The 14th Annual Waterlow World Maturity Conference

Saturday November 7th - Sunday November 8th, 2026

a hybrid gathering, at the Boston Nature Center and on Zoom.

Boston Nature Center 500 Walk Hill Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02126

for information, please call Adam Frost, one of the conference coordinators, at 617-522-1049, or click here to email, or email to: adamfrost@ComputerCareandLearning.com

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Please call Adam Frost at 617-522-1049, to discuss what you'd like to talk about, or click here to email, or email adamfrost@computercareandlearning.com.

People are also cordially welcome to come and join the discussion without bringing a prepared talk.

Brad Baker on gardening Caroline Bridgman-Rees and Kathleen Robinson

An introductory note from Adam:

My high school history teacher, Charlotte Waterlow, died in 2011 in England, where she had retired after a long and full career of teaching, writing, speaking and cheerful revolutionary agitation. In seeking a way to celebrate this wonderful organizer, I realized-- we should organize! In that spirit, we held the first conference in Charlotte's honor in 2012 in Boston. The conference was rich and moving, and provided inspiration, guidance and nourishment for the year.

The conference has been held each year since then. We hope you will join us.

2026 Conference

As with the last thirteen annual conferences, this is a participatory conference, with each person, if s/he wishes, giving a talk or a presentation in a media of her/his choosing. People also are welcome to come and simply listen and join in the discussions. The theme, once again, is something you do that helps the world become a more mature place.

Charlotte wrote that human society has developed into a sort of adolescence, filled with "joy riding" and other self-defeating and destructive behaviors, that may seem fun or necessary at the time but are leading us all to the edge of a cliff. She frequently said our choice now is "grow up or blow up".

The purpose of this conference is to nurture our efforts to help the world grow up and not blow up. These efforts can be part of paid, professional work, or part of one's personal or volunteer life. Our goal has been to share this work with each other, get encouragement and constructive suggestions, and see how our work fits together.

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Schedule for the November 2026 conference:

Saturday, November 7th:

the day starts at 10 am and goes to 4 pm.

10 am—Set up potluck, introductions, making sure everyone has what they need.

10:30 am-- Remembering and learning from Charlotte Waterlow

led by Charlotte's friends and colleagues, including a reading from writing by conference co-founder, the late Caroline Bridgman-Rees, and a talk by Adam Frost

11 am - 3:45 pm talks, eating, a nature walk, and chatting

4 pm- People are encouraged to walk and visit the sanctuary together.

Sunday, November 8th:

10 am-- meet and get re-acquainted

10:30 am - 4 pm Talks, presentations, and discussions

4 pm - nature walk and au revoir till next year

2025 Conference participants

Lisa Frost-Goodall: is a longtime independent music teacher in Red Bank, NJ, teaching flute, recorder, and piano. She has been performing as a classical singer, flutist, and recorder player for many years. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Harvard, an M.Ed. from Lesley University, and has studied graduate musicology at Penn State and Rutgers Universities. She was a long-time flute student of Robert Stahlman at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and studied voice for many years with Marcy Lindheimer in NYC, theater at McCarter Theater in Princeton, and breathing studies with Carl Stough in NYC. She is a member of the Cecilian Music Club of Monmouth County, the Shore Music Educators Association, and the Music Teachers National Association.

Xiao Situ: Xiao Situ is a freelance art historian and religious scholar based in NYC. She received an M.A. and Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale University, and an M.A.R. (Comprehensive Masters in Religion) from Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music. She teaches, writes, and researches for colleges, museums, and publications, the most recent including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Connecticut State Community College, and King's College London.

George Gifford: George Gifford served as a Marine in Iraq, and returned to help veterans and others work with trauma. He currently works as an advocate in the Georgia foster care system.

Maia Frost: Maia is a student, teacher and activist who helps people understand climate and fairness issues.

Adam Frost: works as a computer educator and computer helper in Boston, Mass. He helps run www.VitalToolsShared.org, a non-profit that helps people of all walks of life get full access to computers and computer education.

Morgan Frost: Morgan is a graduate of Northwestern having studied theater management and sociology. She finds the crossroads between these two fields in actor advocacy and harm reduction. Morgan created the Collaboret, a theatre production that welcomed students without theatre experience to discover acting for the first time.

Samuel Tenka: Samuel’s studies focus on Computer Science and Pure Mathematics, aligning with his passion for developing Artificial Intelligence.

Evisa Nano: Evisa has advanced training as an IT specialist and currently teaches ESL to high school students in Southern New Hampshire.

Mark Dwortzan:

Initially charting flight paths to Mars and Venus as an interplanetary spacecraft mission planner for NASA, Mark Dwortzan now applies his writing, editing and project management skills to advance a more sustainable way of life on Earth. In addition to his work as principal of Green Village Communications, he serves as communications director for a research organization at MIT that seeks to improve understanding of sustainability challenges and help decision-makers take action to enhance well-being for current and future generations.

Rebecca Cuevas: As an educator for the California Water Authority, Rebecca developed creative classes to help young people and their teachers learn about how we get, use and sometimes mis-use water. More recently, she has adapted her successful educational approaches to the online world, helping educators and entrepreneurs to use the web as a good classroom.

Jay Hoffman: (rightsymbols@yahoo.com) I have studied math up through ordinary differential equations. I also do office work at Center Club in addition to tutoring there. I am also a volunteer at Vital Tools Shared program www.VitalToolsShared.org, where I learn other valuable skills, such as refurbishing older computers and working on a team with people with different personality styles.

Kathleen Robinson is a longtime JP resident and cooperator at the Leland Street Cooperative Garden in Forest Hills.

