Learning to Listen: Conversations for Change

Jane Clementi, co-founder of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, and Scarlett Lewis, founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement share their journeys from the loss of their sons to their work to strengthen the social-emotional skills of children and end online and offline bullying in schools, workplaces, and faith communities.

Jane Clementi co-founded the Tyler Clementi Foundation to make sure that society learns the consequences of discrimination and bullying, as she learned all too personally through the loss of her son Tyler.  The mission of the Tyler Clementi Foundation is to end all online and offline bullying in schools, workplaces, and faith communities through educational research, legislative advocacy, and awareness programming.  Jane’s desire is to change hearts and minds so that everyone can live and thrive free of harassment, intimidation, and humiliation, and to ignite a culture shift so that all people will experience kindness, respect, and consideration.  She has spoken before the US Congressional HELP committee, at the National Cathedral, the Federal Reserve Bank, the NYC prosecutor’s office, as well as at numerous conferences including HRC’s Time to Thrive, Q Christian Network, and SUNY’s SPECTRUM Preventing and Responding to Violence Against LGBTQI+ Students, and numerous other colleges, high schools, and workplaces.

Scarlett Lewis founded the nonprofit Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement after her son was murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December 2012.  Choose Love for Schools Program is a no-cost, comprehensive, lifespan program that teaches children and adults how to manage their emotions, feel connected, and have healthy relationships – to thoughtfully respond with love in any situation, handle adversity, and have courageous conversations. Choose Love is used in over 10,500 schools in the United States, accessed in all 50 states and 120 countries, reaching more than 2 million children, and has been extended into homes, communities, athletics, and the workplace. In her local community and beyond, Scarlett is on a mission to cultivate safer classrooms and school climates, offer mental health initiatives to cope with the stress of COVID, and create a more peaceful world by educating the whole child and teaching children to Choose Love.

Warren Ng, MD, MPH, President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Director of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services, Medical Director of Outpatient Behavioral Health, and Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, discussed the mental health of Asian American and Pacific Islander and LGBTQ children, the harms they are experiencing and how these have been exacerbated by the pandemic and political polarization, and the ways that we all can help AAPI and LGBTQ children and youth heal.

Warren Y. K. Ng, MD, MPH, oversees the clinical programs in child, adolescent, and adult outpatient and community behavioral health at New York-Presbyterian’s Division of Community and Population Health, and the psychiatric services at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York’s outpatient, emergency department and inpatient services.  President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent, Dr. Ng serves on the New York State Governor’s Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council, and at the American Psychiatric Association has served on the Council on Children, Adolescents and their Families. He is an Aspen Institute Health Innovator Fellow, member of the Aspen Global Learning Network, and recipient of Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Martha Hooven Award for Excellence in Community Service.   

Makeeba McCreary, President of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund, and Augusta Meill, Executive Director at Agncy, a human-centered design firm, shared with us their process for bringing together community-based nonprofit organizations and philanthropic foundations to vision — and take action toward — a world without racism.

Makeeba McCreary, Ed.D. is president of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund (NCF). NCF was founded by Black and Brown executives from Massachusetts’ leading corporations to support Black and Brown communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of the brutal killing by police of George Floyd. In its first year, NCF raised $30 million toward its initial fundraising goal of $100 million, to be used to support eligible nonprofit organizations and build an ecosystem of leaders and stakeholders committed to dismantling systemic racism in Boston and across the state.  Prior to joining NCF, Makeeba was a senior leader at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and served as Managing Director and Senior Advisor of External Affairs for Boston Public Schools, reporting directly to the Mayor and Superintendent of Schools.

Augusta Meill is the director of the non-profit design firm Agncy. Working in the systems of education, healthcare, and criminal justice, much of Agncy’s work is focused on disenfranchised communities across Boston. Agncy merges the design process with the philosophy of community organizing, seeking to redistribute power, create coalitions, and develop solutions that align incentives and values between community members and institutions. agncy.org