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A Better Normal Community Discussion: Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz on Community, Poverty & Parenting with ACEs: Friday, July 17th at 3p.m. EST

 

Rebecca LPPlease join us this Friday, July 17th as we speak with @Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz for our next A Better Normal discussion at 3 p.m. EST. This conversation, hosted by @Christine Cissy White and moderated by @Alison Cebulla will be about building community, ending poverty, and parenting with ACEs. Rebecca will share her personal story as well as her work with families, schools, and communities.   

Rebecca is a role model, mentor, and has become a friend. She is humble, honest, and hopeful. Her optimism is infectious because it's believable. She's what my cousin Jenny calls, "a glue person," - someone who gathers people and ideas together and makes them all stick for the time it takes to make meaningful change. 

About Rebecca's Lewis-Pankratz (in her own words)

"At age 37, I was living in a trailer house with my three little boys that should have been condemned. Everyday was beyond a struggle. My life had taught me two things. Hard work. Survival. I grew up poor, dropped out of high school on my sixteenth birthday and was doing a fantastic job of repeating the cycle. I was exhausted, frustrated and bankrupt as a mother. Then by accident I bumped up against a non-profit that helped people get out of pOVERty. They wrapped support around me, fed me powerful doses of hope and taught me a better way. Later I ended up running that non-profit and building it into the largest and most successful Circles site in the country. I watched family after family repeat my journey completely out of generational pOVERty.

Educators found me. I have been working with districts and communities every since. I currently also direct ten high school completion programs in the State of Kansas. I work with some tough kids. "Those kids" are "my kids". My work to resolve pOVERty within education and communities is robust. The trauma-informed movement, with community collaboration and restorative justice principles puts us ALL in a winnable game. We can resolve pOVERty and make sure that it is no longer our students OR their families destination. I am passionate about helping ALL people find the tools necessary to turn kids from at-risk to at-promise!"

Topics we will discuss:

  • Rebecca's Story.

  • Poverty circles and Parenting with ACEs.

  • How ACEs Science nurtures compassion, camaraderie, and opportunities for community-created change.

  • How Rebecca connects, "the brain on poverty and the brain on trauma," as she says.
  • Why including students & parents is necessary when creating trauma-informed-responsive-sensitive schools and communities and how Rebecca does so. 

    I hope you will join this discussion.  Click here to register.

"I always tell people that in the trauma-informed world, it's less about the bad stuff that happened to you and more about the power of healing collectively."  

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Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz is amazing. Her messages are very powerful and they apply to us all even here in NZ.

I attended her ZOOM and listened as she told a story similar to mine ~never the same as we all fight different demons and climb different mountains.

Here are the comments that she shared that resonated with me:

"Go to those who are experiencing the issues as they are the experts, NOT the textbooks"

"Those closest to the pain SHOULD we closest to the power"

"Don't fix or rescue"

"Become CURIOUS"

"Those in poverty must lead"

Rebecca shared advice on how we can move forward

Provide those experiencing issues with the know-how and resources to do what they need to do to overcome their issues:

  • First and foremost, we must believe that those who are experiencing issues are just as capable and knowledgeable as those who want to help the only difference is that they are facing extreme hardship 
  • Provide an environment where people feel safe and secure
  • Ask people what people need
  • Ask people for their solutions as they often know what needs to be done
  • Ask people what they need
  • Provide people with possible ways to get what they need
  • Walk WITH those who experience issues such as poverty, bear witness, LISTEN, LEARN and support as a friend NOT a mentor
  • Through the experience of giving and receiving, we all gain knowledge of the lives of others and we learn empathy and acceptance.

Thank you so much to Cissy White and ACES Connection and to Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz

Adriana:
Thank you for your brilliant and concise notes. I added a link to them to the post I did about this conversation with Rebecca (s (here).  I agree that she is fantastic, not just because of the work she does but because of how she does the work, who centers and leads, and her honesty and vulnerability. It's inspiring and hopeful. Thank you for capturing the gems for those who missed the live event. I really appreciate it and I'm sure others will as well!
Also, thanks to @Alison Cebulla access to the video is available as are more follow-up notes (here).  Cissy

Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz is amazing. Her messages are very powerful and they apply to us all even here in NZ.

I attended her ZOOM and listened as she told a story similar to mine ~never the same as we all fight different demons and climb different mountains.

Here are the comments that she shared that resonated with me:

"Go to those who are experiencing the issues as they are the experts, NOT the textbooks"

"Those closest to the pain SHOULD we closest to the power"

"Don't fix or rescue"

"Become CURIOUS"

"Those in poverty must lead"

Rebecca shared advice on how we can move forward

Provide those experiencing issues with the know-how and resources to do what they need to do to overcome their issues:

  • First and foremost, we must believe that those who are experiencing issues are just as capable and knowledgeable as those who want to help the only difference is that they are facing extreme hardship 
  • Provide an environment where people feel safe and secure
  • Ask people what people need
  • Ask people for their solutions as they often know what needs to be done
  • Ask people what they need
  • Provide people with possible ways to get what they need
  • Walk WITH those who experience issues such as poverty, bear witness, LISTEN, LEARN and support as a friend NOT a mentor
  • Through the experience of giving and receiving, we all gain knowledge of the lives of others and we learn empathy and acceptance.

Thank you so much to Cissy White and ACES Connection and to Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz

Adriana, it is such a gift to have your full attention at each of these ABN's. Thank you for this great summary and quotes. @Christine Cissy White these are some great quotes!

Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz is amazing. Her messages are very powerful and they apply to us all even here in NZ.

I attended her ZOOM and listened as she told a story similar to mine ~never the same as we all fight different demons and climb different mountains.

Here are the comments that she shared that resonated with me:

"Go to those who are experiencing the issues as they are the experts, NOT the textbooks"

"Those closest to the pain SHOULD we closest to the power"

"Don't fix or rescue"

"Become CURIOUS"

"Those in poverty must lead"

Rebecca shared advice on how we can move forward

Provide those experiencing issues with the know-how and resources to do what they need to do to overcome their issues:

  • First and foremost, we must believe that those who are experiencing issues are just as capable and knowledgeable as those who want to help the only difference is that they are facing extreme hardship 
  • Provide an environment where people feel safe and secure
  • Ask people what people need
  • Ask people for their solutions as they often know what needs to be done
  • Ask people what they need
  • Provide people with possible ways to get what they need
  • Walk WITH those who experience issues such as poverty, bear witness, LISTEN, LEARN and support as a friend NOT a mentor
  • Through the experience of giving and receiving, we all gain knowledge of the lives of others and we learn empathy and acceptance.

Thank you so much to Cissy White and ACES Connection and to Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz

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