Youth Engagement
Annual Conference 2022

IYAB’s 7th Annual Youth Conference
The New Normal: Building Our Foundation
June 16th, 2022
10 am-4 pm EST
Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center!
The IYAB Annual Youth Conference is an event designed by IYAB members that provides resources, education, and tools to young people transitioning out of foster care across the state of Indiana! This year’s theme focuses on the pillars of Community, Stability, Identity, Healing, and Opportunity, all of which are essential to Building the Foundation for transitioning out of foster care.
All young people who are transitioning out of foster care and adults who support young people are welcome to attend!
Agenda
This year we will be using an online Event Management Platform for all your conference needs! Once you have registered, download the Sched App and create your account!
Tutorial on using the Sched App
Theme
The New Normal: Building Our Foundation is this year’s conference theme. We are continuing our journey to discover our new normal. Last year, we started the journey by defining our futures in this new world. We honored those who adapted and found silver lining amid the global coronavirus crisis. This year, we are unfortunately still navigating life in a global pandemic. However, we have all adapted as best we can and some of these adaptations like zoom, masks, and social distancing are now a part of everyday life. It’s time to start building our foundation with the tools we need to be successful as we transition out of foster care and into the new normal filled with new ways of thinking, communicating, and behaving. We believe that the pillars needed to build a foundation to successfully transition out of foster care are:
Community
Identity
Opportunity
Healing
Stability
Keynote Address
Sixto Cancel, Founder, and CEO of Think of Us.
Sixto Cancel is the Founder and CEO of Think of Us. Think of Us (TOU) is an Action Tank driving systematic change in child welfare. Through focused projects and sweeping initiatives, TOU drives structural changes in child welfare policy and practice. Sixto was named as Forbes Top 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs and is on the 2021 Forbes Under30 Lister Board. Sixto has been recognized by the White House as a “White House Champion of Change”, a “Millennial Maker” by BET, and named “Top 24 Changemakers in Government under 24” by the Campaign for a Presidential Youth Council and Sparkaction. Sixto has served as a Young Fellow at Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative since 2010 where he has played a key role in the initiative’s work of extending foster care permanency for older youth. Sixto is a Clinton Global Initiative University Alum, a FastForward Alum, an Ashoka Fellow, a Board Member of Adventr – an interactive SMART video tech company – and most recently on the Advisory Board for Box, Inc. Sixto and the team at Think of Us are working to ensure that every person has the conditions they need to heal, develop and thrive.
What Opportunities are available through IYAB?
It’s up to you! Members can decide how involved they want to be.
Ready to get more involved?
