A Decade of Stories
Shining a Light on Behavioral Health
You are invited to join us
May 15th, 2024
toward the corner of L & 15th St.
California Sate Capital Park
10:00am – 1:00pm
Register below to receive a ticket for a scoop of Gunther’s Homemade Ice Cream and to be entered to win tickets to see a Sacramento Republic FC game!
Speakers
Announcing Our Keynote Speaker
Heather Bodie
Making Room For Light
Celebrating the Brightness Within Our Stories of Struggle
About Heather:
Heather Bodie is a public speaker, artist, and mental health advocate who has spent the last 15 years creating events and sharing stories to disarm the deadly stigma surrounding mental illness. She joined the Chicago-based non-profit Erasing the Distance in 2013 and served as Executive Artistic Director, facilitating conversations about mental health in a wide variety of industries across the country.
She is deeply invested in exploring the role that language plays in the ability to acknowledge and address mental health challenges both personally and professionally. She has worked within a multitude of professional industries, identifying ineffective communication patterns, ideating mental health-focused approaches to solutions, and coaching management teams to invest in open conversations about mental health with their teams.
Learn more at HeatherBodie.com
LaVontae Hill
LaVontae Hill was born and raised in Richmond, CA. LaVontae carries the title of an Associate Clinical Social Worker with over half a decade of experience as a Mental Health Therapist. LaVontae graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a BASW and The University of Southern California with a MSW. LaVontae, has over a decade of experience working with children, youth, and families residing in impoverished communities. LaVontae considers himself to be a Wounded Healer as he utilizes his life story of trauma to inspire while breaking generational curses for all who face and struggle with mental health challenges and mental illness.
Claudia Fernandez-Niedzielski
Claudia is a thriver and a woman who has learned to succeed despite the many challenges she has faced. She endured a psychotic break at the age of 22 and was hospitalized for 6 months with no end in sight for her illness nor a way to get better. It was through the tireless dedication of an entire team of doctors who refused to give up, the loving support of her entire family and those who knew her and to Electro Convulsive Therapy (ETC) that she was brought back to life. Claudia is currently on a quest to be the best version of herself and as she shares the lessons she has learned and use to find meaning, self-discovery, understanding and compassion for herself and others and her deep self-worth. Through her seminars and classes, she has a genuine and profound impact on those she mentors and leads.
Entertainment
DJ FroDough
Gerald White (DJ FroDough) has advocated for California’s behavioral health community for a decade. He has worked at local and statewide organizations, reducing mental health stigma and discrimination, distributing suicide prevention materials, and encouraging harm reduction best practices for substance use disorders. Music has always helped him cope with daily stresses and helps him build and connect to community. Music also helps to inform his advocacy through healing and building coalitions.
Announcing our Master of Ceremonies
Marianna Sousa
About Marianna:
For over 20 years, her commitment to “edutainment” serves as a culturally responsive and highly engaging approach to inspire personal, professional and institutional transformation. Founder of Mariworks Productions, a multimedia arts and education organization, her mission is to boost self-awareness and restorative practices with an emphasis on mental health and emotional hygiene. Through the scope of public health, safety and crisis prevention her impact on social wellness ushers in motivation and guidance essential for global change. Miss Marianna’s refreshing keynotes, workshops and training continue to agitate greatness in the home, school, neighborhood and workplace.
Learn more at www.missmarianna.today
2024 Sponsors!
Sponsorship Opportunities
Deadline to apply for Sponsorship is May 6th!
Exhibitors
Applications are closed! We look forward to seeing you in 2025!
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Anthem
BeingwellCA
Cal Voices
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies
California Behavioral Health Planning Council
California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies
California Department of Rehabilitation
California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions
California Youth Crisis Line
CAPS Academy
California Youth Empowerment Network (CAYEN)
Consumers Self Help Center
County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California
Crestwood Behavioral Health Inc.
Disability Rights California
I AM Collaborative
I Got Your Back (Mulvaney’s B&L)
July Forward
Lightfully Behavioral Health
Mental Health America of California
Mental Health Association of Alameda County
Mental Health Association of San Francisco
MHASF Warm Line
Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
Mercy Pedalers
NAMI Sacramento
National Union of Healthcare Workers
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Pacific Clinics
Peers Envisioning & Engaging in Recovery Services
Postpartum Support International
PRC (formerly Positive Resource Center)
Rich’s Ice Cream
Saint John’s Program for Real Change
Soluna
Stars Behavioral Health Group
Steinberg Institute
Questions about Exhibiting? Please Contact Us
2024 Planning Partners!
Through the Years | Program Books and Themes
- 2023: BUILDING BRIDGES | BREAKING STIGMA
- 2022: THE POWER OF MENTAL HEALTH: Pathways to Collaborative Healing
- 2021: RESILIENT CALIFORNIA Celebrating Diversity & Connecting for Wellness
- 2020: 2020 VISION: HOPE • CHANGE • ACTION
- 2019: FROM TRAUMA TO HOPE
- 2018: CALIFORNIA STRONG!
- 2017: Building Momentum & Strength TOGETHER
- 2016: AWARENESS. ACTION. CHANGE.