2024 Keynote Speaker
Jeannette Maré (pronounced Mar-ay) (she/her), Ph.D.
Director, Science of Kindness Community Collective
France McClelland Institute, Norton School of Human Ecology, University of Arizona
Jeannette Maré, PhD, is the Director of the Science of Kindness Community Collective at the University of Arizona. Her path to becoming a community-engaged kindness researcher was a long and winding one. Jeannette’s world changed drastically after the sudden death of her son in 2002. In the incredible grief of losing Ben, learning and sharing about the lifesaving, world-changing power of kindness became her sole focus. With her heart broken open, she founded Ben’s Bells, a nonprofit that inspires and teaches the intentional practice of kindness. Now a research professor at the University of Arizona, Jeannette leads a research collaborative exploring how to increase kindness in interpersonal relationships, organizations, and communities.
Keynote Address
The science is clear - kindness is vital for human health and well-being. Kindness can be expressed through interpersonal interactions and organizational leadership, policies, and practices. But as much as we want to be kind as individuals and organizations, we often struggle to communicate kindness consistently. Jeannette Maré, founder of Ben’s Bells Project and Director of the University of Arizona Science of Kindness Community Collective, will explore the challenges and opportunities we encounter in every interaction as we strive to create closer relationships and kinder communities. Jeannette will reflect on her experiences with kindness in the face of devastating grief, share insights from her work with Ben's Bells, and discuss the emerging body of research on the science of kindness. Using humor and storytelling, Jeannette inspires and equips participants to incorporate the life-changing practice of kindness into their daily lives, starting right now.
Student Poster Presentations
SSWAAZ is honored to foster the growth of the next generation of School Social Workers and encourages submissions from Social Work students on all aspects of School Social Work, school- based practice, and research for presentation at the 2024 annual conference. Students whose proposals are accepted may also apply for a scholarship to attend the conference in its entirety.
For information and support about poster presentations visit the ASU’s Poster Presentation Preparation Page.
Conference Resource Fair - vendor application
SSWAAZ is looking for community vendors to participate in our 2024 Annual Conference. During the conference we will host a community resource fair for all participates to walk around network and gather information about community resources. If this is something your agency/company is interested in we offer two options: The options are: 1. In-person participation at the resource fair. OR 2. For organizations that may not want to participate in-person, they can provide written information in the form of brochuresor fliers (one page max) about the services they provide to the community. The fee for Option 1 - In-Person Participation is $100 + a raffle prize with a suggested value of $25 or more. The fee for Option 2 - written information placed in all conference attendee folders, is $50 + cost of sending the information to SSWAAZ. Submission deadline is December 15, 2023. Please note that number of organizations able to participate in- person at the event is limited. Apply today - Vendor Application