Robin Leist: Armed with a degree in English Education from Cornell University and a master’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Robin thought she could help people learn in classroom settings. She discovered that her heart was in helping people who were really struggling. After years of counseling and teaching, she was the Executive Director of a Family Resource Center in Southern Colorado for 17 years. The Center was dedicated to helping low-income families solve financial crises, raise children, develop better mental health, communicate needs and become more involved in the community.

After she retired, she created Ittybags, Inc. and has developed a series of books and games to encourage personal growth and communication skills.

Jim Leist: Jim Leist has been involved in aviation since 1973 when he attained his Private Pilot Certification. Jim has managed several large fixed base operations (FBOs) throughout the US. In 2010, Jim was contracted to Airbus S.A.S. to work as site manager in Xaiman, China, to train a Chinese company to convert the Airbus A381 through A321 series aircraft to Corporate or VIP aircraft.

Earlier, Jim was responsible for development and management of a $2,000,000, 18-month vocational training program providing instruction in basic and advanced electronics technology. He restructured the initial avionics curriculum to offer a broader spectrum of training to meet general electronics industry requirements.

Jim has been involved in corporate training and consulting since 1989. He developed a series of courses and workshops centered on people, technology, and the quality sciences. Services and training courses included: Conflict Resolution, Internal & External Customer Relations, Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation, Strategic and Operational Planning, Small Business Start-up, Marketing, Teamwork, Process Planning and Analysis.

Senior Research Fellow in physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 2001

Stephanie C. Fox, J.D. (scfjdqueenbee@yahoo.com, https://www.queenbeeedit.com) is an author, editor, publisher, and law school graduate. Her publishing imprint is QueenBeeBooks.

She writes in a variety of formats and genres: short story, novels, memoir, travelogue, history, children's story, horror, allegory, dystopian, and science fiction.

She is an alumna of William Smith College, where she majored in history and minored in women's studies, and of the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she served as a Lead Articles Editor of the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal. Her thesis paper dealt with the subject matter of outer space law, and was about orbital debris, entitled "International Toxic Torts Caused by I.F.O.s (Identified Flying Objects)."

After completing her degree, she taught law and computer software courses at a community college in Connecticut and founded QueenBeeEdit, a service that offers writing, editing, tutoring, and book creation.

Her background is in history, women’s studies, law, the Middle East, and French. Ms. Fox has worked as a historic interpreter at The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut.

Past Conferences:

2024 conference:

Bill Himelhoch : (bill.himelhoch@yahoo.com) In past years I have been an English instructor, visual artist, and social work clinician. Now in the autumn of life I am a writer.

Kathleen Robinson is a longtime JP resident and cooperator at the Leland Street Cooperative Garden in Forest Hills.

Geoffrey “Lizard” Robinson (lizardear@hotmail.com) runs Lizard Plumbing in Arcata, California, and is a talented musician and enjoys music as a avocation, starting piano lessons at age 7 from a gifted housemate.

Jay Hoffman: (rightsymbols@yahoo.com) I have studied math up through ordinary differential equations. I also do office work at Center Club in addition to tutoring there. I am also a volunteer at Vital Tools Shared program www.VitalToolsShared.org, where I learn other valuable skills, such as refurbishing older computers and working on a team with people with different personality styles.

Carl and Sharon Kotapish: (cskot@sover.net) Carl and Sharon are co-authors of the first written dictionary in Dari, a language of Nepal (https://www.amazon.com/Darai-English-English-Darai-glossary-Carl-Kotapish/dp/B0006CSOKU) Sharon and Carl Kotapish are originally from the Chicago area, but now live in East Dummerston, Vermont. They were married in 1968 and have three wonderful children and four lovely grandchildren.

In 1971 they moved from Chicago to Nepal and lived there for six years doing linguistic research on a minority language called Darai. After working there, their journey led them to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for almost eighteen years where Carl taught English as a Second Language (TESOL) to Saudi employees of Saudi Aramco. Both Sharon and Carl were also involved in curriculum development in the company. After leaving Saudi Arabia and living in Vermont, Sharon and Carl led writers’ workshops in India and Nepal and established a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Nepal Outreach to provide scholarships to poverty-stricken children to attend school.

Both Sharon and Carl hold master’s degrees in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Sharon also holds a doctor’s degree in Rhetoric and Linguistics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Adam Frost: works as a computer educator and computer helper in Boston, Mass.

Maia Frost: Maia is a student, teacher and activist who helps people understand climate and fairness issues.

Anatole Manzi: is deputy chief medical officer and director of clinical quality and health systems strengthening at Partners In Health (PIH), engineering innovative solutions to integrate equity and quality management with clinical practice. He also serves as director of PIH’s global learning collaborative for pandemic preparedness and response and dynamic health systems resilience. Manzi is a New Voices Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute and founder of Move Up Global, which strives to improve access to better health and education in remote and resource-constrained communities. His research evaluates health care quality improvement interventions in resource-limited settings. Manzi is assistant professor of global health at University of Global Health Equity and lecturer on medicine in the department of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Stephanie C. Fox, J.D. (scfjdqueenbee@yahoo.com, https://www.queenbeeedit.com) is an author, editor, publisher, and law school graduate. Her publishing imprint is QueenBeeBooks.

She writes in a variety of formats and genres: short story, novels, memoir, travelogue, history, children's story, horror, allegory, dystopian, and science fiction.

Her background is in history, women’s studies, law, the Middle East, and French. Ms. Fox has worked as a historic interpreter at The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut.

Evy Savitz: is a poet and author based in the Boston area.

