Please join us to learn how stories turn into narratives. Narratives can be used to bring community healing and transformation.

This event is open to the public. There is no cost to attend. However, please register to reserve your seat, seating is limited. REGISTER HERE

The event will be held in the Dickson Assembly Room/Turner Hall on the Lagrange College Campus.

David Anderson Hooker is a lawyer and former community psychologist with more than 35 years’ experience as a mediator, trainer, and community builder. He currently serves as the Founder and Principal Narrator for CounterStories Consulting, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2016 - 2021 Hooker served as Professor of Practice for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, which is an integral unit of the Keough School of Global Affairs. For five years prior to joining the Kroc Institute (2010-2015), he served as Senior Fellow for Community Engagement Strategies at the University of Georgia’s Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.

For more than 20 years Hooker has worked in communities and world regions experiencing intense or intractable conflict including Bosnia, Southern Sudan/Northern Uganda, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Somalia. In the United States he served as Community Engagement Advisor to the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi (Oxford) in its Decade of Dialogue to Undo Racism in Mississippi and established the Greensboro (NC) CounterStories Project, which is currently working to conduct city-wide dialogues to address police community relationships. Hooker helped to establish and train community organizers in five regions of that State to conduct multi-racial dialogue and conduct local analysis leading to local actions to address issues of racial inequity. Hooker also served as the founding Director of Research and Training for Coming to the Table – Healing Historical Harms (CTTT). The CTTT project originally connected “linked” descendants of former enslaved and former enslavers from the same plantation systems in dialogue processes. The project expanded to consider methods of engagement for any community divided by historical trauma.

Hooker’s experiences with various racial healing approaches including Coming to The Table, The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Program as well as his years as a Civil Rights litigator, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia, and his experience as the Vice President of Community Building for the Annie E. Casey Foundation Center for Working Families, Inc. (Atlanta GA) have called him to seek a new approach to uncovering the structural and discursive factors in a community that result in and reproduce racially (and other identity – based) constructed inequities. He is the author of The Little Book of Transformative Community Conferencing (SkyHorse 2016) and Transforming

Dr. Earl Suttle is coming to help us recognize, understand, and overcome Trauma.  He is an entertaining speaker who inspires and motivates his audiences, and he brings over 25 years of healthcare experience to his workshops.

You will learn strategies to manage stressors before they manifest into toxic stress and negatively impact your mental health.  You will learn to identify the early warning signs of stress, strategies to increase productivity despite uncertain times, how to increase your vitality and improve your physical and mental health, the T.A.P. Stress Response Model to beat your stress back into submission, how stress can benefit YOU to help manage your mental health, and what leaders can do to reduce and improve the mental health within their organizations and communities.

Dr. Suttle is going to bring some of the books he's co-authored with Dr. John Hubbard:

• “Earl’s Pearls on Enjoying Excellence”

• “Preparing for and Managing High-Risk Situations in the Lives of College Athletes (An Athlete’s Guide)”

• “Preparing for and Managing High-Risk Situations in the Lives of Professional Athletes (A Player’s Guide)”

• “Great Life Choices for Teens (Who Want to Make a Difference)”

•  “From Stressed to Blessed” (Winter 2020 release)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Dr. Earl Suttle is the CEO and founder of Leadership Success International, LLC, an international consulting and training company based in Atlanta, GA. The firm works with businesses and organizations to increase their profits and productivity through developing their greatest resource: their people. Through his live seminars, webinars, and private executive coaching sessions, Dr. Earl has empowered thousands of individuals to achieve greater success and enabled companies to become world-class. As a leadership advisor, his clients include Delta Air Lines, American Express, AT&T, AFLAC Insurance, Toyota, the University of Georgia, Walmart, and Kimberly Clark Corporation. He is also a consultant to the NBA, NFL, and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and works on a personal level with the athletes. Dr. Suttle. He is married to Felicia Mabuza-Suttle.

Please join us as we bring the Trauma Awareness moment to the community. The breakfast will be held at Warren Temple United Methodist Church, 416 E Depot Street, Lagrange, GA 30241. There is no charge to attend. Your registration helps us with a headcount for breakfast accommodations. Please contact Chalton Askew at 706-402-1311 for more information.

