The conference will provide a unique and energetic learning space, with young people, academics, parents/carers, practitioners, researchers and community members all coming together to learn from one another. Members of the Resilience Revolution, including young people, parents and carers, are co-designing and co-facilitating the event. They are eager to share their expertise with the world; from expressing stories of hope to challenging inequalities within systems.
Just like the whole town approach to resilience in Blackpool, everybody involved in development will have a role in making the conference a positive, innovative and exciting event to be part of. An exciting and informative combination of research, practice-based evidence and lived experience will have the schedule packed with insightful keynotes, co-delivered workshops and activities all linked to resilience approaches.
Biographies of keynotes/plenary players/people who have helped shape the conference
Below are biographies of some of our fantastic keynotes, and some participants including discussants who will be responding to the speakers, exploring the ideas presented and asking the All Important Questions. If you would like to see what they will be discussing, take a look at the keynote summaries page.
Dr Ora Prilleltensky’s interests include well-being, change, and disability, leading her to co-write several books: The Laughing Guide to Change, The Laughing Guide to a Better Life, Promoting Well-Being, and Motherhood and Disability: Children and Choices. She has a doctorate in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto, and she is the former Director of Human and Social Development at the University of Miami, teaching various graduate and undergraduate courses. She’s also worked in lots of different settings, including a child guidance clinic, a university counselling centre and a rehabilitation hospital. She has a disability and uses a motorised wheelchair.
Shahnaz Biggs is someone who lives “beating the odds, whilst changing the odds”. She has been involved in supporting the Resilience Revolution since 2016 and, as a Research Assistant, took notes at the first training session for partners across Blackpool. Naz started volunteering with Boingboing during her master’s at Manchester Uni. Naz loved volunteering and felt privileged to have such a supportive bunch of people around her. She was inspired to research whether other organisations work the way Boingboing does – this is what her PhD is interested in. Naz has many personal complexities in her life, so studying has been challenging at times. Naz gets excited about how best to support social-ecological aspects of resilience. This is partly as a result of personal experience, including being born in a particular place at a particular time, and partly because of her intellectual fascinations.
Professor Angie Hart is an academic and practitioner passionate about co-productive resilience research and practice, working with and alongside children, young people, families and adults failed by wider systems. She comes from a disadvantaged background herself and is also the adoptive parent of three children with complex needs adopted from foster care. Angie supports young people, students and community partners to be co-researchers, and to co-organise this conference. She co-leads the development of the ‘whole town’ Resilience Revolution approach in Blackpool, which puts young people at the heart of things. A Professor at the University of Brighton, Director of the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice and Director of Boingboing, Angie might sound a bit scary on paper, but she is really down to earth and loves to work creatively across all kinds of boundaries. Check her out on TEDx.
Netsai Gwata is a young Educational Psychologist working and living in South Africa. Her ancestral roots are in Zimbabwe. Her childhood years in Zimbabwe are part of the reason why she understands resilience – and the importance of social change to child and youth resilience – as well as she does. Her extended family is characterised by resilient women (all of whom speak Shona) and this inspired Netsai to start a blog about resilient women and Shona people’s ways of enabling resilience. Her blog starts with the words: “The storm has the power to uproot the tree. But no matter how strong the storm rages, it will never uproot the grass. Though I may be small and look insignificant, I am very strong. No matter how hard you trample, fresh again I will rise from the ground with the first rains to fall in the dust. For I am a symbol of resilience. I am a woman, I am black, I am a black resilient woman.”
Netsai’s interest in resilience is not just personal. As part of her Master’s degree in Educational Psychology she worked in the GCRF-funded and Angie Hart-led study entitled ‘Patterns of resilience among young people in a community affected by drought: Historical and contextual perspectives’. Her mini-dissertation, which focused specifically on the resilience of young adults affected by drought in a community in an impoverished province in South Africa, was completed in record time. She is currently enrolled for a PhD that will used mixed methods to investigate how young adults in an industrialised, impoverished community avoid poor mental health. Her PhD is being co-promoted by Linda Theron and Michael Ungar. In her everyday work as an educational psychologist she uses what she has learnt and is learning to champion the resilience of young people made vulnerable by the widespread sub-Saharan reality of social injustice.
