The Power of Connection: How Distance Drew Us Closer
Meet Kate. She is a 24 year old preschool teacher. Two years ago, she graduated from the best early-childhood education program in the country. She is “woke”, aware of all the current social issues and how they play out in her community, and she works at one of the best preschools in the city. And yet, even with all this knowledge, a ton of support and experience in a high-quality work environment with fun and bright-eyed “little darlings”, Kate is tired, overwhelmed and questioning whether or not she is doing “the right thing” almost every other day. Somewhere between what she knows, what she's experiencing and what she’s doing, there are gaps. Part of the problem is this: Kate and her students do not live in a vacuum. Every day, she and her family are challenged with situations that try them in new and unpredictable ways.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. From then on, we’ve been learning lessons. We’ve been learning lessons about what it means to stand on the front lines, about resilience, and about the necessity of crossing divides. We’ve expanded and reimagined what it means to be an “essential worker,” and we’ve watched, on the world stage, how race and class intersect with things that many of us imagined to be outside of color and economics. For the first time, many of us have become aware of countries and populations that we never before considered. And in a culture that all but requires us to forever be on the move, it was the pandemic that slowed us down enough to actually become aware of ourselves and our home. We really did learn some lessons. But of all the lessons we’ve learned, there’s one that I hope we'll revisit and think about throughout this lifetime, as well as the next. That lesson is the power of connection. Join me, in this keynote address, as I share with you what I experienced and learned from people’s need to be connected during a time when isolation was necessary, and I will offer you takeaways that you can apply at work and in life. My hope is that you will walk away more informed, more inspired, and somewhat entertained.
Learning Objectives
Embracing art as a medium for connection
Introducing the concept of self-care quickies
Getting uncomfortable to get comfortable
Recognizing the value of regular reflection
Making hard conversations easier
ALL KEYNOTES
Inconceivable
Naked
Your Hands Are in My Panties
Covet
Nothing’s Wasted
Story
Perseverance/Tenacity
PRE -PROGRAM SETUP
What is the best way to set up the room?
Please, if possible, make sure the stage or platform is as close to the audience as possible, 10 feet or less is great!
While Sagashus will move around the stage, she will require a lectern with a told that holds her water, book and notes and a hidden shelf for her purse.
If the AV requires the computer on stage, please make sure the lectern has space for it. Otherwise, please create a setup where the notes, book and technology can all be in the same space. The goal is for Sagashus to be able to move seamlessly between the technology and materials without having to separate them.
AV REQUIREMENTS
Sagashus requires the following A/V equipment be provided:
Wireless lavalier microphone
Computer
LCD projector with the capacity to play audio and video
Large screen or screens
Confidence monitor
Sagashus will bring her program on a Flash Drive in a PowerPoint format. But she will also have a backup in Google Sheets.
Is audio/video recording allowed? No audio or video recording of any kind is permitted during the presentation without Sagashus’s prior written permission.
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