Our very own Chief Louis Dekmar will be our guest speaker for our upcoming Trustbuilding Breakfast, Saturday, June 11, 2022. He will share how community conversations turn into new programs, changes to existing programs, and how they influence policy. There is no charge to attend, however, registering helps us know how much food we need.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Chief Louis Dekmar's law enforcement career includes 10 years as a Wyoming police officer and investigator, and 31 years serving in Georgia as a police officer, detective, and division commander before assuming the position of chief of police for the city of LaGrange, Georgia, in 1995.

A graduate of the FBI National Academy and FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar, Chief Dekmar is a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, a board member for the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, past president and chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), and past president of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. Additionally, he is a former Council Member for the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and a past member of the Georgia Board of Public Safety; he has also served as a Federal Monitor for the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. He is an adjunct professor for several colleges and institutions.

Chief Dekmar is an international presenter for police leaders and elected officials on a range of topics involving leadership, ethics, law enforcement management, and liability issues and has provided over 300 training programs to police chiefs, elected officials, and other law enforcement personnel in over 20 states and several countries. He holds a BS in Administration of Justice from the University of Wyoming and an MS in Public Administration from Georgia College and State University.

Chief Dekmar has received the CALEA Egon Bittner Award, Georgia Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement and Contribution to the Law Enforcement Profession, LaGrange College Servant-Leadership Award, Georgia Outstanding Police Chief of the Year, and the Police Valor Medal for Bravery. He is married to Carmen and they have two children, Chris and Cathy.

The breakfast will be held at Warren Temple United Methodist Church, 416 E Depot Street, Lagrange, GA 30241. There is no charge to attend. Your registration helps us with a headcount for breakfast accommodations. Please call 706-402-1311 for more information.

Our Sponsor for this event is Synovus Bank!

Dr. Brian Shumate will be the guest speaker for our upcoming Trustbuilding Breakfast, Saturday, August 13, 2022. He will share with us some of the initiatives Troup County Schools is using to ensure student success in the classroom.

With a rapidly changing world and forces that disrupt normal rhythms, we are all learning to pivot on a dime and try new things to reach our goals. Our school system has not been exempt from facing increased challenges that require new ways of doing things.

The mission of the TROUP COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM is to educate all students in a challenging and safe learning environment, so they will become productive citizens in a diverse and changing world.

We will hear from Dr. Shumate about some of the opportunities and solutions implemented by the local school system to remove barriers to student success and accelerate learning at a higher level. We will save time for a question and answer segment.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Dr. Brian Shumate was named as the new Superintendent of the Troup County School System beginning July 1, 2019. Dr. Shumate came to Troup County Schools after serving as the superintendent of the Medford School District in Medford, Oregon. Prior to that, Dr. Shumate served for 27 years in the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, KY. There Dr. Shumate served as a high school math teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, high school liaison, and assistant superintendent. Dr. Shumate is married to his wife of 35 years, Dana, who is also an educator. They have a daughter, Kaitlin, a son, Colin, and two grandchildren, Miles, and Andi.

Please join us as we bring the Educational Awareness moment to the community. The breakfast will be held at Warren Temple United Methodist Church, 416 E Depot Street, Lagrange, GA 30241. There is no charge to attend. Your registration helps us with a headcount for breakfast accommodations. Please contact Chalton Askew at 706-402-1311 for more information.

Please join Trustbuilding, Inc to learn how stories turn into narratives. Narratives can be used to bring community healing and transformation.

This event is open to the public. There is no cost to attend. However, seating is limited. Please register to reserve your seat. REGISTER HERE

The event will be held at the Frank and Laura Lewis Library (Corn Auditorium) on the Lagrange College Campus. LC requires all attendees wear masks regardless of vaccination.