Susan Akua Mariam Badu: is a relentless advocate for change and empowerment. From Ghana to the United States, my journey has been fueled by an unwavering commitment to support those in need. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Akua Career Academy, a non-profit organization that holds a special place in my heart.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree from Marymount College, an MBA from Regis University, and a Master’s degree in counseling from New York University, I have dedicated over three decades to working with individuals facing diverse challenges. From disabilities to mental health issues, substance abuse, criminal backgrounds, and beyond, my career has been defined by a passion for making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

As a licensed mental health counselor, I have provided invaluable support to married couples, families, parents, and individuals grappling with grief. My role as an autism intervention specialist has granted me the privilege of working closely with autistic students. In contrast, my work with families navigating the intricacies of adoption and foster care has deepened my understanding of the human experience.

Motivated by a distinct vision, I established Akua Career Academy to offer practical training for job skills in vital fields like construction, masonry, food service, customer service, automotive repair, building upkeep, childcare, healthcare, and farming. My ultimate goal is to empower every student, irrespective of their background, to achieve economic and emotional self-sufficiency. I am committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of their disabilities, economic status, or orphaned status, has equitable access to quality education and rewarding career opportunities.

Mary McConnell trained as a nurse in Ireland and moved to the United States, where she has helped countless patients. She is a gifted craftswoman, who makes hats and other beautiful and useful objects.

Lisa Frost-Goodall is a longtime independent music teacher in Red Bank, NJ, teaching flute, recorder, and piano. She has been performing as a classical singer, flutist, and recorder player for many years. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Harvard, an M.Ed. from Lesley University, and has studied graduate musicology at Penn State and Rutgers Universities. She was a long-time flute student of Robert Stahlman at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and studied voice for many years with Marcy Lindheimer in NYC, theater at McCarter Theater in Princeton, and breathing studies with Carl Stough in NYC. She is a member of the Cecilian Music Club of Monmouth County, the Shore Music Educators Association, and the Music Teachers National Association.

Xiao Situ Xiao Situ (https://www.xiaosituphd.com/) is a NYC-based art historian, religious scholar, and caregiver to two elderly parents. She received a B.A. in art history from Vassar College, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from Yale. She teaches art history as an adjunct for Connecticut State Community College, writes regularly for Commonweal Magazine and The Visual Commentary on Scripture, and does independent research on art and religion. She’s a fan of horror and true crime podcasts and films .

Detailed notes from each day of the conference:

11/16/24:

We did introductions, and read the child-friendly verson of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights https://childrightsconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/english-cf-version-udhr-1.pdf

Jay Hoffman: always interested in math, and has studied math up to differential equations. I was taught how to tutor at Center Club by an educational psychologist. I tutor adults. One of my students has dyslexia. When doing fractions, he'd sometimes work on the wrong step. He might confuse numerator and denominatorm, or mulitplication iwth addition. My student is very patient and very motivated to learn. Finding the least common denominator

Jay: you develop rules, or you use intuition. With a person with dyslexia, starting with rules can help get started. With geometry and algebra, it can work both ways.

We used paint to show how brownie fractions work. $Brownies and fraction.png$

Sometimes students miss appointments.

Jay did some tutoring in finance.

Jim: where are we as a people that we voted in Trump

The Kotapish grandchildren joined us, and we re-read the universal declaration of human rights, child-friendly version.

Carl and Sharon told us about Nepal.

Lisa Frost Goodall introduced us to the organ over Zoom from a church in New Jersey.

Forward Looking -- people with disabilities

Lizard: competition like wild animals, real need to put down people

Mary McConnell: in 1960 huge nursing shortage. Hospitals recruited nurses from England, Ireland and Australia. She has been here ever since; worked every hospital in the city. I miss my family-- oldest of 8th children now there are few of us, feel lonelineiness at not having them.

Kathleen--big movement in California to stop cars-- Car Free magazine.

Bill Himelhoch: my first professon was teaching English in Michigan. Moved to New York City to become a would-be artist. It was great living in that megacity. Then I decided I should grow old in a more managemeable environment, so I moved to Boston, and becamea social worker. In the Autumn and winter of life, spending a lot of time writing now.

Manzi: from Rwanda. Moved to US 10 yeara go, works at Partners in Health. Worked wtih Paul Farmer on HIV epidemic in Rwanda. When I went back home to the school I went to as a child 5 years ago.

Lizard: sang and played guitar for us: Charlie Patten song about highway robbers -- where the green is gone. Shake it and break it , Furry Lewis

Susan Badu: we all have in common-- service to people

I was 8 years old, didn't know what diability was. A woman wearing a pinkish dess-- I only spoke French. She asked me why I was crying, it was seeing the woman crawling on the flor. When I become rich I want to help people with disabilities. Mother said, if that's what God wants you to do it, you will do it.

Akua Career Academy.

Manzi showed Susan how to use presenter view

a vision inspirrted. Stigma in African countries, stigma against peole with disabilities. She sees enormous possibliites in US for people with disabilities. People in US would donate items and ship them to Ghana. Kids blamed for having disability.

Goal is to build a school in Accra. Accra has large pharmaceuitical company, could get internships, and perhaps sa place in a remote area. My mother had my sister when she was 18 in the the 50s. My sister was born with a physical disability. Her neck and body was very weak, and she would tip over.

Mother was rejected, told to kill the baby. My mother said God doesn not make mistakes. The closest clinic was one room and a doctor once a week. 2 hour walk if she can't get a ride. Imagine coming to clinic with kid with neck that is not too stable. Usually not have money-- had to beg for it. Did home schooling at 4 years old. Then family of father accepted the child as human. Motrher still struggles with the stigma-- some peoplel wouldn’t talk with her, wouldn't sit next to her. Ghana is Christian and Muslim. They read the Bible verse-- think your ancestor did something wrong. Stigma for the whole family. Some men didn not want to marry into our family. Mother was very resilient.

