Mental Health & Anti-Racism: Prioritizing Wellness in the Workplace
Managing stress in order to perform at our highest level at work may be the most challenging task we face professionally. The stress we have to manage when doing anti-racism and inclusion work is draining, often grueling, and can be overwhelming. Achieving a sense of accomplishment and purpose at work is one of the most fulfilling experiences and recharges individuals, even in the most stressful of jobs. The skills to gain workplace satisfaction are achieved by understanding and practicing mental wellness principles that provide the inner stability to deal with any stressful situation and the organizational tools to create less stressful work environments. This inspiring presentation will offer tools and strategies to support our own individual wellness, especially at the intersection of our most important identities, while supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. You’ll hear stories and learn science-based strategies for elevating your workplace into one that promotes everyone’s mental and emotional wellbeing.
Dr. Isaiah Pickens (he/him) is a licensed clinical psychologist, national trauma expert, and Founder and CEO of iOpening Enterprises (iOE), a professional development company specializing in professional development and culture change at the intersection of mental health and wellness, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). In this capacity, Dr. Pickens has given numerous keynotes and workshops at events and organizations across the country. He and his team at iOE also work directly with organizations to create and sustain internal culture change at the intersection of DEIB and wellness, through the Elevate Work curriculum, supporting staff and coaching executive leaders.
Dr. Pickens has also developed the Bridge Trauma-Informed Culturally Responsive (TICR) Program, a robust professional development program for educators that provides a practical toolkit for managing youth traumatic stress responses in the school setting. Additionally, he has developed the Think Trauma curriculum to support justice professionals in operating in a trauma-informed way.
As former Assistant Director at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress—the coordinating site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), and a former clinical assistant professor at NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Pickens has built a reputation as a national trauma and identity expert and shares practical science-informed lessons about mental wellness and equity with audiences around the world. He aims to continue working toward systemic change and unlocking people’s potential by moving the world from happy to healthy through psychological science.
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Dr. Pickens is a proud graduate of The George Washington University, Fordham University, and School Without Walls High School. He currently splits his time between his home in Los Angeles, CA and Washington, DC.