David Anderson Hooker (Ph.D., J.D., M.Div., M.P.H., M.P.A., A.M) is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International peace Studies, which is an integral unit of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Professor Hooker is core faculty in the Doctoral Studies (PhD) program in Peace Studies and the Masters in Global Affairs (MGA). His research and practice focus on post-conflict and post-disaster community building, narrative practices and theory, especially as these apply to the multi-generational transmission of trauma, and the role of identity in conflict, trauma, and community development. For more than 30 years Hooker has utilized his training and expertise in conflict transformation by serving as mediator of multi-party and public policy conflicts and reconciliation processes; especially those contexts where race, class, and other socially constructed variables significantly impact the dispute. Hooker is the author of The Little Book of Transformative Community Conferencing (SkyHorse, 2016) and coauthor with Amy Potter-Czaijkowski, of Transforming Historical Harms (Eastern Mennonite University, 2012).

Hooker is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia where he represented the Departments of Juvenile Justice, Mental Health Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and the Division of Public Health. He later had a private practice focusing on Civil Rights (including prisoner rights and special education). He has worked in Bosnia, Croatia, Cuba, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Southern Sudan, and Somaliland. He previously held the posts of Senior Fellow for Community Engagement Strategies at the J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia, Associate Professor of Conflict Transformation at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Visiting Scholar at Africa University’s Institute for Peace leadership and Governance (Mutare, Zimbabwe). He has also previously served as Community Building Advisor for the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, the Director of Research and Training for Healing Historical Harms, and Vice- President of Community Building for The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. He is a graduate of Morehouse College (BS), The Emory University School of Law (JD), the Candler School of Theology at Emory University (M Div.), the graduate programs in public health and public administration at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (MPH & MPA) and a cum laude graduate of Tilburg University (Ph.D.).

We are excited to host Historian, Thespian, Activist Georgette M. Norman as our breakfast series speaker Saturday, April 30, 2022.  Ms. Norman came to us in 2018 and quickly became a crowd favorite by her vast knowledge and experiences. Click here to register. There is no cost to attend. Registering helps us with a headcount and food accommodations.

BIO FOR GEORGETTE M. NORMAN

Historian, Thespian, Activist Georgette M. Norman was born on January 27, 1946, in Montgomery, Alabama, to George Maggie Norman, a real estate broker from Hope Hull, Alabama, and Juliet Graham Norman, who taught at W.B. Paterson Elementary School and was from Montgomery.

Georgette’s early education began in 1951 at Alabama State University Laboratory School in Montgomery, where she also received a high school diploma in 1963. That summer, she attended the pre-college political science institute at Hampton Institute. In 1963, however, Norman enrolled in Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, as a history major and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967.

Norman joined the Teacher Corps and simultaneously received a Master of Education degree from Hampton Institute in 1970. Afterward, Norman was recruited by the Government of the Virgin Islands to teach in its public schools on the island of St. Croix. In 1973, she received a postgraduate certificate in Humanistic Education from the University of Miami, Florida.

Between 1975 and 1985, Norman taught at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix campus, and English at St. Joseph Catholic High School. She also choreographed dances and directed plays at Island Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands and Courtyard Players. After 15 years, Norman left the Virgin Islands and returned to her birthplace, Montgomery, Alabama. In 1992, Norman founded the Alabama African American Arts Alliance under the auspices of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

In 2001, Norman was named the first Director of Troy University Rosa Parks Museum. The museum hosted more than 500,000 visitors globally and had seventy art exhibitions during her tenure. In 2005 she partnered with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) to develop “361 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story” for the 50th Anniversary of the Boycott. In 2007, she taught “Africa American Theater” in the Prison Project at the Staton Correctional Facility Prison in Elmore County, Alabama. And a year later, in 2008, she became the recipient of the “Outstanding Achievement Award” for the Cleveland Avenue Time Machine at the Rosa Parks Museum at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Norman retired from the Museum in 2014. Later that year, she traveled to Bloemfontein, South Africa, to speak about the culture of reconciliation and empowerment at the International Conference “Freedom: Our Responsibility” at Free State University.

