Events Archive

LITN Cybersecurity Stack

June 24, 2024

Join the Lutheran Information Technology Network (LITN) on July 31 at 4 p.m. ET for an informative Tech Talk webinar on cybersecurity stack. LITN will discuss vendors solutions and options to implement security solutions to protect against cyberattacks. The session will be facilitated by Harry Vijayakumar, CIO of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. The session will address staffing, process, and security technology stack, including endpoints, monitoring, data loss prevention, and vendor effectiveness.

Mentorship and Career Growth in Nonprofits with Alesia Frerichs

June 7, 2024

Alesia Frerichs sits down with Kendra Davenport, the president and CEO of Easterseals and host of the On Board with Leadership podcast. In this conversation, Alesia shares her recent experiences visiting various human services organizations in Ohio, the essential role of nonprofits as training grounds for future leaders, and the importance of finding purpose in one’s work.

Together, they explore the challenges and rewards of the nonprofit sector, the vital role of mentorship, and strategies for maintaining balance and avoiding burnout. Plus, Alesia and Kendra share their favorite reads and discuss the value of strong female leaders.

Watch now! You can also listen to the episode and read the transcript.

2024 Lutheran Information Technology Conference

April 26, 2024

Registration is now open for the 2024 Lutheran Information Technology Network conference, the premier networking and educational conference for information technology professionals at Lutheran nonprofit organizations. The conference will be held September 15–17 in Chicago, Illinois.

The LITN conference is your place to network with your peers and learn from experts on how to respond effectively to our current environment. From expert topical presentations to in-depth networking opportunities, the conference is designed to give you the connections, tools, and resources you need to navigate the new IT normal. Conference sessions will focus on what’s top of mind for information technology professionals, including security, artificial intelligence, managed pay, vendor assessment, user training, VoIP and cell use, KPIs, certification, and much more.

Registration

Interested in registering? The registration fee is just $100 per person!

The registration fee for members covers all of the conference materials and meals at sponsored events. If you have guests who would like to attend, they are welcome to join the welcome reception and the dinner at Top Golf for an additional fee of $50 per person. The registration deadline is August 15, so be sure to register soon!

Agenda

View conference programming.

VIEW AGENDA

Hotel

This year’s conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois. LITN has arranged a conference block with discounted room rates at the Residence Inn Chicago O’Hare. The hotel offers spacious suites with kitchenettes and free Wi-Fi. With an on-site fitness center, basketball hoop, pickleball court, complimentary full American breakfast and airport shuttle service, you’ll be able to relax and recharge.

The special rate of $139-149 is based on booking through the LITN Chicago Conference room block and varies based on room type. To make a reservation by phone, call 848-375-9000 and reference group code LIT. To book online, please visit:

Residence Inn Chicago O’Hare

7101 Chestnut St, Rosemont, IL 60018

Hotel Reservation Deadline: August 15, 2024

The conference will be hosted by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, a founding member of LITN, and will be held at the LSSI offices in Des Plaines, Illinois (less than a mile from the hotel).

BOOK YOUR ROOM

What is LITN?

The Lutheran Information Technology Network (LITN) is a group of IT leaders from Lutheran organizations who work together to further each other’s mission by collaborating, learning, and optimizing IT solutions. Formed in 1999, LITN has grown to include members from across the country and provides educational opportunities, more advantageous relationships with vendors, and other benefits for its members. LITN works closely with Lutheran Services in America to build relationships with non-IT executives from other Lutheran Services in America organizations.

Questions about the conference or registration? Please contact Kim Roque.

Addressing Mental Health Challenges: Scaling Up through Partnerships and Resources

March 25, 2024

Across the country, health and human services agencies are seeing increased demand for behavioral health services for children, youth and families, older adults, people with disabilities, refugees and New Americans, as well as employees. Whether you are considering how best to meet behavioral health needs in your organizations and/or communities or are interested in understanding how to effectively refer individuals to community partners for services, this virtual forum will provide insights and resources. You will have a chance to hear from:

Experienced providers who have successfully launched and grown behavioral health programs.
Experts with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Faith-Based Partnerships.

The discussion will:

Explore innovative approaches to partnership to better address needs.
Support how to navigate funding opportunities including at the federal and state levels.
Provide insights on how to leverage technical assistance and capacity building efforts.
Better prepare you to advocate for resources as demand exceeds capacity for treatment and services.

Speakers

Joe Bañez, Lead External Engagement Officer, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Affairs, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Christine Cauffield, PhD, CEO, LSF Health Systems and Executive Vice President, Lutheran Services Florida
Heidi Christensen, Public Affairs Specialist, Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Teresa Harms Coder, Vice President of Program Performance for Health & Wellness Services, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska

Video Recording

Lived Voices Fellowship Meeting

March 20, 2024

The Lived Voices Fellowship, a program within the Lutheran Services in America Faith, Families and Communities Partnerships Initiative (a collaboration with ELCA World Hunger), is a transformative leadership development experience designed to amplify the unique perspectives and experiences of people who have navigated public systems (e.g. anti-poverty programs, child welfare, public housing) and are poised for expanded leadership in their organization and/or community.

Meetings

August 7–9, 2024 — Washington, D.C.
September 12 — 1:00–4:00 p.m. ET (virtual)
October 10 — 1:00–4:00 p.m. ET (virtual)
November 14 — 1:00–4:00 p.m. ET (virtual)

Advancing Equity: Applying Healing-centered Engagement to your Leadership Practice

February 20, 2024

A four-part Strength & Service Series virtual workshop.

