There’s a moment I come back to often in conversations about brain injury. It’s not from a medical journal or a professional training—it’s from a scene in a television crime drama. A detective is chasing a suspect through dark, foggy streets. He’s struck by a car, thrown several feet, and lands hard. The music swells. He grimaces but he gets up. Maybe he shakes his head once for effect. Then he keeps running. There's no mention of nausea. No slowing down from dizziness. No confusion about...

There are days in nonprofit life when you wake up, review your to-do list, take a deep breath, and think, “Okay. I’ve got this.” And then by 10:14 AM, your list is in flames, your inbox has declared war, your grant report is three days late, and someone just asked you to do “a quick thing” that will actually take six hours, three spreadsheets, and at least one small sacrifice to the WiFi gods. You know the days I mean. This is a field where nothing goes as planned. Ever. You write a solid,...

One of the tasks of my job is that I am the voice—the voice of Youth Outlook, the voice of the staff when I talk to the board of directors, the voice of administration when I talk to the staff. I’m often the messenger, so I knew and was comfortable with that role. As the voice, how could I also be an ally? Did I have to be? I’m a social worker. Wasn’t I already an ally? To whom? In more recent years, it’s not a question of whether I can or not, the question has become more how could I possibly...

At my agency’s annual fundraiser, I shared a story that I’ve kept private over this past year that I’d like to share with you now. I originally decided to keep it private because I was so struck by the darkness and the cruelty of it that it didn’t feel necessary to allow it to touch other people, but after living with it all year, I’ve come to question if I saw the best part. Maybe there was more to it. After you think about it, you can let me know. Good evening. Welcome to Dare to Dream 2022....