National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference serves 1,300 professionals
Georgia Southern University’s College of Education had near record-breaking attendance at the 34th annual National Youth Advocacy and Resilience (NYAR) Conference. The conference was at capacity with over 1,300 participants from across the U.S. attending sessions as presenters or audience members. The event was held March 5-8 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Savannah.
Conference co-chair, Alisa Leckie, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of Partnerships and Outreach, remarked, “As in past years, we had to create a waiting list given the continued demand for the conference and for information on how to best build resilience among our community’s youth. Although we wish we could have accommodated everyone who wanted to attend, we are heartened at how many people want to learn how to better support children and families.”
One of the University’s longest-running and largest conferences, the NYAR Conference provides professional development and evidence-based techniques to educators, social workers, counselors, school resource officers, administrators, psychologists, and others who work with and advocate for minors. This year’s four-day event featured more than 100 sessions that focused on the five domains of youth advocacy: Head (academics), Heart (social/emotional), Health (physical), Hand (safety), and Home (families).
New to this year’s conference were student presenters who talked about their advocacy work. Conference co-chair Taylor Norman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Middle and Secondary Grades, says, “Ideally, we can continue to engage those who most benefit from the work, the students/children themselves, to show advocacy professionals what an impact they make.”
For more information, the NYAR Conference program is available online at https://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ce/conferences/nyar/
Leckie and Norman encourage those interested in attending future NYAR Conferences to register early. Registration for the 2024 conference opens in October.