FJC Conference Leadership

2023 Tennessee FJC Conference- Leadership Retreat


Leadership Retreat Agenda

Monday, June 19th

Check in at Venue- After 4pm

6-7:30 PM Optional- Drop in Happy Hour & Snacks @ OFS Cabin 


Tuesday, June 20th

9 – 9:45 AM- Conference Check- in & Breakfast

9:45 – 10 AM-Welcome & Mindfulness Exercise

In Recognition of Juneteenth, Nashville Family Safety Center

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10 – 12 PM- Main Speaker

Michelle Graff- Owner of Cultivating Human Resiliency and author of The Compassion Fatigued Organization: Restoring Compassion to Helping Professionals.

This interactive workshop will explore the role of compassion fatigue in leadership. Leaders will be able to apply neuroscience and trauma-informed principles to increase self-awareness, improve professional relationships and shape organizational culture; recognize the effects of secondary trauma on caring professionals and organizations and understand how to combat compassion fatigue; and identify tools, practices and resources needed to cultivate a compassionate organization.

Visit Michelle’s Website

12 – 12:15 AM- BREAK

12:15 – 1:15 PM- Networking Lunch

Doing More With Less: A Conversation on Funding Strategies

  • Table One: Grants – Diane Lance, Executive Director, Nashville Family Safety Center
  • Table Two: Fundraising – Melissa Miller, Director, Anderson County Family Justice Center

1:15 – 1:45 PM – Mindfulness Exercise

Jennifer McCraw, Director, Safe Hope Center

1:45 – 3 PM- Workshop 

Trauma Informed Leadership, Heather Herrmann, Assistant Director of Education & Strategic Initiatives, Office of Family Safety

Access Slides (PDF)

How do we balance our mission to provide safety and empowerment for victims of interpersonal violence, with the knowledge that our staff absorb the stories of those that they serve and over time may exhibit the same trauma symptoms we see in our clients? What does it mean to make our supervision with staff as trauma-informed as our work with victims? Is it possible to preserve our duty to victims while weighing our concern for staff? This workshop will give attendees space to explore those and other important questions, and to learn how trauma-informed supervision practices can lead to more effective, productive staff in the long term.

3 – 3:15 PM- BREAK

3:15 – 5:15 PM- Workshop 

Sharing Leadership Best Practices and Challenges: A Round Table

Conversation Leaders:

  • Kathryn Ellis, Executive Director Knoxville Family Justice Center
  • Ethele Hilliard, Executive Director, Memphis Family Safety Center
  • Diane Lance, Executive Director, Nashville Family Safety Center
  • Melissa Miller, Director, Anderson County Family Justice Center

5:15 – 6:15 PM- Optional Drop-In Happy Hour for Conference Attendees- OFS Cabin

6:30 – 7:30 PM Dinner at Lodge Restaurant for Leadership Attendees


Michelle Graff

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Michelle Graff is the founder of Cultivating Human Resiliency and the author of The Compassion Fatigued Organization. After more than twenty years in social services, she now focuses on helping the helping professional. Michelle has worked with children and families impacted by trauma in a variety of capacities including providing direct in-home services, professional and program development, and agency leadership. She has an MA in the field of Political Science and a BA in Psychology.  Michelle is also an experienced trainer and consultant utilizing her expertise in child welfare, organizational leadership, and trauma informed care. Her experiences include:

  • Developing dozens of training curricula utilized by state child welfare agencies in training therapists and social workers to successfully engage clients and create positive change.
  • Delivering hundreds of trainings to human service professionals in both public and private agencies across the nation
  • Offering a proven record of developing programs to meet the needs of the community, implementing trauma informed models and leading organizational change.