The June 2020 ACMHE Contemplative Education Webinar
Presented by Ife Lenard, MSW, EdM & Ericka Echavarria, LMSW, JD
Broadcast live on Friday, June 26th
3 – 4:15pm EDT / 12 noon – 1:15pm PDT
Free for ACMHE members / $17.50 for non-members

Register Here

It rings through all sorts of sound barriers. Stay safe; Shelter in; Work from home. Pardon us, but we are not working from home like others who signed up to do that. The truth is that… We are home… because of a pandemic, and… we are trying to work from home… during that.                   

If we’re being called to do so unexpectedly and perhaps more so in the future, how can we be daringly and radically well during a global pandemic? With ourselves, with our students? With one another? How do we boldly respond to these calls while simultaneously being bold in the care for our needs? Could being radically well maintain, or merely enrich, hope and other best-supporting emotions for ourselves, campuses, and families? What can we do and say that best captures the spirit and boldness of radical well-being during such an uncertain time? How do we embody the characteristics of what we dare to reflect as radically well-being? What more can we do to widen and deepen our definitions of wellness, and our fortitude in order to be so bold, so daring… so radical?

Join two social workers from Columbia University School of Social Work, who both serve as educators for social work practitioners and students as they aim to share how radical well-being can overwhelmingly sustain hope, sanity, relationship care, self-awareness, decision-making, and overall mental health nurturance for both staff and students alike. During our 75-minute webinar, we will discuss specific approaches coupled with contemplative practices that offer a means of building and sustaining adults through relational and societal challenges, such as a global pandemic, isolation, remote learning, and the demands of digital etiquette and productivity.  Taking a radical deep-dive into a host of competencies embedded in social and emotional intelligence, can foster one’s desire, and even need, to learn how to use the power of contemplative practices, emotional intelligence, and mindful behaviors to create a strengthened sense of well-being.  It also creates more effective and inclusive digital or residential learning environments for all. Even greater, such a praxis of care envelops people and engages them in multiple ways to cultivate compassionate school communities moving forward.      

Meet the Presenters                                         

Ife Lenard, MSW, EdM, has a profound commitment to intentional spaces, service-leadership, and building relationships in a different, more human way.  Her ability to serve as a catalyze, share stories, unpack inequities that sustain harm, and deepen practices move educators forward in their journey.  Experiences with her address and interrupt toxicity and racial and social disparities as she uses the transformational movements of educational leadership, clinical social work, restorative practices, and mindfulness to again move educators toward a collective humanity that embraces wholistic development for staff and children alike.

She also serves simultaneously as Professor to graduate students at Columbia University School of Social Work and Hunter College Graduate School of Education, and Educational Consultant to educators and clinicians.  Prior, Ife was a School Leader (Dean and then Principal) for over 10 years, Pre-K – 8th grade.  Starting her career as a school-linked Social Worker before teaching biology and physics, Ife holds a B.S. in Human Ecology and two Masters -Clinical Social Work and Educational Leadership- both from Columbia University.  A mother of two young adults, ages 24 and 20, Ife is devoted to them receiving messages and being in places where they know and believe that they both are worthy, beautiful and divine.  

Ericka Echavarria, LMSW, JD, currently serves as an Associate Director of Field Education at Columbia University School of Social Work, a role which includes teaching graduate students and social workers supervisors at Columbia.  One of her passions is preparing current and future social work professionals for direct practice with clients and systems, through a self-care and self-awareness practice, a social justice framework, and a grounded ethical and professional identity. 

Ericka has also served many as a mitigation specialist/sentencing advocate through her own consulting practice since 2011.  Working closely with defense attorneys of both court-appointed and privately retained cases, her role involves making the case for life on behalf of clients in capital murder cases through the use of comprehensive psychosocial narratives, sentencing advocacy, in-depth assessments, and case management for clients in the federal criminal legal system. Ericka received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University in 2008, and her Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School in 2002. Ericka is also a mother to a beautiful 8-year-old boy, identifies as Afro-Latina, born to Dominican immigrant parents, and aspires to leave a legacy of love, courage, hope, and peace for her son and nephews. 

About ACMHE Webinars

ACMHE Webinars allow you to view a live presentation online; you can listen to the presenter over your computer speakers, headphones, or VOIP headset, or by dialing into the audio with your phone. Questions and comments may be submitted to the presenters during the webinar. To register, simply submit the registration form and instructions for connecting will be emailed to you automatically.

Starting June 1, 2020, the ACMHE Contemplative Education Webinar series is free for ACMHE members (join the ACMHE) and $17.50 for non-members. Registration income is shared with webinar presenters. Instructions for connecting will be emailed to you automatically after completing registration. We will record this webinar and archive the recording on YouTube and our website for access by members and non-member registrants.

If you have questions, you can contact us at info@contemplativemind.org.