Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
Meri McCoy-Thompson is the Executive Director of Dovetail Learning, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening resilience and well-being in adults, youth, and children. Her work focuses on the often-invisible skills that help people stay grounded under pressure, work well together, and... Read More →
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
Hello! I serve as a community education manager at PRO youth. For the past eight years, I have worked in the nonprofit sector, supporting young people and reaching their goals. I pulled a masters degree in educational leadership from Sacramento state I have mentor youth supported... Read More →
Thursday September 10, 2026 10:30am - 11:30am PDT 30 C
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
This session explores how California districts can build a connected, funded behavioral health continuum by integrating universal screening, Tier 1 instruction, and clinical services within a unified MTSS framework. Through a real-world case study from Oceanside USD, attendees will learn practical strategies for expanding student support, reducing staff burden, and measuring outcomes using existing funding sources such as CYBHI.
Head of Behavioral and Mental Health, Riverside Insights
I lead the Behavioral and Mental Health business at Riverside Insights, where I am building the next generation of solutions to support the well being of students, educators, and families. Previously, I founded and led Move This World, a PreK through 12 behavioral and mental health... Read More →
Thursday September 10, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT 30 C
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
New research on California community schools finds that schools investing in a culture of belonging & connection are reducing chronic absenteeism and exclusionary discipline at accelerated rates compared to other schools.
Six years after the heart of the pandemic, student attendance and behavior challenges have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Chronic absenteeism and behavior management issues remain top priorities for schools and drivers of educator burnout. It is clear that schools need new strategies, and new research points to the importance of belonging and building strong relationships as promising solutions. Focusing on consistent connection with students to feel seen and supported is both a preventative and proactive approach. When students feel they matter at school, they are more likely to want to attend and engage positively. Similarly, when we establish trust with students, we build the psychological safety necessary to identify the root causes of absenteeism and disruptive behavior before they escalate. This session will anchor on research, challenge attendees to rethink their toolkit for attendance and behavior, and give them some practical strategies to take belonging-based action this school year.
Director, District & School Engagement, Sown To Grow
Sown To Grow is a support platform that ensures every student is seen, supported, and learning at their best. We partner with schools and districts to improve student social, emotional, and academic health through easy and engaging check-ins that center student experiences in proactive... Read More →
Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.
In population health, we don’t ask only who is sick—we ask what conditions are producing the outcomes we keep seeing. If wellbeing is the operating system, then leaders are not buying another app—they are deciding how the entire school system runs.
Schools too often treat wellbeing as isolated intervention. Outcomes are shaped by the system, not just the student. Implementation succeeds when the operating model is aligned. Build school communities where support is embedded, not fragmented.
As social worker by training, I started my career helping families with students with developmental disabilities. After a long and successful career leading healthcare systems across the country, I started Metamorphix Inc with a singular vision : To close the 11-year gap between onset... Read More →
In the midst of a global youth mental health crisis and rising concern over social media and AI’s contributions to this, emerge calls for legislation, lawsuits, and policy reform. But to what extent are the experiences and ideas of actual young people being considered and heard? In this session, GoodforMEdia youth leaders and staff will explain why youth voice must be at the forefront of these conversations, describe approaches to authentically centering youth voice, and provide tools to implement when working with young people to support a balanced relationship with tech.
GoodforMEdia is a youth-led platform that promotes healthy digital habits and safer tech design. GoodforMEdia harnesses the power of peers to influence and educate one another in positive ways; recognizing that the best people to help youth navigate social media well are those that can relate to young people’s daily experiences, both positive and negative. This youth-driven program has drawn upon youth wisdom and lived experiences to educate and motivate hundreds of youths, policymakers, and tech leaders in the U.S.
Woven with youth’s personal strategies and informed by lived experience, this interactive session presents ways to engage young people around their tech habits and encourage healthier and safer use. Participants will walk away with an understanding of the benefits and pitfalls youth are experiencing, and ways to support them through open, judgement free discussion. The team will provide examples of youth-designed activities and resources such as conversation cards, guides for parents, and other tools educators and supportive adults can use in their classrooms or in daily conversations.