Laura Zakubinska is one of the HeadStart team apprentices involved in the Resilience Revolution in Blackpool. It’s her job to ensure that the administration and organisation of Resilience Revolutionary activity runs smoothly. She settled in Blackpool from Poland when she was 8 years old and is bi-lingual; this skill has enabled her to support young Polish speakers to engage fully in the Resilience Revolution by translating material and offering 1-1 support in school. She has had a wonderful couple of years in her apprenticeship, and is proud to be a member of the HeadStart team. Laura’s role at the International Resilience Revolution Conference 2022 is as a co–planner and co-leader. She will also be ensuring the smooth planning and preparation of the conference, as well as dealing with any trouble-shooting during the conference.
Laura says: “I’m really excited to hear about different concepts of resilience and connecting with speakers and organisers to open up new opportunities. I would also like to see what international delegates think of our whole town resilience approach when they see it in action. I’m looking forward to connecting and networking with speakers and delegates and seeing how we all learn from each other. I hope the International Resilience Revolution Conference is also as accessible and positive as possible for all.”
Ngozi Lyn Cole’s mission in life is to enable individuals and communities to unlock their passion and potential to achieve overall business and personal success. She’s passionate about addressing inequality in every shape, working in a strength-based and collaborative manner. Ngozi is a qualified leadership coach and experienced Director, with a successful track record of delivering high volume and high impact programmes/projects, working with large, multi-site and multi-functional teams. She is Deputy Chair, Appointments Committee of the General Pharmaceutical Council and Non-Executive Director at the South Tyneside & Sunderland NHS Trust.
Until 2016, Ngozi Lyn was England Director at the then Big Lottery Fund, with overall responsibility for the HeadStart programme. She visited Blackpool in 2018 to witness the Resilience Revolution in action. Ngozi says, “I am very excited to join the International Resilience Revolution Conference to learn even more about all the brilliant work that has been happening”. See Ngozi’s keynote summary.
Professor Isaac Prilleltensky combines being an academic, psychologist, and writer in his approach to well-being, mattering, and organisational culture, and enjoys making people laugh. If you need to look up “mattering”, here is Isaac at the World Happiness Summit. He was born in Argentina and has lived and worked in Israel, Canada, Australia and the United States. His most recent books include The Laughing Guide to Well-Being, The Laughing Guide to Change, and The Laughing Guide to a Better Life, and he also writes oodles of scholarly papers, if that’s more up your street. He is the former dean of the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami, where he currently serves as Professor of Educational and Psychological Studies and Vice Provost for Institutional Culture. See Isaac’s keynote summary.
Sophie Halas is an Ambassador for Arts Connect (part of Culture Shift) which works across Sussex to reduce social isolation of people with learning disabilities through opportunities to participate in arts based activities. She has been one of eight co-researchers in a PhD study by Anne Rathbone on resilience, and has helped to produce learning on the disabling barriers faced by people with learning disabilities, what can help to promote resilience and the value of co-produced research for individual benefit and social change. You can find out more about the Arts Connect Ambassadors in this short film.
Lisa Day is a Co-Leader of Blackpool’s Resilience Revolution and her role is Parental Sessional Worker. She supports and participates in core groups with parents and carers to capture the views and experiences of children, parents and families, to ensure fairness and inclusivity in services. She supports the HeadStart team in delivery of training, events and presentations and has co-produced a number of resources, including The Resilience Framework, A Family Version. She is part of the co-production group for Blackpool Children’s Services to create a new Module of Practice.
Lisa says: “I am a mother to three beautiful children, who didn’t arrive with their own handbooks 😮 From what I have experienced, I’ve seen the importance of resilience and I felt the need to help other families, young people and the community in any way possible to build resilience.”
