Thank you to those who were able to attend Marin 9 to 25’s second held quarterly meeting, which met virtually on September 15, 2021. There was a great turnout, with 88 participants, including 20 youth between the ages of 9 and 25. Marin 9 to 25 co-chairs Alexa Davidson and Talia Harter hosted to the event and led the Q&A sessions following each presentation.

Kara Connors, Senior Program Coordinator for Suicide Prevention opened up the meeting in honor of Suicide Prevention Month. “Every life deserves hope”, she said, explaining that stigma has no place in our community and that we need to do what we can to increase hope and relieve anxiety. Kara discussed the Marin Suicide Prevention Collaborative, which anyone can join, and the work that they are doing around communication, data, training and education, postvention, and schools. In response to participant questions, Kara discussed how schools can honor students without glorifying suicide, raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention, and create a space for healing.

The theme for this meeting’s Lightning Round was Juvenile Justice. Don Carney from Youth Transforming Justice started off and discussed the organization’s transition to a trauma-informed and less punitive approach. Carolyn Quinby then gave an overview of the Restorative Justice class held at Terra Linda High School and how students are trained to facilitate circles. Marin’s Community School Phoenix Academy Mentorship Program was the final presentation, led by Katy Foster, Kathleen Mira, and students Candace Calero and Jesus Espino. Candace and Jesus talked about how mentors make help them make plans for the future and feel cared for.

The Marin 9 to 25 data dashboard was then presented by Robby Franceschini from BluePath Health. Robby gave an overview of various data collected across the county, and asked participants how Marin 9 to 25 can create a data dashboard that can aggregate across sectors in the county. Michael Looft from the Marin Promise Partnership contributed to this discussion by showing the Marin Promise Partnership dashboard, the metrics they collect, and how data is pulled together by their team.

The meeting concluded with workgroup updates and community announcements. Please send feedback, lightning round suggestions, and community announcements (job opportunities, meetings, events, etc.) to info@marin9to25.org

Please find the recording of the meeting here

Please find the meeting slides here.