. My position will be rehired for and a job announcement is below.

AE trainings will continue uninterrupted for the most part. If you're signed up for a training, don't worry, it will still happen!  I'm beyond excited to share that several of my colleagues who many of you know and love will fill over the next few months during the hiring process: 
- Ashley Carroll from the Domestic and Sexual Violence Coordination Office
- Robin Davis from the Joint Office of Homeless Services
- Emily Gardner from the Youth and Family Services Data Team
- Stephanie Simmons from the Youth and Family Services Housing and Anti-Poverty Team
- Armin Tolentino from the Youth and Family Services Contract and Budget Unit.  

You can reach the team at [email protected]. Please use this email address as of September 10th.  Emily will be checking it regularly, with help from the team.

Emily and Ashley recently worked to improve the AE website's Ongoing Training Resources and Learning page! Now there are nearly two years of articles, interviews, videos, and more easily accessible for your learning pleasure!

Ashley and Robin will be your new stewards of the newsletter. Together, they'll bring dynamic and engaging content to you, as well as regular announcements about trainings. 

Armin and Stephanie will be supporting the train-the-trainer cohort through convenings, trainings, coaching, and more.

And everyone on the team will be co-facilitating trainings.

I can't thank this incredible team enough for all they've done and will do for the initiative. Whoever comes into the AE Initiative Coordinator role next will be lucky to experience this wonderful team and community. 

Once again, thanks to each of you for being part of the AE community, and I can't wait to see what's next!
- tash


As always, please feel free to reach out with feedback, ideas, items to share in the newsletter, requests for support, and more! We're here to help however we can : email aeinfo (at) multco (dot) us. 

Special Announcement: AE Initiative Coordinator Position Open for Applications through September 17th


Please share widely! 

Successful applicants will ideally have participated in at least one 3-day training and have advanced knowledge of the principles and practices of Assertive Engagement. 

Multnomah County considers any combination of relevant work experience, volunteering, education, and transferable skills. Candidates are encouraged to specifically outline these skills in their application materials. 

If you have questions about your qualifications or the application process, our Human Resources staff are here to help! Monalisa Diamond is the outreach recruiter and Senior HR Analyst with the Department of County Human Services: [email protected]

Please do not reply to this email with questions about the job - instead, please contact Monalisa!


[Notes on "Hope as..." activity from August AE 101 training. The flip chart has several different types of handwriting and says: "Hope as... strength, love, community, purpose, acceptance, comfort, example, learning, possibility."]
2018 AE Training Schedule
 
We know that trainings continue to fill up quickly and we're doing our best to meet demand for free-of-charge trainings. 

This newsletter is the best place to learn when new AE trainings open for registration, so please spread the word that anyone interested in AE training can subscribe to our monthly updates.

Stay tuned for the 2019 schedule coming soon! 


Upcoming trainings:
At the Grotto Conference Center from 9:00am - 4:30pm 
  • September - AE for Supervisors and Managers: Friday September 14 (registration link closed, spots still available, email [email protected])       
  • October/November - AE 101: Tuesday October 30, Wednesday October 31, and Wednesday November 7 (registration full to capacity)     
  • November - AE Refresher (canceled) 
  • December - AE 101: Tuesday 12/11, Wednesday 12/12, and Thursday 12/13 (registration will open late September, early October 2018) 

[An image of a lightbulb on a chalkboard with thought bubbles drawn in chalk around the left and right side.]
Continued training corner
 
Due to popular demand for related training resources, we do our best to share other trainings that compliment Assertive Engagement, and as many free or low-cost options as possible.

Whether you want to take your AE skills deeper, or if you're looking for a specific resource, these are upcoming trainings and training resources related to AE practices:
 
  • Older Adult Behavioral Health Team Fall Training Calendar: All trainings are free with no registration required: "The Multnomah County Older Adult Behavioral Health Team is pleased to announce the next free training series. We have two of our most popular presenters returning with slightly new topics and two brand new folks on board for the fall as well." 

  • YWCA of Greater Portland Trainings for Social Change: this program provides training for domestic and sexual violence advocates as well as anyone interested in growing their ability to do social justice work.  Check out their latest flier and the YWCA website with trainings including "LGBTQIA+ Themes in the Workplace" on Tuesday, September 25th from 5:30-8;00PM: "Participants will learn about historical context, terminology, vocabulary and the distinction between gender and sexuality. We will address any questions that participants have surrounding how the address gender in the workplace or in schools or other institutions."