Sam Richardson is a Youth Worker for the HeadStart Blackpool programme. He was born in Blackpool and has lived there for most of his life, leaving only to study and then coming back to find work. He is really proud to be from Blackpool because although it has its challenges, he is part of a community working to make the town a better place to live for everyone. Find out more in Once upon a time – A Blackpool story. See Sam’s keynote summary.
Sam says: “I am really proud to be given the opportunity to co-deliver a keynote speech in my home town as part of the International Resilience Revolution Conference in 2022. I am really hopeful that in their short time here, those visiting the town for the Conference will see the potential that Blackpool has and that they will be impressed with our aim of establishing a whole town approach to building resilience.”
Professor Etienne Wenger-Trayner is a social learning theorist and practitioner. “What is that?” you might ask. Developing resilience in our communities is an excellent example of the kind of collective endeavour that requires a social learning approach. Etienne says he is proud to contribute to the Blackpool HeadStart project, and to see his and Bev’s value-creation framework for social learning used as a key tool in the development of a whole-town approach. Learn more about Etienne’s approach by watching him in action. See Etienne’s keynote summary.
Buket Kara is a Research Fellow at the School of Health Sciences, University of Brighton, where she is currently evaluating the HeadStart programme in Blackpool. Her research interests include individual, familial and contextual risk and protective factors for children’s development and well-being, and evidence-based intervention programs and policies to promote resilience in youth at risk. Buket’s PhD focused on the development and well-being of youth living in a low-intensity armed conflict zone.
Buket has been volunteering in humanitarian projects with disadvantaged groups since her undergraduate years. She is a member of the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity, and Free Colors LGBTI Association in Turkey, involved in projects include acting in solidarity with oppressed people in society, organising workshops about social equality, campaigns against hate speech and discrimination towards minorities, and about violence against women. She is also a volunteer for Boingboing.
Rochelle Morris works in HeadStart Blackpool’s research team, looking at different ways that resilience and social justice theories influence training and development in local government and community organisations. Rochelle is passionate about supporting and enabling young people to cope with transitional periods; new schools, new homes and new opportunities. She is proud to be an Independent Visitor for one of ‘Our Children’, the name given to young people in the care of Blackpool Local Authority. Rochelle also supports the Revolution Researchers – a co-production group of mixed ages that work together to understand and challenge some of the complex issues facing Blackpool and its young people. Rochelle has previously worked in Higher Education across North West UK, as a pastoral welfare officer, academic development tutor and an employability adviser.
Rochelle says: “I am really looking forward to hearing from lots of different community organisations and hearing about resilience research and practice from young people.”
Professor Phil Haynes used to work as a social worker and probation officer, specialising in substance misuse, and is now Professor of Public Policy at the University of Brighton. He wants to understand public policy systems, seeing them as complex, unpredictable and challenging systems, and thinking about what this means for leadership, management and research. His work has included projects focused on local government, older people, housing, mental health, substance misuse and the wider economy and its effect on the public. He is interested in international comparisons, as we can always learn from other countries and governments.
Hi, my name is Rachel and I am the Friend for School Volunteer Coordinator. I joined the Friendship team in March 2020 during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. My role involves matching volunteers from the world of work with pupils who need a little extra support in school. I am also a photographer and have photographed events for local charities and organisations. I have been a volunteer for various Blackpool charities as well as for the police (admin role, of course!). I am passionate about disability sports, and I am a member of the Blackpool Boccia team. My favourite colour is blue, and I am a huge Harry Potter fan! In my spare time, I like going to the cinema, playing Boccia, doing jigsaws or Lego and spending time with family and friends.
Elle Barnett is a Research Apprentice within the HeadStart Programme, studying Business Administration Level 3. She has previously completed Business Administration Level 2 working for the NHS. She has a keen interest in working with young people and learning more about mental health. Elle enjoys inputting data, attending meetings and presenting at conferences. When she is not working she enjoys going to the gym and volunteering for the RSPCA. Elle is really proud to be working within the Resilience Revolution and helping make the town a better place.