My sister ocntinued with achievements

Mother beought Susan to America. Our school will give suppoert to families that need it. People wcan learn that if you ge tthe support you need, a person with disabilities can do well.

Mother had 7 children.

Shoe donatiion, mental health services in US. Got presidential award.

Kids in Ghana: stigmas and social exclusion, limited acxess to educaton and employment, lack of family support.

Cousin whose child has cerebral palsy, but they keep it a secret. He shared iwt when he learned what Susan is doing. Auntie, if I had let people know, there is now way I would have gogtten to be police leieutentant.

Adam: henderson school-- importance of peer pressure

Susan: classroom of 60 children. Susan works in high school with kids with autism. In Ghana, they are using the word mainstream, abut they don't understand what it means-- they just put the kid in the classroom, but they don't train the teacher to work with that kid. Parents are embarrassed. I cxreared a compeition:

respectful

show support for other students

how to help with challenges in the classrrom

Kid can't hear you, he's trying to read your lips.

In Ghana, sometimes a teaxher will show what a cxomputer looks like.

Akua Career Academy.

If a woman goes to give birth, and a woman dies, that child has a huge stigma.

No foodbank, no retiremen pklanning.

$250 can change a family's life. Farmer's market -- non one buys from mother with a child with disability.

If you can breath, we can train you to become succcessful. Ghana is very resourceful-- sewin, computer schools, building, farming. We wanto gfrow food, and have resaurant, and sell food to the community,.

tangible skills-- then you don't see thew person as disagbled.

Akua has helped 50 families-- supplies , talking to family with new child with disability, providing $250, finding someone to help. 500 student,s in Ghana and over 10000 in uniteds

adam: partnerships between family with disability in us and family in ghana

Suan: my basement looks like a warehouse. No clean water in Ghana-- set up wells.

given food, shoes/clothes, boooks, and killed trainings

akuaacademy.com. Help with monetary donation, purchase of land for the

raising $100k skill based training. $20K for land. Hopes to take 20 peole toghan.

"living with a disability"

Penpal:

Erich Weinberger-- I'm feeding peole in a park

Stigma for women who can't conecive a child. Aging grandparents come in to teach about culture. Younger generation is trying to forget our own culture. Women who can't convee a child, to be come a mothe rto a child

Manzi: miles and miles in Rwanda to the nearest health facility. I visited the school were I was, I saw Jasmine, laying in the grass. Teacher said the kids had abdominal pain, laying in grass so they feel better. I could not believe that-- this is a condition that take s 50 cents to prevent or treat for the entire year. Jasmine looked like 4 years old, but she was actually 9 years old-- she was studnted. She would come from home =and sit in the back of the classroom. She was also studtned intellectually. We see Jasmin: constant pain, moderate to severe malnuturiton, poor academic performance. She had a cataract.

the little girl with the silver ey

No routine annual physical checkup

tooth pain

teahefrs and students don't know her conditions

whw visit her family whe she is at school

her school is not linked to health facility

no access to clean water

frequent rfeinfection

siblings-- two little ones -- severe malnutution.

Why ono access to health care? it is far away.

Raanda: one docto for 10,000 people.

Neglected tropical diseaes-- can be prevented with 50 cents per child for a year.

1 billion peopl at risk, 90% live in Afridca

57 million disability adjusted life year-- the years lived with disability.

Jasmin is nine-- she's supposed to be in thrid grade, but she's now in 1st grade-- a life lived with a condition that deson't let you be productive.

20 Neglected tropcical disease-- for example intestinal worms, that's what Jasmine has.

Malnutrition in Musanze district-- where Manzi was born and raised. 41% of children in this province, the intestinal parasites eat what you eat.

Root causes:

Extreme poverty: can't access clean water, medication. 58% of the people live on $2/day

Leads to : high pregvalence of neglected tropical diseases and malnut ition, poor motor cogni tiv en sociaonemotional dvevelompent, freequen t abseteeis amd poor academic performance

ManzI I suffered from these conditions growing up in Musanze. After the genocide, my uncle took me into a city life. My mother, 6 children, -- take this child away from me. Manzi was in the same condition as Jasmine. I went to Kigali, and studied health. Paul Farmer, poverty has a cure, poverty has a cure.

When I went back to my neighborhood, I felt called to help.

Bill: is stunting reversible?

Manzi: yes, never too late.

The Knot (Ipfundo) model: Capitolizing on systems linkages

Schools chapion innovat ions to tackle neglected tropidcal diseases, malnutition and other conditions

Schools as community learning labs

Teachers engaged in early detection and referral or managemen t or diseases and ot her conditions hindering education and community development.

THis way, the teachers are trained in early detection, and they are know n as leaders in their communit y andthey see the studdents avery day.

We're connecting communi ty heal th and educaiton.

Manzi: health and education are two vertical systems. But what if we connectted them, so teacher s and nurses in the same room.

Community-deskigned bundle

We realized that there are hotspots of these conditions in certain communities. Then the community health worker would pay atention to chilren who are seriously affeced. Talk to the parents and figure out what the kids need. WOrk with families to reversew sudting.

We developed a health passport that has the info a family needs. Most of these sdiseases are due to hygeine and snaitation. Now the teachers are producing a soapmaking factory-- both for kids, and also a small business. The NTDs are soul transmitted, so providing shoes, it can be prevented. Not just about one pill.