  • Resolutions Northwest offers training on a wide variety of topics ranging from equity and resiliency to restorative justice and mediation. Their trainings fill up fast, so register well in advance. Upcoming offerings include: "Trauma Resiliency and Restorative Justice" on September 18th from 9am-4:00pm. "In this workshop we will examine various types of trauma and its manifestations. We will look at brain science and self-regulation as it relates to trauma. We will discuss historical and systemic trauma as a way to reframe an exclusively individual orientation."
  • SMYRC's Bridge 13 Community Education: designed to address root causes of discrimination impacting the LGBTQ community and to create safer spaces for queer and trans* people of all ages. The Bridge 13 curriculum is broad in scope and covers topics related to sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and gender expression but can be adjusted to respond to specific needs. Trainings are free of charge for SUN Service System partners, and sliding scale cost for all other agencies, organizations, and businesses. To set up a training, fill out the Bridge 13 intake form. For more information please e-mail [email protected].


Please help us keep this list going - to submit trainings to be shared in future newsletters, email [email protected] with "AE newsletter training corner" in the subject line. 

Continued Learning 

Keeping AE practices sustained can take continued attention. Each month we'll share new and old readings, videos, and other pieces we're thinking of and hearing about. We'll also feature a monthly question.

Question of the Month

This month, we invite you to connect or reconnect with someone you met in training, or a coworker you rarely talk with. The question this month is: When have you used AE and experienced positive results?

We'd love to share your challenges and successes with the AE community.  Do you have a challenge or success to share? Click here!


Here are some of the resources we've heard about, been reminded of, or were shared by members of the AE community:


Save the Date for Self Enhancement, Inc.'s 4th Annual Purple Mile Walk: "The goal of this walk is to educate the public and raise awareness about specific issues surrounding survivors of domestic violence. The prevalence of abuse in our country is staggering with statistics showing nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner. Here in Oregon one-third of women have reported experiencing domestic violence, stalking, sexual or physical assault.  We aim to raise awareness and encourage people to take action to end abuse, and alert survivors to the options and resources that are available to them."

Saturday, October 6, 2018 at 8:00am
Community + Family Programs
4803 NE 7th Ave (adjacent to King School)
Tickets: Free


20 ways majority-white nonprofits can build authentic partnerships with organizations led by communities of color: From Vu Le's Nonprofit AF blog, tons of helpful tips. "As someone who works with a lot of leaders and communities of color, I often get asked by thoughtful colleagues who work at majority-white nonprofits how they can support and work with organizations that are led by communities of color without causing inconvenience, or annoyance, or actual harm to those communities."


A Community Conversation About Youth in the Justice System: "This is follow up on the Community Listening Sessions that the court put on in 2016 and 2017. We are focusing on youth in the justice system because it was one of the topics that came up the most frequently in the listening sessions. We did our first Community conversation in March on the same topic. We saw the march event as a trial run and based on feedback are modifying the next Community Conversation to allow the majority of the time for questions and comments from attendees. We will have judges and representatives of the other stakeholders to the juvenile and adult justice systems to answer questions that come up."


Back to School - What we All Must Learn: From Erin Okuno at the Fakequity blog: " For educators, the difference between race and ethnicity is important. With this basic understanding, you can begin to ask for better student data and also understand the identities of your students more-fully."

Pieces of Hope

Each newsletter, we include a story, a video, a piece of art, or something that we can share with the Assertive Engagement learning community to stay connected with and nourished by one another.

This newsletter's piece of hope is a bit different than the stories we usually include. This month, it's about the AE Initiative! As I leave my role, I am reflecting on all that we've accomplished together in the past few years and I can't help being filled with hope. 

[Armin, Stephanie, and tash pose for a selfie at the first AE train-the-trainer convening in December 2017. Each of person is smiling and wearing glasses. Armin is wearing a dark jacket and collared shirt, Stephanie is in a white shirt with earrings and a necklace, and tash is in a striped sweater.]

Each training, we end in a circle and many of you share that you were renewed by talking to others who are helping make the world a better place. Many of you share the hope that it gives you to be among others who are working for safety, justice, dignity, and respect. That hope fuels me every time.

I've had the honor to be part of twenty-five 3-day AE trainings, about a dozen 1-day trainings, and many many partial day trainings. In my time here at the AE inititiative I have been inspired by countless interactions with each of you and numbers like these:

Since January 2016:
  • 1,645 people have subscribed to this newsletter
  • 1,178 people have attended 3-day AE trainings 
  • 456 people have attended 1-day AE trainings, including over 180 attendees at our supervisor trainings
  • 475 people have attended partial-day AE trainings at conferences, agencies, and more
  • 22 people completed our first train-the-trainer cohort and co-trained 12 trainings with us 
  • 26 new train-the-trainer cohort members have been selected to work together from December 2018 - June 2019
  • And uncountable numbers of connections, friendships, and exchanges have happened in each of these spaces!
I have been honored to work with an incredible team, an amazing cohort, and a magnificent AE community that includes each and every one of you. Thank you for giving me hope every day that I will carry with me into my next journey.


If you have a Piece of Hope to share, please email [email protected] and your Piece of Hope may be featured in a future newsletter!
Past Assertive Engagement Newsletters:

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