Keynote Speaker
Mayda Del Valle
Time of keynote
Mayda del Valle was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. She is the author of The University of Hip Hop and a winner of the 2016 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize from Northwestern University Press. Her full-length collection, A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love and Sex, was published on Tia Chucha press. She began her artistic career at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she was the 2001 Grand Slam Champion, and went on to become the National Poetry Slam Champion in the same year. She appeared on six episodes of the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. She has performed at venues across the world, including the White House in May of 2009, by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. In 2024 Mayda was the recipient of the Letras Boricuas Fellowship, sponsored by Flamboyan Arts Fund and the Mellon Foundation. Most recently she was selected to be the second Poet Laureate of the City of Chicago and will begin her tenure in January of 2026.
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO)
Overview
This year’s annual convening marks the Coalition’s 10th anniversary and serves as a space for celebration, learning, reflection, and connection. CIMH has creatively rooted its efforts in promoting wellness and the humane treatment of immigrants by building and bridging alliances with community organizations, advocating for culturally respectful local and state-level responses, as well as implementing and creating culturally responsive trauma-informed trainings.
Reflecting the Coalition’s efforts in the past ten years, this convening will center community-rooted, trauma-informed, and practice-based approaches to wellness and healing through culture, imagination, solidarity, and collective care. We aim to create a gathering that is practical, accessible, inclusive, and grounded in the wisdom and leadership of immigrant and refugee communities.
Areas of Interest
We are seeking skills-based and practical workshops, presentations, panels, and interactive sessions related to topics such as:
Nurturing Wellness & Healing During Challenging Times
Building Well-Being Through Community Capacity and Power Building
Role of Culture and Imagination in Healing Practices
Creative/Innovative Efforts to Promote Well-Being in Challenging Times
Equity, Access & Inclusion
Continuing Education Units (CEs)
We are exploring opportunities to offer Continuing Education Units (CEs) for social workers, counselors, therapists, psychologists, and related professionals.
Questions
For questions or ideas related to the convening, please contact: Cindy Eigler at cindy@ourcimh.org
Descripción General
El encuentro anual de este año conmemora el décimo aniversario de la Coalición y ofrece un espacio para la celebración, el aprendizaje, la reflexión y la conexión. CIMH ha basado sus esfuerzos de manera creativa en la promoción del bienestar y el trato humano a los inmigrantes mediante la creación y el fortalecimiento de alianzas con organizaciones comunitarias, la defensa de respuestas locales y estatales culturalmente respetuosas, así como la implementación y creación de capacitaciones con enfoque en el trauma y adaptadas a la cultura.
Como reflejo de los esfuerzos de la Coalición durante los últimos diez años, este encuentro se centrará en enfoques comunitarios, con enfoque en el trauma y basados en la práctica para el bienestar y la sanación a través de la cultura, la imaginación, la solidaridad y el cuidado colectivo. Nuestro objetivo es crear un encuentro práctico, accesible, inclusivo y basado en la sabiduría y el liderazgo de las comunidades inmigrantes y refugiadas.
Áreas de interés
Buscamos talleres prácticos y basados en habilidades, presentaciones, paneles y sesiones interactivas sobre temas como:
Fomentar el bienestar y la sanación en tiempos difíciles
Construir el bienestar mediante el fortalecimiento de la capacidad y el poder comunitario
El papel de la cultura y la imaginación en las prácticas de sanación
Esfuerzos creativos e innovadores para promover el bienestar en tiempos difíciles
Equidad, acceso e inclusión
Créditos de formación continua (CE)
Estamos explorando oportunidades para ofrecer créditos de formación continua (CE) a trabajadores sociales, consejeros, terapeutas, psicólogos y profesionales afines.
Preguntas
Para preguntas o ideas relacionadas con el encuentro, comuníquese con Cindy Eigler a cindy@ourcimh.org