Traditional public health says you can cure this condition with just one pill, a bendazole. But if you don't address the root caues, the child will be sick again. They need shoes, and soap at home.

Malnutirion: parasites eats up everything. Instead of distributing food from schools, we have schools producing their own food -- chicken coops. Now every family has their own chicks.

It is not negleted disease, it is neglected people.

HOw spread this model: Manzi teaches at Harvard and Tufts. We send our students to Musanze district to work on these bundle initiatives-- the fellow pairs with a Rwandan.

You can reach the entire neighborhood through schools.

Fellows are working on:

Over the past 5 years, we've seen a significant decline in kids with intestinal parasites.

Shift in community health:

one off campaigns vs integrated and longitutinal health promotion

distribution of food, vs communiteies of centers of food production

vertical and siloed systems, vs anhanced education and health systems linkages

healoth worker dfrined and implemented startges, vs proactive engagement and comunity defined solutions

theortical health education curricul fs hands on community center health promotion

Less stigma getting health care from school

Tying the knot between educaaton and primary health systems

Power of community voices and leaders: very low costs

Very small investment-- 98% children getting into high school.

Manzi: like Susan, we need to get opportunities to these individual, get jobs and raise their families.

Bill: lowere economic groups in US are demanding that the community

Vanessa: how to help?

Manzi: get in touch and we'll find a way to be part of Move Up Global. I never knew I'd be one of the global health wokers. I'd love to have you on our team.

Kathleen: I'm really glad about what's happening, that people in such poor countries are able to lift out of poverty to get education from global north

Poem by Evy Luchs

My Inquisition

So far, we live under benevolent rule.

We don’t need to disguise our faith

like the Marranos of Spain.

Though our grown-up children

are no longer inquisitive,

we’re not living through an Inquisition.

But things are slowly changing.

I will still kiss the mezuzah

before leaving home,

while I can have one on my door.

Evelyn Luchs 11/11/24

Maia: sophomore in college. History of racism. Dungeons and dragons role playng game.

Racism in dungeons and dreaons and Tolkien's

Dungeons and Dragons are boased on characters from JRR TOlkien.

Tolkien: was educated with racism, asians are bad and evill,

Stereo type of the british propagand ain ww i and wwii is that asian people are bads. THis fed into Tolien's creation of orc. D&D was created long after Lord of the Rings. D&D moved the racism to indigenous, african

Orcs are dark skinned monster with yellow teeth and claws, but also described as savages, inherently evil, stupid-- oftenused to descirbe peole of color.

Heroes are used as tools so players can kill things. Why can we deny a personhood.

You separate yourself from the personness of the person.

Adam: racism in America!

Maia: create the oppressive power dynamiics:

3 goals:

1. systemic racism in D&D in the literal sense

James Mendex ZHodes articla about britons

2. I want to portray and challenge opproessive powere dyanamics

My original ida was to creatre utiopia that worked really well, direct democracy. ut that is Maia's perpectrive.

But by having people from my class playing characthers, they will help create, helping to write the story.

Education, publick h

Tabletop roleplayin: ealth action, advocacy, re3search and impact deissemination

tabletop roleplaying game: pick your character, humans are the Whites-- the highest people, game system pushes stero typin g of races.

Lizard: bringing greater awareness of othering with people, and cooperation. I likeed hobbit because it wasn't only about violence. HTere's an element of competition among playsers, which contributes to notion of violence and defeatinghte energy. My challenge to you is to find a way to transform it to where indifcidual players so the cgame is a cooperative experience.

waterlowwaterlow

Adam: racism is a fiendish form of communication

Lisa: these games create whole worlds, structures

MAI: IN A TRADITIONal game, the dungeon maker creates the world, maps, and the governement system. They can get as deep into it as they want, or gbase it on a book. In this, I'm basing the world off the united states. I want the players to work together to crfeate their won system of government.

Maia helped LIzard, Jay and Kathleen to play Dungeons and Dragons. THey come into a place with makeshift tents. All the food has been destroyed by flooding. The goblin goes to another group of goblins who say, you got the pumpkins. Kathleen: build a wall. Jay: cut the pumpkin in half, ask them to work. Lizard: they have the field, they lost their topsoil. Let's bring them some compost.

Kathleen: bring them our compost? You've got to be kidding

Anarchism as religion-- the class is about anarchy

Maia: my roommate is the most violent in D&D.

Adam: people from other walks of life

Maia: voice memo on phone, then an essay.

Adam: suggest video

Maia: we were allowed to play orcs-- I think wish Sam was critiquiing the game. Sam mentioned the racism behind chess. I think he mentioned it.

Ben: do new materials from D&D evolve the way you want to?

Maia: in the past 5 years, you're allowed to play orcs. Stats are not automatically lower intelligence before you're an orc. The descritpion of the orcs are messed up-- "savae" and "exotic" . Orcs are part of the monster manual. There are books created with pre-made campaigns. Now South African mythology and in depth stories that aren't told by white people, and there are wnow writers of colors. A lot of it comes down to the individucal.

It makes life more intersting to not be racist.

Bill: How I learned compassion

Jain religion-- ahimsa

Monotheistic: christianity, islam, judaism

Karen Armstrong: A History of God 4000 years

spirituality of empathy

sensitive to needs of others-- the spiritual being is born

sensitive to inner feelings of others

tibetan book of living and dying -- our meditation should help others. -- Rimpochet

Stephanie C. Fox shared her doll work with us: https://www.queenbeeedit.com/queenbeedolls-queenbeecouturiere/

Xiao sent us a PowerPoint slideshow and an accompanying poem called "Summer Reunion."