You are invited: Join us for a new four-part series hosted through the Faith, Families and Community Partnerships Initiative — a collaboration between Lutheran Services in America and ELCA World Hunger. Built on the seminal work of scholar and practitioner Dr. Shawn Ginwright, our expert facilitators, Dr. Denicia Carlay and Shannon Scott, will guide us through the practice of healing-centered engagement. The workshop series is designed to support the application of the practice through the four dimensions or “pivots” necessary in our work to improve outcomes for children, youth, families and communities.

Who Should Attend and Why?

This workshop series is designed to support staff at any level of leadership in applying healing-centered engagement in their work. In the words of Dr. Ginwright, it takes practitioners beyond trauma-informed care responses to a “more holistic approach to fostering well-being.” Additionally, it recognizes the ways in which “trauma and healing are experienced collectively” to support improved well-being for families and communities.

Series Overview

Each workshop will address one of the “Four Pivots” and will include interactive activities that strengthen the ability to apply the practice in our respective work and efforts, through a safe and collegial peer-to-peer environment. The workshops will also include group reflection, along with the engagement of outside experts and perspectives. The Four Pivots include:

Pivot 1—Presence: Cultivating mindfulness and intentionality in your actions and interactions.
Pivot 2—Awareness: Fostering self-awareness and reflection to better understand yourself and others.
Pivot 3—Vision: Embracing possibility, unleashing creativity, and innovation.
Pivot 4—Connection: Moving to transformative relationships that foster growth and empowerment.

Register Today!

Register today for each workshop session and join peers on this journey to understanding and applying healing-centered engagement!

Session #1: Presence

Held on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 (recording available below)

Session #2: Awareness (feat. the National Indian Child Welfare Association)

Held on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 (recording available below)

Most non-American Indian / Alaska Native people educated in the United States are not familiar with the overt government policy goals and practices that formed the basis of the hundreds of years of forced assimilation of Native peoples, including systemic, widespread removal of Native children from their families and communities. Corporations and the nonprofit sector were also contributors to and active participants in colonization and the implementation of federal Indian policy.

Learning about the strategic intent and milestones of these policies and their impacts on Native children, their families, and tribal nations is an important step towards understanding the structural change necessary to truly embrace tribal sovereignty, honor tribal self-determination, and support community healing. Beyond employing this structural analysis lens, “mirror work” will also allow us to “get underneath the hood” as Dr. Shawn Ginwright says, “and explore our motivations, fears, dreams, and insecurities with a sense of curiosity.”

Session #3: Vision (feat. the Frameworks Institute)

1:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Session #4: Connection

1:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Workshop Series Facilitators

Dr. Denicia Carlay currently serves as co-founder and co-CEO of Village is Possible. Denicia is a community healer, complex trauma survivor, scholar, practitioner, and village keeper. Denicia roots her practice in love and restoration of inner light. She specializes in embodied, healing centered engagement with children, youth, and families. Denicia has served foster care and juvenile justice impacted youth in various capacities as a social worker, consultant, clinician, and facilitator in the field of child welfare for 16 years. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership in social justice, licensure in clinical social work, and pupil personnel services credential, but with all these degrees and things Denicia just hopes to someday be the “hood mama” for her entire village and anyone in need of community.

Shannon Scott is the founder of Our Lived Experience (OLE) and J8 Consulting. Her experience includes both U.S.-based and international not-for-profits. Shannon began her career in education as a teacher with Teach For America and continued her work in education reform in the Teach For All network. She was the founding Leadership Development Officer at Teach For Malaysia and launched the first leadership development continuum for Teach For America’s work in the Mississippi Delta. For the last six years, she’s run a national leadership development fellowship in child welfare, working in 15 different states, DC, and Puerto Rico. Shannon deeply values adult learning and leadership development.

Recordings

Session #1: Presence

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Session #2: Awareness

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Health & Housing Solutions Summit: Shaping the Future to Accelerate Action

February 13, 2024

We invite you to join Lutheran Services in America, in partnership with ELCA World Hunger, for the Health and Housing Solutions Summit: Shaping the Future to Accelerate Action on May 7 & 8 in Washington, D.C. The convening brings together Lutheran Services in America network members, practitioners, philanthropic stakeholders, thought leaders and policymakers to engage in robust dialogue to advance aligned action. Join us to inform and spur new approaches to expand access to affordable housing along with needed support and services to improve health and opportunity for people across the country.

As part of the convening, we will release a new report developed in collaboration with Abt Global to highlight a variety of approaches across the Lutheran Services in America network that address housing insecurity and other health-related social needs. Drawing from these approaches, the convening will include opportunities to:

Strengthen our collective capacity by identifying and exploring approaches that are expanding access to housing with support and services, through a focus on financing, partnerships, equity and data to inform and guide aligned action.
Catalyzing innovation and collaboration by examining the most promising approaches – what works, why, and how – that can be improved for greater spread and scale including through policy levers to accelerate change.
Sharing Solutions: Amplifying the faith-based, trusted, community-centered leadership of our network with partners to shape the future of affordable housing that meets the diverse needs of communities.

The Essential Lutheran Role in Health and Housing

Across the country, Lutheran Services in America network members are taking action to improve the housing landscape of their communities. This convening builds off of our Housing Solutions Collaborative that was formed last year that connects members with external leaders and resources to strengthen collective efforts. Network members are improving housing in a variety of ways, including through:

Developing affordable housing for children, youth and families and seniors.
Expanding housing access for people with disabilities and New Americans.
Revitalizing existing housing and stewarding land historically owned churches and faith-based schools to increase the supply of mixed income housing; and
Improving housing security with access to supports and services, including behavioral health.

There is no cost to attend the convening.