In 2018, as Project Historian for the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium, Norman played a pivotal role in identifying 20 meeting sites or worship centers throughout Alabama that were significant in the civil rights movement. In addition, she directed for Cloverdale Playhouse in Montgomery August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama work Fences, which examined race and class through the African American experience. The following year, in 2019, Norman collaborated with Priscilla Hancock Cooper on the lecture/demonstration, “Past, Present, and Future: Our Civil Rights Legacy and Community Revitalization,” and in 2021, she presented “Traveling While Black & Going Down South” at the Shakespeare Garden, Auburn University.

BIO INFORMATION: Alexander, O. (2021, December 26). Georgette M. Norman (1946- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/georgette-m-norman-1946/

Ms. Norman is the director of “A Lesson Before Dying” a play by Romulus Linney based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines. It opens at the Cloverdale Playhouse, The Elizabeth Crump Theater in Montgomery, Alabama on April 28th.

Here’s a video of Ms. Norman speaking about the play A Lesson Before Dying - First look

Gain a basic understanding of the biological research supporting the theory of the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Learn the effects of trans-generational trauma on marginalized populations with a focus on the historical trauma of these groups. Raise awareness of our own unconscious bias that may be perpetuating this historical trauma on marginalized populations.

Register here: Inter-Generational Trauma Breakfast

Dr. Kelly J. Veal received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Auburn University in 2015. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CAADC), a Certified EMDR Therapist, and a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS).

Dr. Veal is the Program Coordinator for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at LaGrange College. She is also the owner of The Veal Group, LLC, a private practice that engages in counseling, coaching, and consulting. Dr. Veal has extensive experience working with addicted populations and trauma. As a part of her advanced professional training, she is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy which is the focus of her private practice. She is actively engaged in the LaGrange College community, where she serves as the advisor to the Student Affiliate Organization (SAO) for the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (LPCA-GA).

The mission of Racial Trust Building, Inc., is to bridge the racial divide in Troup County through trust-building, research, community collaboration, and action, in order to remove barriers that prevent full access to opportunities for all. We envision a Troup County that is a thriving community where trust is built, unity is developed, hope is inspired and equal access to opportunity is assured for all people.

We are excited to have Rob Corcoran visit Lagrange, Georgia.

Rob is the author of Trustbuilding: An Honest Conversation on RACE, RECONCILIATION, AND RESPONSIBILITY. This is the model we adopted in Lagrange. Rob will also talk about how this model is being used around the world in other countries. We would love to have you mask up and join us for this discussion. https://www.robcorcoran.org/

Covid-19 vaccines save lives and help to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to others. 

Because of the covid transmission rate in our community,  Trustbuilding, Inc. is hosting a vaccination event on Saturday, September 18th, 2021, beginning at 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Warren Temple United Methodist Church 416 E depot St LaGrange GA.  Holmes Pharmacy will administer the vaccines.  Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are available. Booster shots are available for those qualified.  No pre-registration is required. 

The Opening Reception of the exhibit called “Who are we?” by Robin Holder, a New York Artist, will be held at Lagrange Art Museum on Saturday, June 19th, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. which is also “Juneteenth.”

This project will consist of virtual and physical exhibitions along with artist-led Identity Workshops and museum tours for at-risk youth, an art educator workshop, and pluralistic curriculum resources for local art educators. The exhibition will consist of approximately 45 works on paper and 10 handmade artist books portraying the unique and vast complexities of our American identity and sensibility. Holder’s art-making process is a constructive practice of experimentation, exploration, communication, and courage that promotes a better understanding of our multicultural society.