Xiao writes: “I wrote this poem in the Fall of 2014, after attending a reunion that summer which gathered members of the Hanold clan, the paternal side of my husband Will's family.

For the reunion, the family rented an Airbnb called Bow Mansion, which was situated in the seaside town of Mattapoisett, MA. I was inspired to write this poem after returning home from the reunion. I was struck by the role that the house played in hosting so many family reunions over the years prior to ours. I thought about the house's role as a container for so many families' memories, and bearing the traces of those families' presence in the wear and tear of the linens, furniture, dishes, and flooring.

I also thought about how arbitrary the definition of "family" is. Aside from this intentional family reunion, and from occasional holiday greetings and emails, most of these family members won't actually see each other in person for years. In this sense, "family" seems to be a mere social label that only gets materially realized when its members are deliberate about communicating with each other every once in a while, meeting up occasionally, and organizing reunions like this one. It takes dedicated time and effort.

I felt like Bow Mansion played an important role in this intentional act of creating "family." The house is the physical, architectural envelope that holds us "strangers" together for a week to enact "family" for the time that we're there. My point is: the house plays an important role in constructing and enacting the idea of "family" for those families who rent it out for their reunions.”

2023 Conference:

Stephanie C. Fox, J.D. is an author, editor, and publisher via QueenBeeEdit | QueenBeeBooks. She has published several books in a variety of genres.

www.queenbeeedit.com

I will read from my book The Visitor Experience at the Mark Twain House - perhaps the funny questions that people asked at the ends of the tours, and of course, the dedication to Vera.

I would like to read "White-Out".

It's about being friends with Vera, the woman to whom I dedicated the Mark Twain House book that I wrote.

Sam Fleischacker is LAS Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and founder and co-director of its Jewish-Muslim Initiative. He has written papers on the Israel/Palestine conflict, including “Owning Land vs. Governing a Land: Property, Sovereignty, and Nationalism,” Social Philosophy and Policy, volume 30, issue 1, 2014, and has been active in Americans for Peace Now, Partners for a Progressive Israel, the New Israel Fund, and J Street.

Description: How should Jews who have long felt a close attachment to Israel deal with its increasing descent into an authoritarian ethnocracy? This will be a combination of a personal talk - I'll describe some of my own struggle with this question, especially this year - with an overview of some of the remaining political opportunities for engaging constructively with Israel.

Robin Leist

Armed with a degree in English Education from Cornell University and a master’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Robin thought she could help people learn in classroom settings. She discovered that her heart was in helping people who were really struggling. After years of counseling and teaching, she was the Executive Director of a Family Resource Center in Southern Colorado for 17 years. The Center was dedicated to helping low-income families solve financial crises, raise children, develop better mental health, communicate needs and become more involved in the community.

After she retired, she created Ittybags, Inc. and has developed a series of books and games to encourage personal growth and communication skills.

For the Waterlow Conference, she will focus on gratitude. The ability to be grateful can be tough in these wild times we are experiencing. Yet, developing habits of gratitude is life-changing. This is an interactive presentation so join in prepared to contribute!

Adam Frost works as a computer helper and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. He also runs an internship program that helps other people become good computer helpers. He has a longstanding interest in seeking ways to improve the public health system, particularly the parts that deal with psyche distress.

Adam will lead a discussion: “Diabetes, Mental Illness, and Other Celebrations”

Xiao Situ is a NYC-based art historian, religious scholar, and caregiver to two elderly parents. She received a B.A. in art history from Vassar College, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from Yale. She teaches art history as an adjunct for Connecticut State Community College, writes regularly for Commonweal Magazine and The Visual Commentary on Scripture, and does independent research on art and religion. She’s a fan of horror and true crime podcasts and films .

Waterlow Conference plans:

I plan to read a poem I wrote about a high school teacher I had. This is to honor the origins of the Waterlow Conference. "Xaio's Poem"

Jay Hoffman

When my generation was in high school, before the ascendancy of computer science, talented math students were encouraged to study physics, chemistry and traditional engineering. I was a very successful student who inherited an interest in math from my father. I have still retained an interest in physics -- and other sciences.

Although my education and expectations were diminished by a major mental illness, I appreciate Adam's groups like the physics soireé, as a way of "staying in the game". In physics soireé, we discuss a variety of topics such as classical mechanics, pressure of gasses, electrostatics, elementary chemistry, steam engines, etc. from a variety of perspectives: we approach the subjects from a historical point of view, we try to understand the concepts intuitively, as well as making use of mathematical methods. Aside from Adam and myself, we have attracted the attention of a Styvesant High School student in Queens, New York City as well as a friend of mine, an MIT grad in applied math. I also tutor elementary math to a dyslexic adult. This skill was developed with the help of an educational psychologist at Center Club in Boston.

Kevin Batt, a Board Member of Move Up Global, gave a talk about his work with Move Up Global in Rwanda. Kevin Batt, Esquire

Kevin has retired from his work as an attorney in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. His practice has included includes municipal, land use, environmental and energy law. He has specialized in assisting communities host and develop renewable energy facilities. He has served on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association (MMLA).

Kevin has long been active in promoting human rights in his local community and abroad.

Kevin is presently focused on advocating with state and local government to protect immigrant rights in the face of anti-immigrant policies of the United States federal government.

Kevin previously served on the boards of Cambridge Cares About AIDs and AIDs Action Committee of Massachusetts.

In the past Kevin helped litigate the rights of same-sex couples to marriage and celebrated the first judicial ruling recognizing marriage equality in Massachusetts.

