Tekoah Boatner

What if the most transformative interventions weren’t complex theories, but basic needs met with dignity? This session explores how integrating concrete supports, like food, housing help, and flexible funding, into every level of service delivery can radically improve outcomes. Through real-world examples and practical tools, participants will learn how to design programs that go beyond referrals to provide direct, stabilizing assistance rooted in care, not charity.

Too often, support arrives after the harm is done. This talk challenges reactive models and invites participants to imagine resilience as a proactive, built-in system. Drawing from public health, mutual aid, and trauma-responsive frameworks, we’ll explore how communities and organizations can design formal and informal infrastructure that buffers stress, reduces harm, and sustains well-being before the emergency.

Punitive systems don’t just fail students, they replicate harm. This presentation introduces restorative practices as a transformative alternative to traditional school discipline. Grounded in both evidence and lived experience, the session will offer strategies for cultivating school cultures that prioritize repair, belonging, and student voice, with a particular focus on equity for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.