About
Now in its second year, the TEHCY Program Summit empowers Texas’ education professionals to understand the needs of students experiencing homelessness and help them thrive. Led by the summit theme, The Road to Impact, this year’s event will explore best practices to help students chart their own path to success.
Join us for specialized training on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and the opportunity to build skills, network, earn about 10 CEUs, and have fun alongside youth-serving professionals from across Texas!
TNOYS and TEA believe we can best support students experiencing homelessness by elevating their voices and experiences. Guided by this principle, the TEHCY Program Summit engages young adults as speakers, consultants, and facilitators throughout the conference. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to learn directly from youth and young adults with lived expertise, putting the power of youth-adult partnership into action.
Attendees
We hope you’ll join us for the opportunity to connect with fellow educators, professionals, and advocates from across Texas. Last year’s summit welcomed over 1,150 school personnel across over 385 school districts, empowering new connections across the state. Read about last year’s summit here
The summit will feature professional development tracks that are geared toward TEHCY subgrantees, school districts, charter schools, Educational Service Center (ESC) staff, and stakeholders.
Topics Tracks Include
- McKinney-Vento fundamentals
- Connecting to youth and family services
- Advancing equity for special student populations
- Promoting academic success
- Understanding trauma and resilience
- Collaborating with partners, state agencies, and other programs
- Case management
- Leadership training
- Best practices for program implementation
- And more!
Speakers
We’re excited to introduce a dynamic lineup of speakers at this year’s event:
Dr. C. Nicole Mason, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Dr. C. Nicole Mason is the president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a leading voice on pay equity, economic policies, and research impacting women. Dr. Mason is the youngest person currently leading one of the major inside-the-Beltway think tanks in Washington, D.C., and one of the few women of color to do so.
Dr. Mason is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin’s Press), and has written hundreds of articles on community development, women, poverty, and economic security. Her writing and commentary have been featured in the New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, Real Clear Politics, Nation, Washington Post, Marie Claire, the Progressive, ESSENCE, Bustle, BIG THINK, Miami Herald, Democracy Now, and numerous NPR affiliates, among others.
Deja Foxx, Founder of GenZ Girl Gang
Deja Foxx is a 21 year old activist, feminist, strategist, and influencer leading thought at the intersection of social justice and social media. She is the founder of GenZ Girl Gang, a student at Columbia University, and a Digital Creator with Ford Models. At just 19, she was the youngest staffer across the 2020 Presidential campaigns while working for Kamala Harris as Influencer and Surrogate Strategist. She has gone on to build innovative digital strategies for nonprofits and serves as the Social Media Director at Acronym, an organization building digital infrastructure for the modern progressive movement.
From homelessness in high school to the forefront of the digital organizing movement, Deja is changing the world at 20 years old. She’s been named a Teen Vogue 21 under 21 and has joined the Dazed 100.
Experience
Safety and accessibility are top priorities for the TEHCY Program Summit team. This year’s summit will once again take place virtually, allowing participants to join from anywhere.
While a virtual summit requires some adjustments, it also brings new opportunities. All attendees will have access to the complete range of recorded sessions and workshops, and the remote format will allow for representation across every Texas region.
American Sign Language interpreters will be available for the summit. Please contact us at summit@tehcy.email to request an interpretation.
Youth Engagement
We’re pleased that this year’s conference is being developed in partnership with TNOYS’ Young Adult Leadership Council (YALC). The YALC is a paid leadership development program for youth and young adults ages 16 to 25 with lived expertise in areas such as foster care, juvenile justice system involvement, and homelessness. TNOYS is especially excited to be working with these young adult leaders whose lived expertise will inform the priorities of our work moving forward. Learn more about the YALC and TNOYS’ approach to youth engagement here.
Agenda
Check out this year’s program preview for a sneak peek of the workshops, keynotes, and activities in store at the 2021 TEHCY Program Summit:
