Cynthia Shackelford
BA
Penny Lane Centers
Cynthia Shackelford
Cynthia Shackelford has work for PLC for eleven years. Her current post is as a Bilingual RFP II (Trainer). She also currently serves as a Bilingual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Facilitator here for PLC. Personal and Professional lived experiences motivate her passion for Diversity and ongoing curiosity about relevant themes-Multigenerational Trauma, Resilience, and Post Trauma Growth. She trained (T4T) under Dr. Joy Degruy, author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. She is a certified Enneagram Facilitator for DEI, having trained under Dr. Deborah Threadgill Egerton, author of Know Justice Know Peace.
Previous related roles in other agencies include: Mental Health Counselor, Treatment Planning Coordinator on a locked psychiatric unit, Administrative Director of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California, and Forensic Interpreter/Translator (Spanish) in Forensic Mental Health.
Her undergraduate work (UCLA) is in psychology and Spanish. Post undergraduate work, she completed training as a Forensic Interpreter/Translator (UCLA ext.). She is currently taking course work in Advanced Leadership Skills (UCLA ext.).
SESSION OVERVIEW
Mo' Than a Hat Rack: A Black Mother's Perspective on Navigating Youths to Their Authentic Selves
All too often our youth are confronted with negative messages and actions about their LGBTQIA status. Unfortunately, these messages can create trauma for our youth, which can linger over a lifetime and subsequent generations. Often conversations about multi-generational trauma today revolve around what is broken and how it got that way. This presentation will offer a different perspective through a hopeful and strength-based approach as we review the concept of multi-generational trauma through the lenses of LGBTQIA resilience and allyship. We will explore stories of coming out, allyship and how it empowers all parties involved. This conversation will also include our audience to further model the importance of authentic connection and demonstrate how we begin to build meaningful, trusting relationships, which is the basis to healing trauma. The conversation will then shift to understanding and exploring multi-generational trauma, epigenetics, and ancestral healing through continued conversation aided by a power point.