April 19: Save the Date for Howard Center’s Annual Spring Conference

Burlington, VT— Howard Center is pleased to announce its sixth annual conference, Breaking Barriers: Finding Purpose & Possibilities Together, on April 19, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This year’s conference will be held in-person at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Burlington, Vermont, with a virtual option for those who cannot attend in-person. Registration is now open.

Breaking Barriers will feature five international speakers, music, art, video, and a sponsor exhibition, for a day of inspiration, learning, and rich conversation to explore the possibilities of purpose and growth.

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is a renowned physician, researcher, and public health leader. As California’s first Surgeon General, she played a critical role in the state’s COVID response and was instrumental in launching a statewide effort to train primary care providers in trauma-informed care. She is an expert in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress and founded the Center for Youth Wellness and the Bay Area Research Consortium on Toxic Stress and Health to advance pediatric medicine and raise public awareness. Her TED Talk “How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across the Lifetime” has been viewed over 10 million times and her book, “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity,” was called “indispensable” by The New York Times.

Dacher Keltner is a leading scholar in the study of emotion, power, class, and inequality, and co-founded the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics in 2020. He has also been recognized for his groundbreaking research and is the Faculty Director of the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. Keltner has twice presented his research to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as part of a continuing dialogue between the Dalai Lama and scientists. He has received several national research and teaching awards and served as a scientific consultant for Pixar’s film Inside Out. Dr. Keltner is the author of several books including Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life which was just released earlier this year.

Dr. BJ Miller is a leading expert in the field of palliative and end-of-life care and speaks about living well with illness and disability. With a passion for minimizing unnecessary suffering and maximizing quality of life, he is a dedicated advocate for healthcare systems that prioritize patient well-being. Dr. Miller has received numerous awards for his work and co-founded Mettle Health, a company providing personalized, holistic consultations for patients and caregivers navigating serious or chronic illness, end-of-life and disability.

Jeffrey Swanson is Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine and a faculty affiliate of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School. Dr. Swanson is the author or coauthor of over 250 publications including topics on the epidemiology of violence and serious mental illnesses; effectiveness of community-based interventions and services for adults with schizophrenia and other serious psychiatric disorders. He received the 2020 Isaac Ray Award from the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law. He received the 2011 Carl Taube Award from the American Public Health Association for outstanding contributions to mental health services research. He frequently serves as a consultant to public policymakers at the state and national levels.

Anna Malaika Tubbs is a Cambridge Ph.D. candidate in sociology and a Bill and Melinda Gates Cambridge Scholar. She received a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge in multidisciplinary gender studies and a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Stanford University. Ms. Tubbs is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Three Mothers:  How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. She is also an educator; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant; and the First Partner of Stockton, California.

The conference will be moderated by Dr. Jude Smith Rachele of Howard Center and Abundant Sun and hosted by Howard Center’s Chief Client Services Officer Beth Holden, MS, LCMHC, LADC. This full-day event will bring together attendees from across the United States and Canada, including mental health and healthcare providers, educators, clients, and families, representatives of state and local government, law enforcement, the judiciary, and the general public.

Registration is $199 CEU credits are pending for a variety of professions. Visit howardcenter.org/conference-2023 for more information and to register. The conference is supported by our Champion sponsors, The New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center and SaVida Health.

If your business or organization is interested in conference sponsorship and joining the sponsor exhibition, check out our sponsorship package at howardcenter.org/sponsor-2023-conference, and please contact DevelopmentTeam@howardcenter.org or call 802-488-6912.

For media inquiries, please contact Paul Detzer at pdetzer@howardcenter.org or 802-488-6911.