Schedule

Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill Visa & Mastercard Travel & Hotel Credit Card Payments Can Be Made Here.
400 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington D.C.  20001 USA

April 17, 2013

Veterans Speak Out Military sexual assault survivors and family members will share tools for support, healing and successful reintegration. The discussions between panelists and moderators will give a voice and face to these experiences and allow for the exploration of what survivors and their families see as the biggest challenges and also potential remedies. Purchase Your Tickets Online for This Event on Your Visa & Mastercard using CC Secure Checkout.
Panelists: Five Veterans
Moderator: Kalima DeSuze

Making Change: Policy Reform in Action This panel will feature congressional and agency staff as well as advocates discussing recent and emerging policy reforms in the areas of military justice, victim rights, and access to reproductive care and veterans’ benefits. Panelists will address the role of advocates and direct stakeholders in identifying and voicing unmet needs, and highlight successful strategies for achieving change within the military and VA. Of particular focus will be the efficacy of such strategies as grassroots action, coalition-building, and institutional advocacy in yielding successful legislative or regulatory reforms.
Panelists: Greg Jacob, Sara Outterson, Jim Pineau, Vania Leveille
Moderator: Beth Hillman

Workshop Topics

Participants will choose from a variety of workshops including such topics as Working with Trauma Survivors, Sexual Violence and Criminal Justice: Myths vs. Facts, Telling Your Story, Self-Care, Navigating the Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Claims Process and Mobilizing Your Community.

2:30pm-4:00pm Block 1

Working With Trauma Survivors
This will be a conversation about how to interact with trauma survivors safely and positively as a civilian advocate, reporter or storyteller. Focus will be on the arts/third person storytelling, media interactions and advocates who work daily with people who have experienced trauma.
Panelists: Lee Hancock, Kathleen Hoffman, Sig Christenson, Deidre Graves

Mobilizing Your Community
This workshop will help participants to understand what community and grassroots organizing is and what methods can be effectively used to engage their local communities around specific issues. Topics will cover how to frame the issues, utilizing social media, letter writing and op eds and how to gain access to formal and informal community networks.
Facilitators: BriGette McCoy, and Kalima DeSuze

Navigating the Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Claims Process
This workshop will provide an overview of the VA claim application and appeals process for disabilities stemming from military sexual trauma. Attorneys and advocates will address the unique legal and cultural hurdles to compensation awards, and will review best practices for initial claim development and subsequent appeals. A particular focus will be identifying and presenting alternative evidence in the absence of primary records.
Panelists: Susan Avila-Smith, Katy Clemens, Margaret Middleton, Teresa Panepinto

4:15pm-5:45pm Block 2

Telling Your Story
Participants will work with nationally recognized bloggers, storytellers and spokespeople to
gain skills in how to share their stories with the public. From general tips to break out sessions on blogging, social media and digital storytelling, this workshop will focus on shaping your voice for an audience.
Facilitators: Brittney Cooper, Ph.D., Chloe Angyal and Mychal Denzel Smith

Self-Care
This workshop will be led by a clinician and topics will include the importance of self-care, immediate grounding techniques, self-care options and modalities and setting long-term self-care goals. The workshop will be interactive with learning exercises, Q&A sessions and group conversation.  Individuals will be given the opportunity to learn about different self-care techniques and how to integrate them into their every day lives over the short and long term.  Individuals will also be encouraged to share their self-care ideas with others in the workshop as alternative methods are encouraged and accepted.
Facilitators:  Adriana Rodriguez, Rebekah Havrilla

April 18, 2013

Advocacy Day for Service Members, Veterans and their friends and family members