Kevin’s interest in human rights has now expanded to movements in East Africa since his journey there in 2015. In addition to his service on the board of SMUG, he serves on the board of Ubuntu Center for Peace, which engages in social healing and conflict resolution in Rwanda, and the board of Move Up Global, which fosters education and health programs in rural Rwanda.

The Nyabirehe Teachers

We had planned for the Teachers from the Musanze district in Rwanda to be joining us to study Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Firefox. This was intended as a continuation of our weekly lessons to help the teachers strengthen their computer schools, so they can help their 600 young students learn computers for high school and college. You can read about the program at https://moveupglobal.org/ourspotlights/dream-very-big-rwanda

We welcome volunteers at our Sunday morning Zoom lessons! Let Adam know if you’d like to join us.

Howard Trachtman's presentation at Waterlow

Recovery Learning Communities provide peer support throughout Massachusetts.
Offerings include peer support groups, 1:1 peer support and peer bridging:
having peer supporters meet people in institutions to connect and follow
them into the community. Howard is co-founder of the Metro Boston Recovery
Learning Community and the Southeast Recovery Learning Community:
www.mbrlc.org and www.southeastrlc.org Recovery Learning Communitia are
funded by DMH and provide services free of charge to anyone that identifies
with having had mental health treatment. For more information and links to other RLCs, see
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/recovery-learning-communities
For details email hdt@mbrlc.org or call Howard at 781 642 0368.

Howard is co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Boston Peer Support and Advocacy Network (PSAN).
PSAN has its own unique peer support group for our members and volunteers. We mentor people to work in the mental health system.
We have an email list where people can learn more about what is happening in mental health, we post jobs, trainings, webinars,
articles of interest and more. We also promote peer run program like NAMI Connection Support Groups, In Our Own Voice
public speaking program and PEER to PEER educational classes. NAMI Massachusetts operates a compass helpline that helps
all people navigate the mental health system for free. email compass@nami.org or call 617-704-6264. NAMI Massachusetts also offer programs
for family members. The PSAN website is https://namiboston.org/peer-san For more info, please email hdt@namiboston.org or call Howard
781 642 0368.

Opening Doors to the Arts is a program that gets free tickets to concerts, theater red sox tickets and more.
Our concerts include Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Handel and Hayden society, Berklee School of Music and more!
Our theaters include Lyric Stage Company, Speakeasy Stage Company, Wheelock Family Theater and many more!
sign up at www.OpeningDoorsToTheArts.org

Warmline are peer support lines that assist callers 1:1. Some ttak out of state calls, Masschusetts has several
See www.warmline.org

please share!!

Howard's presentation at Waterlow

Howard Trachtman told his recovery story and his thoughts on nomenclature: what do you call
people with lived experience of mental health treatment. Patients, clients, consumers, persons served,
lived experience and peers. He also spoke a bit about peer support lines.

Recovery Learning Communities provide peer support throughout Massachusetts.
Offerings include peer support groups, 1:1 peer support and peer bridging:
having peer supporters meet people in institutions to connect and follow
them into the community. Howard is co-founder of the Metro Boston Recovery
Learning Community and the Southeast Recovery Learning Community:
www.mbrlc.org and www.southeastrlc.org Recovery Learning Communities are
funded by DMH and provide services free of charge to anyone that identifies
with having had mental health treatment. For more information and links to other RLCs, see
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/recovery-learning-communities
For details email hdt@mbrlc.org or call Howard at 781 642 0368.

Opening Doors to the Arts is a program that gets free tickets to concerts, theater Red Sox tickets and more.
Our concerts include Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Handel and Hayden society, Berklee School of Music and more!
Our theaters include Lyric Stage Company, Speakeasy Stage Company, Wheelock Family Theater and many more!
sign up at www.OpeningDoorsToTheArts.org

Warmline are peer support lines that assist callers 1:1. Some take out of state calls, Massachusetts has several
See www.warmline.org

Howard is co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Boston Peer Support and Advocacy Network (PSAN).
PSAN has its own unique peer support group for our members and volunteers. We mentor people to work in the mental health system.
We have an email list where people can learn more about what is happening in mental health, we post jobs, trainings, webinars,
articles of interest and more. We also promote peer run program like NAMI Connection Support Groups, In Our Own Voice
public speaking program and PEER to PEER educational classes. NAMI Massachusetts operates a compass helpline that helps
all people navigate the mental health system for free. email compass@namimass.org.org or call 617-704-6264. NAMI Massachusetts also offer programs
for family members. The PSAN website is https://namiboston.org/peer-san For more info, please email hdt@namiboston.org or call Howard
781 642 0368.

998 replaces national suicide prevention line; available 24x7

for help accessing services in Massachusetts please call the behavioral health help line:
https://www.masshelpline.com/
You can contact the BHHL 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – including holidays.
Call or text 833-773-2445 (BHHL).

Howard D. Trachtman, BS, CPS, CPRP, COAPS
Metro Boston Recovery Learning Community Executive Team and Southeast Recovery Learning Community Director of Constituent Affairs
c/o
NAMI Greater Boston Peer Support and Advocacy Network
776 Main Street #541481
Waltham, MA 02454-5448

www.mbrlc.org

www.linkedin.com/pub/howard-d-trachtman/61/a22/545/

pronouns: He/Him/His

HOME OFFICE (781) 642-0368 (1ST NUMBER TO CALL)

Cell (603) 820-4591

Lisa Frost-Goodall is a longtime independent music teacher in Red Bank, NJ, teaching flute, recorder, and piano. She has been performing as a classical singer, flutist, and recorder player for many years. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Harvard, an M.Ed. from Lesley University, and has studied graduate musicology at Penn State and Rutgers Universities. She was a long-time flute student of Robert Stahlman at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and studied voice for many years with Marcy Lindheimer in NYC, theater at McCarter Theater in Princeton, and breathing studies with Carl Stough in NYC. She is a member of the Cecilian Music Club of Monmouth County, the Shore Music Educators Association, and the Music Teachers National Association.