Hi, my name is Mirika . I am a researcher at the University of Brighton. I’ve been very lucky to be doing a study on the Friend for Life project. My favourite colour I guess is fuchsia, but it changes with the seasons (all I want in winter is green!). I play bass guitar, and I am passionate about making the world more accessible and inclusive.
Viktoria Erlacher is a PhD student at the University of Brighton’s Centre of Resilience for Social Justice and a Boingboing volunteer. She is interested in resilience within the climate-crisis context. Her MSc explored barriers and motivations to participating in environmental community projects, the role of social capital and community resilience, and connections between social and environmental resilience. She is now working on a climate crisis study co-produced with HeadStart Blackpool young people. The aim is to add to existing resilience resources from an environmental angle. Viktoria has put all this experience to good use planning the environmental aspects of the conference.
Hi, Claire here! I have the pleasure of leading on the Friendship Model of Volunteering. How great – a job that’s about making friends! I am an author and write books to smash stereotypes. Pink is my favourite colour and glitter is my second favourite colour! I’m a passionate co-leader of the Resilience Revolution and am thrilled that the conference is finally going ahead. We’re not going to let a global pandemic stop us having a great conference.
Rosie Gordon is a PhD student working with HeadStart’s Research and Evaluation Team to evidence the effectiveness and sustainability of the Resilience Revolution. She is proud to say that she went to school in Blackpool; now, she wants to be able to give back to the town that nurtured her love for learning. She is the Student Representative for the International Resilience Revolution Conference.
Rosie says: “I am hoping to find exciting ways for students at all stages of their academic journey to engage with and learn from members of the community and each other.”
Hi, my name is Camilla and I have the best job in the world. I am the FMOV Coordinator. I like to see myself as the riendship version of Cupid. I get to match people together to make long lasting friendships that make memories that will last a lifetime. I first joined Friend for Life to become a friend myself but was so interested in the project after going to an information event that I changed my whole career overnight and now have over 40 matched friendships. I have previously been a Family Support Worker, Young Carers Worker, Youth Worker, Public Speaker and a Private Consultant for NHS England. My passion is to support young people to make a better life for themselves and others using the power of human voice. I have an obsession with the colour turquoise and in my spare time I enjoy travelling the world, experiencing different cultures, playing games, reading, eating nice food, going to the theatre and watching Blackpool Football Club play (although I have absolutely no idea about the game, for me it’s just about the atmosphere and the community spirit).
Originally an artist, Pauline Wigglesworth is passionate about co-productive, resilience research and practice by, with and for young people and their carers. She has a background as a public sector manager working in substance misuse. For the past 4 years, she has been co-leading the Resilience Revolution. Her specific role is to head up the co-productive, resilience-based whole town approach to supporting young people’s mental health which is being pioneered in Blackpool through HeadStart funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
Hi, my name is Danielle Cromer. I am an apprentice volunteer coordinator for Blackpool council. I am 23 this July and will also be welcoming my first little boy into the world at the same time. Some of my favourite things include the summer season, walks to the beach and spending lots of time with my family and my 8 nephews! I started this job through lockdown 2020, my favourite part of my job is working with young people and helping them by talking about my own experiences when being under the care of the local authority. I enjoy living and working in Blackpool and feel I can make a change here.
Anne Rathbone has a youth and community development background originally, and has worked for more than 25 years across a range of Local Authorities in commissioning and strategic development. This sounds a bit dry but her work has always had a co-produced activist twist, including award winning projects in young people’s community action and youth-led commissioning. Not surprisingly, then, Anne’s PhD research project was a co-led inquiry into resilience with people with learning disabilities, through a great project – Arts Connect (part of Culture Shift). Through her PhD, she has developed a nerdy interest into co-produced research methods and how they can play their part in turning marginalisation into belonging and community activism. There is learning in this for community based co-production practice as well, which she is keen to feed back in.
