Trauma-Informed Leadership

About this event

As a nonprofit leader you can feel the prevalence of individual and collective trauma and adversity in your everyday work. On the surface it shows up as stress, burnout, disconnection, unresolved conflict, and turnover. It impacts critical areas such as building trust with donors, engaging board members, developing the workforce, and impacting the community.

While trauma-informed approaches are commonly applied in the helping profession or behavioral health care settings, there are vital principles that can empower you as a nonprofit leader to strengthen organizational health and resilience.

The collective trauma of the pandemic, racism, political polarization, community violence, and global wars make being trauma-informed essential for all nonprofit leaders.

Growing as a trauma-informed leader begins with our own awareness, extends across the organization, and creates an overflow of positive impact in our community. 

This workshop will explore:

• What trauma-informed leadership is - and what it isn’t
• What underlies the most common problematic leadership traits
• How trauma impacts individuals, teams, and the organization
• How we may inadvertently contribute to ongoing trauma - even with the best of intentions
• Practical strategies to promote organizational health and resilience

Target audience: This workshop is relevant to nonprofit board members, executives, staff, and volunteers who serve in a leadership or management capacity. It is particularly timely for nonprofits serving vulnerable populations, yet applicable to most any community-based nonprofit.

Faculty

James Freeman

JAMES FREEMAN, MA, CYC-P is an award-winning leadership coach, author and advocate for the field. He has facilitated training around the globe, empowering thousands of individuals working with the most urgent needs in their communities. James has consulted and worked with organizations across the human service field, including behavioral health, child and youth care, disability, education, juvenile justice, supportive housing, and human trafficking response programs. In his 30+ year career in Child and Youth Care he has worked alongside young people, families, and colleagues facing grief, loss, depression, suicide, addiction - and has seen lives transformed into stories of hope and healing. He holds a graduate degree in Organizational Leadership and has served in direct care, senior leadership, and board roles in local, national, and international organizations. James lives in southern California, is married to Julie, and is dad to three amazing teens.