About the artist:
Robin Holder is a biracial, interethnic artist whose work centers on the manifestations of conflicted cultural, class, gender, religious, and racial identity. Her work is exhibited widely and she is a recipient of grants and awards from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, Manhattan Graphics Center, and The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. Her work appears in the collections of, among others, the Library of Congress, the Washing-ton State Arts Commission, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.http://www.robinholder.work

Collaboration:
Presented in collaboration with Trust Building, Inc. Its mission is to bridge the racial divide in Troup County through trust building, research, community collaboration, and action, in order to remove barriers that prevent full access to opportunities for all. The organization's long-term vision is that Troup County will be a thriving community where trust is built, unity is developed, hope is inspired and equal access to opportunity is assured for all people. https://www.racialtrustbuilding.org

“We just want everybody to come out and enjoy Juneteenth with us. We welcome everyone from all over Troup County and beyond. We want to make it something very special, so come out and enjoy it said Lanona Jones, the secretary and treasurer for Calumet Park Neighborhood Association, Inc. according to Jones, “there will be a special section for children various retail vendors a program. Read More LDN article here

Dr. Kelly J. Veal received her PhD in Counselor Education from Auburn University in 2015. She

is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Counselor (CAADC), a Certified EMDR therapist, and a Certified Professional Counselor

Supervisor (CPCS). Dr. Veal is the Program Coordinator for the Clinical Mental Health

Counseling Program at LaGrange College. She is also the owner The Veal Group, LLC, a

private practice that engages in counseling, coaching, and consulting. Dr. Veal has extensive

experience working with addicted populations and trauma. As a part of her advanced

professional training, she is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

(EMDR) therapy which is the focus of her private practice. She is actively engaged in the

LaGrange College community where she serves as the advisor to the Student Affiliate

Organization (SAO) for the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (LPCA-

GA).

She also serves on the board for The Center for Healing & Attachment, a trauma-

responsive recovery support center for women and children. Dr. Veal';s most important

accomplishment in life is being the proud wife of Mark Veal, the head basketball coach at

LaGrange High School, and the proud mom of Helen Yvonne (age 9) and Greyson Ellis (age 5).

This program is sponsored, in part, by the Troup County School System (TCSS) and we welcome educators who have been invited to participate for CE credit. Please review the information below before registering.

Trustbuilding, Inc. will be hosting its December breakfast on December 28th at LaGrange College. We will be gathering to learn more about the Kwanzaa holiday, its history, and how it has been celebrated locally.

Please RSVP to HELLO@RACIALTRUSTBUILDING.ORG BY DECEMBER 26TH

SEASONS GREETINGS!

Dan McAlexander, President of LaGrange College and Trustbuilding, Inc. Board Member, is inviting our group to his home for a Holiday Reception. We look forward to having you join us for this celebration of the season!

Details are as follows:

December 19, 2019 from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

The home of Dan McAlexander & Celeste Myall:

1102 Vernon Street

LaGrange, GA 30240

PLEASE RSVP BY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18 TO HELLO@RACIALTRUSTBUILDING.ORG

REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/trustbuilding-breakfast-series-dr-david-hooker-tickets-58551113958

For over 30 years, Dr. David Anderson Hooker (Ph.D., J.D., M.Div., M.P.H., M.P.A., A.M) has utilized his training and expertise in conflict transformation by serving as mediator, community builder, scholar, and advocate. Hooker’s area of primary focus is the transformation of multi-party and public policy conflicts, community building, and reconciliation, especially those conflicts where race, class and other socially constructed variables impact the dispute. He has both practice and academic interests in the interruption of the multi-generational transmission of trauma.

Dr. Hooker is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. As a core faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, his work is an integral part of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.

In the past, Dr. Hooker has been a Senior Fellow for Community Engagement Strategies at the J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia; an Adjunct Professor of Conflict Transformation at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University; Community Building Advisor for the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi in Oxford; Director of Research and Training for Healing Historical Harms; and Vice- President of Community Building for The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site.

In addition to his work in academia, Dr. Hooker is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia where he represented the Departments of Juvenile Justice, Mental Health Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and the Division of Public Health. He later had a private practice focusing on Civil Rights (including prisoner rights and special education). He has worked in Bosnia, Croatia, Cuba, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Southern Sudan and Somaliland.

Dr. Hooker is a graduate of Morehouse College (BS), The Emory University School of Law (JD), the Candler School of Theology at Emory University (M Div.), the graduate programs in public health and public administration at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (MPH & MPA) and a cum laude graduate of Tilburg University (Ph.D.).

REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/trustbuilding-breakfast-series-dr-david-hooker-tickets-58551113958