While lived experience is often invoked by organizations advocating for systems change, the follow through has too frequently been tokenized. We know that has to change. Our discussion in this event focuses on how to move from thinking of lived experience as just a small set of knowledge and data, to recognizing it for what it is, lived expertise that provides invaluable insights into system reform.

Last August, Safe & Sound hosted a webinar about looking back and moving forward, shifting from mandated reporting to community supporting, to discuss a critical Taskforce that Safe & Sound is supporting in partnership with child-serving organizations, government and activists from across California, to reform the landscape of mandated reporting. This initiative has proven to be just one example of the magic that can happen when people with lived expertise are invited to lead at every step of the process of systems change. The way the Taskforce approached this work with the deep and transparent engagement of individuals with lived expertise throughout the process is also reflected in Safe & Sound’s engagement of individuals with lived expertise within our work internally, and locally.

A theme emerges in the conversation — how do we ensure lived experience and expertise are part of the process from the beginning, and the input is systematically incorporated, analyzed, and referenced, just as we do with other data?