Hope on the Horizon: Required Elements for Social Change
A Courageous Conversations Five-Part Series

All proceeds from this series go directly to Unity Temple on the Plaza.

You may choose to register for the whole series or for individual dates. This is listed under registration options.

This series of workshops will provide participants with a framework for understanding how meaningful social change takes place, ultimately resulting in the development of, or changes in, social policy. Often times, the “experts” describe policy analysis models in ways that can be both dry and confusing. A more dynamic, yet concrete and practical model, though, is provided by Joel Blau and Mimi Abramovitz (2004) and can be explained by using relatable examples. “Elements,” or categories in which a multitude of influential factors reside, come together in a perfect storm, subsequently, providing both the context and an infrastructure to support broad social change. If you’re thinking this sounds like the current spirit of the times, you’re right. Come find out just how and why it is so, there is, indeed, hope on the horizon! We will explore the factors which make up an individual Element for social change (the Economy, Politics, Ideological Perspectives & Conflicts, Social Movements & Social change, and History).

Bio: Dr. Deborah Reyome holds a bachelor’s degree in Child/Family Services, a master’s degree in Social Work, and a PhD in Social Welfare. Over the course of her professional life, Dr. Reyome worked with individuals, families, and communities in educational, housing, medical, and residential settings, and in both rural and urban areas. Prompted by the apparent need for social reform in the greater society and change in these systems, she returned to graduate school to pursue the doctorate. In doing so, she immersed herself in research that examines people’s attitudes and behavior, and focused her teaching specialization on social and mental health policy. After teaching social policy to both undergraduate and graduate students for several years at the State University of New York at Albany’s School of Social Welfare and Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, MA, she became a fellow with the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. Later she worked as a full time faculty member teaching the full range of course work for undergraduate social work students. She is currently residing in the Kansas City area and is strongly interested in working with local community organizations to address issues of social and economic justice through sharing the knowledge and skills that she has gained over the years.