2024 Resilience Conference

Join us at Thrive 2024: Bridging Paths to Resilience Conference with the nation’s foremost authorities on early childhood development, adverse childhood experiences, and best practices to create positive outcomes for children and youth. Engage with renowned experts, gain insights into multigenerational resilience, and participate in fireside chats, interactive discussions, and networking opportunities. Don't miss this chance to connect, learn, and thrive together!
Registration is now closed.
Questions, email info@learnwithsam.org.

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jack Shonkoff

SAM is proud to announce Dr. Shonkoff as the keynote speaker for the Thrive 2024 conference. A leader in his field, Dr. Shonkoff recently stepped down after 18 years as Harvard University’s Director of the Center on the Developing Child and is beginning a new chapter as Founding Director to pursue a connected but independent portfolio of work.
Dr. Shonkoff will collaborate directly with motivated change agents at the intersection of early childhood services and neighborhood-based activism to catalyze fresh thinking about how to strengthen the foundations of healthy development starting in the prenatal period and the first three years after birth, when developing brains and other biological systems are most sensitive to influences that can have lifelong effects. This new agenda will be guided by three objectives designed to extend the boundaries of the early childhood ecosystem.
Read more about Dr. Shonkoff’s accomplished and unparalleled educational background and extensive work in children’s health and development.

Mathew Portell

Mathew Portell leverages his extensive background as an educator, administrator, podcaster, writer, and international speaker to influence global education as a trailblazer in trauma-informed education. Demonstrating his innovative approach, he employed cutting-edge neuroscience as a principal, successfully transforming his elementary school into a model for trauma-informed practices.

In 2017, Edutopia conducted a case study on Portell's school, producing an 8-minute documentary that garnered millions of views, propelling Portell and his school into the forefront of trauma-informed education. His profound dedication and expertise have positioned him as a highly sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator on a global scale, having spoken at various engagements worldwide, spanning the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous other nations. Portell established the Trauma Informed Educators Network, a thriving global community of over 33,000 practitioners, which he supports through a bi-weekly podcast and an annual conference.

In a pivotal decision during the 2024-2025 academic year, Portell’s passion for principalship led him back to Nashville Public Schools as the principal of Goodlettsville Elementary School. His exceptional contributions have garnered several accolades, including the Elementary Principal of the Year 2021 for Metro Nashville Public Schools, a district catering to nearly 90,000 students.

Portell earned his B.A. and M.Ed. from Tennessee State University, completed his administrative licensure at Trevecca University, and obtained trauma and resilience certifications one and two from Florida State University.

He is currently the lead author of Reducing Stress in Schools: Restoring Connection and Community, which will be published by Harvard Education Press in the Spring of 2025.


Alice Forrester, PhD

Dr. Forrester is Chief Executive Officer of Clifford Beers Community Health Partners, a network of nonprofit affiliates in Connecticut made of Clifford Beers Community Care Center, Mid Fairfield Community Care and Youth Continuum.  She has a Masters Degree from NYU in Drama Therapy and a PhD from Fielding University in Clinical Psychology. 

Under Dr. Forrester's leadership, Clifford Beers Community Care Center received a 2019 Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Healthcare Innovation Award (one of seven States in the US)  to implement a model of care for children in New Haven identified in high distress called Integrated Care for Kids. 

In 2014 Clifford Beers received its first CMS Innovation Award called Wrap Around New Haven, Dr. Forrester has focused her clinical leadership on developing models of care to help chronically stressed families address the complexity surrounding their physical, mental and social well-being.  Dr. Forrester sits on multiple legislatively appointed commissions in Connecticut, in particular on the recently formed Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health, the CT Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council and serves on the Children’s Advisory Board for Mental Health and is a Commissioner for Public Health for the City of New Haven.  Governor Malloy also appointed Dr. Forrester to the former Sandy Hook Commission, and Clifford Beers delivered the recovery mental health services for the Sandy Hook School after the tragedy.