SESSIONS

Cheers to 50 Years: Culture, Community, and Corrections

In recognizing APPA’s 50th anniversary, this 60-minute interactive presentation will afford attendees the opportunity to review significant milestones within the criminal justice system. Through an innovative networking activity, attendees will view the evolution of APPA from the perspective of the community corrections field. Participants will scrutinize historical criminal justice successful and unsuccessful trends and their impact on the field; examine key “buzz” words and phrases and their influence on service delivery; and identify newsworthy events that affected community corrections. This activity will also allow attendees to network and establish working relationships with other female professionals.

Presenter: Kaitlin Forsha, Branch Chief, CSOCA

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Unlocking Collective Power: Leveraging Networks for Leadership & Growth

This interactive presentation will help attendees understand the many benefits of fostering a strong network as part of their professional development journey. In particular, the presentation will define networking in general and will also focus on four key groups (peers/teams, advocates, mentors, and sponsors) needed to build a strong professional network. Participate in this session to 1) identify the role of professional networks in advancing women’s leadership and influence; 2) create a visual map of your own professional networks to better understand connections, gaps, and opportunities for growth; and 3) formulate a personalized action plan to strengthen and expand your network with intention and purpose.

Presenter: Carey Green, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice

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Creating Your Own Confidence

This thought-provoking session will allow attendees to appreciate the importance of purposefully building their confidence. Undergirding themes include recognizing why it is important to set boundaries; finding a realistic balance between work and life; comprehending the importance of cultivating a circle of compatible, positive women; and underscoring the importance of identifying one’s values while living authentically. In addition, the concept of women doing it all will be discussed through the lens of societal indoctrination.

As a result of participating in this session, attendees will examine if work/life balance is achievable; learn to set boundaries in both their personal and professional lives; recognize the importance of cultivating a “circle”; examine the concept of “internal misogyny” and its impact; and know why identifying their values and living authentically is essential.

TOWN HALL

Lead Like a Woman: Power, Purpose, and Progress

Today, leaders need to be self-aware, mission-driven, innovative, and visionary. This town hall discussion will highlight the lessons learned from some of the dynamic women leaders in the community corrections field who have risen through the ranks of elite private and government organizations. Participants will hear various perspectives from tenured and newer professionals who have not only served on the frontline but also in executive leadership roles.

The panelists will chronicle their career paths; share keys to the development of strong leadership teams while cultivating their own leadership style; and share how they tackled stagnated processes in traditional probation and parole systems. Panelists will provide realistic advice that will help attendees maneuver challenges that have the potential to negatively impact their personal and professional development. Specific discussion will underscore the importance of mental fitness; the roadblocks to professional development; strategies for overcoming adversities; tactics for developing high performance teams; and discussing techniques to develop staff with limited support and funding.

This session emphasizes leaders must find balance–balancing empathy for others while taking care of oneself and balancing the need to adapt while staying connected with one’s personal values. Additional key take-aways include: learning how to build and leverage mental fitness to overcome saboteurs to thrive; recognizing positives and challenges to expect when climbing the ladder; developing strategies for overcoming adversities; learning proven steps and approaches to build successful, positive, high-performing work teams; and understanding how to win when dealing with high-risk issues and battling challenges like workforce shortages, lack of support from direct reports, lack of resources, and financial uncertainty.