Symposium information

This year’s theme is Backstories: The Epidemic. Backstories are possibly the most important factors to consider when serving a hurting, disenfranchised, vulnerable, under-represented, misunderstood, or bullied youth. As providers we have become obsessed with providing quick fixes to our youth’s problems, rather than determining the pathology of their problems. The root causes and influences are at an all-time high lending to our youth living in a state of emergency. This year’s conference will expose participants to the epidemic known as Backstories and how they contribute to youth and gun violence. Our speakers are a diverse group of experts in their respective fields who will bring vast knowledge and effective skill sets to help participants circumvent and mitigate urban youth conflict by implementing substantive, socially, and culturally appropriate interventions. All presenters will present modern and aggressive approaches and interventions to meet and address the needs of our most vulnerable clients…our children and youth. This symposium will engage our professional audience, accelerate much needed dialogues, and most importantly provide tools and resources that can be utilized to facilitate impactful and lasting change.

Who: The primary target population for this conference are social service providers, educators, law enforcement officials (including lawyers and judges), healthcare providers, faith leaders, parents, college students majoring in Criminal Justice, Psychology, Social Work, Nursing, and Public Health are all invited to attend. Participants will benefit from the unfiltered truths that will be discussed throughout the conference. The symposium targets people who work with, want to work with, or are invested in urban at-risk youth ages 7-22 years old. Many professionals who work with urban at-risk youth do not know or understand the extent of the harsh reality these children/youth are living, which ultimately makes their programs, services, and interactions with the youth, ultimately unrelatable.

Accepting Sponsors for 2021

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Gilbert Chrispin

Gilbert Anthony Chrispin has spent over 15 years as a human resources specialist, consultant, and organizational development expert. His life's mission is to help people become effective leaders and better humans. In doing so, Gilbert has forged a unique perspective on sustaining organizational structures while also carving the way to the necessary, sometimes incremental changes across departments.

Gilbert graduated from Trinity College in Chicago, Illinois in 2002 with a double major in Business Management and Human Resources. Following his time in Chicago, he returned home and started his management career with Enterprise Rent A Car and later served as an educator with Miami Dade County Public Schools for 3 years; until he was recruited to work in the health and human services sector as a HR specialist in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to his roles at companies like Odyssey Health, Gentiva Health and Shelby Residential & Vocational Services, Gilbert acted as the human services specialist at start up agencies across the southern region of the US. During his time in Memphis, Gil co-founded Mi-Me Bath & Body, a beauty and skincare company that has had their products featured in Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, Nylon and Refinery 29.

Gil currently serves as a Senior HR Compliance Specialist at Broward County Schools where he is one of only three specialists investigating discrimination and sexual harassment complaints for the 6th largest school district in the country. Additionally, Gil is the co-founder and creative director of Chrispin + Crane (C+C), a new media company focused on reframing dialogue and changing culture. In Chrispin + Crane's relative short existence, Gilbert and his co-founder developed a partnership with the City of Miramar to bring the city it's first outdoor winter film series. Additionally, his work at C+C lead to him writing and publishing the "My Kinda Sex Workbook", a tool specifically designed to help people of all ages better tap into and communicate their sexual needs and desires. This workbook served as the blueprint for C+C's reknowned "11 Things I can Learn From a Sex Worker" conference and workshop and subsequent follow up brunch held in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Gilbert currently holds a seat on the Avanse Ansam board of directors, a South Florida organization creating a movement that engages Haitian American Millennials in crafting a shared agenda for the advancement of the Haitian community & increasing Haitian American Millennials volunteerism, commitment, connectivity, and investment in the Haitian Community in South Florida & in Haiti.

As recently as November of 2019, Gilbert was one of the brains behind creating a small investment house specifically targeting minorities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and other traditionally underserved and disregarded groups. The aim of this venture is to educate these groups of people on the power of establishing a collaborative dollar, ditching the buy a job mindset, and embracing the concept of building wealth from scratch by embracing the concepts of patience and sacrifice.

When he isn’t working or spending time with his family, you can find him fervently devouring the pages of a Monocle or Courier magazine, somewhere on a tennis court working intensely on his backhand, on his balcony contemplating how to improve his quality of life, planning his next getaway and trying to find new and interesting ways to champion, love and appreciate his beautiful wife Ebonni.

Dr. Kilan C. Ashad-Bishop

Dr. Kilan C. Ashad-Bishop is a biomedical scientist and advocate for inclusion who has carved her niche at the intersection of science, health, and social change. She is a proud alumna of Morgan State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology, and the University of Miami, where she earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology. Kilan is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development and the Director of College Access for Breakthrough Miami. Her professional experience spans academic research, policy, and the nonprofit and private sectors, but her goal remains to improve the health and well being of communities of color.

Nancy Metayer

Nancy Metayer is an Environmental Scientist and former member of the Broward County Soil and Water Conservation District with a decade of public service experience, leading on issues ranging from environmental advocacy to disaster relief. Nancy has a record for championing community resilience and building pipelines for access and equity. Nancy is a graduate of Florida A&M University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree, and Johns Hopkins University where she received her Master of Health Science degree.

Nancy has undertaken work across multiple government agencies and nonprofit organizations - both domestically and internationally. She has brought long-term strategy expertise to programs seeking to improve environmental conditions, water, sanitation, and public health across vulnerable communities. She has been a staunch advocate for those impacted by water crises nationwide and worked extensively in response to devastating natural disasters such as Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Michael (2018), and Hurricane Dorian (2019). Most recently, Nancy led a long-term strategic initiative, the Florida Disaster Preparedness Plan (FDPP), which focuses on building disaster and community resilience in vulnerable neighborhoods across the state of Florida. She is currently the Statewide Coalition Manager for NEO Philanthropy, where she supports efforts regarding reproductive and gender justice.

Santra Denis

A South Florida native, Santra Denis currently serves as the Interim Executive Director at Miami Workers Center, a strategy and action center whose purpose is to build the power and self-determination of south Florida’s most oppressed communities. As Interim ED, she is eager to prepare Miami Workers center to kick-off a powerful next decade of power, community building and advocacy campaigns.

Previously, she served in several positions including Chief Programs Officer and Vice President of Community Prosperity at Catalyst Miami. Santra has extensive experience working in nonprofits, including managing and developing budgets, overseeing programs and projects, writing and managing grants, and building and supporting partnerships.

Santra developed her own activism as an anti-racist community advocate and is committed to centering BIPOC community leadership and racial justice in our progressive movement. Santra has been very active in her community, founding and leading Avanse Ansanm, an organization that engages, connects, and builds power among Haitian-American Millennials and co-hosting a radio/Facebook Live show, The VSS Hour. Santra serves on several community boards, including the Community Advisory Board at Florida International University Research Center in Minority Institutions and Miami Dade County’s Office of New Americans. She is a New Leaders Council Fellow and a Sant La Fellow. She has been recognized by the Broward County Commission on the Status of Women as a Valiant Woman of the Vote; Ruth’s List Broward as a “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” Award Recipients; the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida as part of the Inaugural class of Leaders for the esteemed award of “20 Under 40 Young Professionals” as well as “40 under 40” Leaders of Today, among others. Santra graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in health science, and from Florida International University with a Master of Public Health in Policy and Management.