Elevating lived expertise is essential to building systems that work for children and families.

In our August Lunch & Learn, our expert panel discussed how to move from thinking of lived experience as a small subset of knowledge to recognizing it for what it is: lived expertise that provides invaluable insight into system reform. You can see a recording of that event in the Past Event links further down the page.

During that conversation, an important—and intriguing—point continued to be raised: if lived experience and expertise is so important, then how do we start to not only incorporate it into all work that is done in support of children and families, but also change the way we capture, share, and apply this essential data to elevate its value.

We will briefly explore the trajectory of engaging lived experts in systems change, discuss the pros and cons of the current methods of leaning into the lived experience as “data,” and think big about what is possible when we are not limited by the traditional way of capturing and applying data. We’ll share examples from Safe & Sound and the Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting Task Force, as well as how this topic is evolving at the national level.

We are delighted to have three amazing speakers, with Dr. Pegah Faed, CEO of Safe & Sound, moderating the panel.

• Dr. Charity Chandler-Cole, CEO, CASA of Los Angeles
  
• Jessica Chau Mussadi, Data & Evaluation Manager, Safe & Sound
  
• Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Professor for Children in Need at the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and faculty co-director of the Children’s Data Network