CL22 - II-C2, Intermediate-Level: Centering Equity, Cultivating Liberation: Transforming The Landscape Of Reflective Practice

Alicia Martinez holds an MSW from the School of Social Worker at the University of Washington. She stands on the shoulders of a line of very strong, creative and intelligent women with root in Mexico. Head, hands and heart are committed in social justice that informs her Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health approach. Alicia has dedicated her life to revolutionize and change the narrative in the field to center voices and experiences of BIPOC providers, babies, children and families. 

Alicia has been pioneering for the last two decades the build of a new narrative in the IECMH field in King County - professionally and personally has invested her heart to be a change agent in the field by demanding inclusion, respect and wide perspective.  Now she has been leading Best Starts for Kids Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Strategy by creating trainings and reflective consultation to home visitors and projects grounding racial and economic justice to support work for home visitors. Working towards liberation in every space that touches the lives of our communities.

Monica strives to be an advocate for babies, children and their families through nurturing and supporting those who care for them.  A daughter of proud immigrants, she is a leader and voice that embraces culture, language and traditions. Monica uses her privilege of having a doctoral degree to improve systems that support babies and young children especially through engaging with families, providers and systems to center the BIPOC experience.  Her background as an Occupational Therapist provides a strong knowledge base to think outside the box.  She is Zero to Three Fellow.  Monica is a proud mother of 2 BIPOC strong and caring girls and works toward creating a more kind and racially-just world for them, all families and future generations.  Monica feels that her sacred responsibility is to create reflective brave spaces for as many early childhood providers as possible, especially those who would otherwise never have access to this opportunity.

BIREN “RATNESH” A. NAGDA, Ph.D., MSW, MA is currently Founder and Principal of IDEALeadership, LLC (Seattle, Washington).  He is of Indian descent, born and raised in Kenya, East Africa. The experiences of growing up in a diverse-yet-divided society marked by the dynamics of colonization that separated Africans, Indians and Europeans have influenced his education, professional pursuits, and life commitments. He is a co-developer of the intergroup dialogue model geared toward transforming intergroup conflicts into greater understanding and collaborations for equity and justice. He has trained social workers, community organizers and leaders, student leaders, college faculty and middle- and high-school teachers in the US and internationally to advance social justice through sustained knowledge development and interactive engagement. He is currently providing training and consultation for Best Starts for Kids (King County, Washington) focusing on trauma-informed and healing-centered engagement, intergroup dialogue for equity-centered leadership, and equity-centered reflective consultation. Dr. Nagda's life calling is to bridge social divides and build alliances across differences to promote personal, social and community healing and collective liberation. He believes in the power of just relationships and courageous dialogues to mobilize impactful change.