Steve Provost:

Founder Of Boston Project Rebound Reentry Services, Inc.

1. Parents: Donald & Gloria Provost (Passed)

2. Moved to Boston Massachusetts on 4/22/2016 (6 years ago- 4/4/2022)

3. Founded Boston Project Rebound Reentry Services, Inc. in November 15, 2018

Steven moved to Boston in April 2016, thru some hard times in his life servicing time in corrections and the loss of his dad in 1996 and his mother in 2003 became homeless here in Boston, and live in three different homeless shelters, 112 Southampton Street, Boston Rescue Mission, Pine Street Inn. During this time Mr. Provost started to attend New Start Project, Inc. in Jamaica Plain, Ma. where he received support from others who has been in the corrections and staff of New Start Project. Inc. at some point he was asked by the executive director to be on the board, Steven was voted onto the board (because they allowed non staff to be a part of decision making for the organization), Steven and the board learned about some sketchy activity within New Start Project, Inc and the board lunched a investigation into the activity. Later at some point the board decided to close the organization. Steven stated that working with men and women getting ready for release was very important and could not go down the drain. In November 2018 Steven & Mike with the help of others started Boston Project Rebound Reentry Services, Inc.

Executive BIO

1. Founder/President Pioneer Valley React Team #6049 (1993-1996)

2. Former Board Member of New Start Project (Jamaica Plain, Ma) (2017-2018)

3. President/Executive Producer/Host- TouringNewEngland.org (7 Season in 2023)

4. Boston Project Rebound Reentry Services, Inc. President & Chef Executive Officer (2018- Present)

5. Roxbury Presbyterian Church Media Ministry Team Member (2016-Present)

6. Production Assistant (Video Shoot)(Pearl For The World Publishing, Inc.) (Hands Up (Please Don't Shoot) (taped 2019)

My Hobbies

1. Railroad & Trains

2. My AMATEUR RADIO Page

3. Video Production (TouringNewEngland.org) (touringnewengland.org on YouTube.com)

4. Camping (Pioneer Valley Chapter 8 of NAFCA)

5. Bike Riding

6. New England History

7. Computers

8. Website building

Steven's Volunteer Work

1. Get Connected Computer Clinic (Cambridge Massachusetts)

Kathleen Robinson is a longtime JP resident and cooperator at the Leland Street Cooperative Garden in Forest Hills.

“I would like to tell the story of Julia Butterfly Hill-- a young woman who dis a 2+ year tree sit in a 200 foot redwood in the 1990s as part of the effort by hundreds of activists to prevent the destruction of the ancient temperate rainforest of northern California.

I believe her story can bring inspiration and hoope to the many of us today who feel despair as we confront the climate change and species extinction so obvious.

I wrote a song using some of Julia's words, which I would like to share with you.

We don't need cars

Big fancy houses

We don't need jet planes

We need the Earth

Clean air and water

And land for every species on this planet

Chorus:

I see a world

Where in love, all things are possible

And I have a love that's much bigger than myself

Flowing love, pouring forth

From the heart of the Mother

Think of the Earth

Think of your body

For truly they're the same

O, save the trees

They are our lungs

Love our body, this earth

All are one”

Bill Himelhoch bio:

In past years I have been an English instructor, visual artist, and social work clinician. Now in the autumn of life I am a writer.

Summary of presentation 10/14/23:

The Gender Revolution at the End of the 20th Century

I am reading a 35 minute excerpt from the first chapter of my memoir, Eros Derailed. At the age of 90 I am recalling the gender revolution of the late 20th century and my difficulty emancipating myself from childhood indoctrination.

By presenting this history, I hope to vivify the amazing change in gender norms that has taken place in mainstream America in a relatively short time. The patriarchal doctrine of gender, in force for millennia, has been replaced in my lifetime with a more humane understanding of gender fluidity.

Evelyn Luchs was a psychiatric nurse clinical specialist for 30 years. One of her internships was at the Boston State Hospital which is now the Boston Nature Center. She was a student activist for the environment and to end the Vietnam War in the 60's and 70's. at the U niversity of Colorado. Has been a writer since eight years old. Has had some stories and poems published.

Enjoys being a grandmother, but is very concerned about the future in the world the way it is today. .Wants to help the world grow up before it blows up. All of her children's stories are written to teach good moral values and ways to cope in an entertaining way.

Sara Chalfen Coyle has been interested in how people work together to create outcomes or output for most of her life. People using processes and power are everywhere, from local community projects to international organizations like the United Nations. Lately she has been studying and thinking about how a fractured community can come together to address misuses of power, how that happens and what individuals can do to change “the way things are”. She’s brought her work experience as a business analyst and project manager, her informal studies in institutional betrayal and her lived experiences to exploring how we can learn from the past and influence our futures.

Morgan Frost:

Morgan is a senior at Northwestern studying theater management and sociology. She finds the crossroads between these two fields in actor advocacy and harm reduction and hopes to continue this work after graduation.

Samantha Yohe:

Sam has just turned 6 years old. This is her first Waterlow conference.

Maia Frost:

Maia Frost is a freshman at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

“I will be talking about my work in DC with the Sunrise Movement. We lobbied for the Green New Deal for Schools and protested against former Speaker of the House McCarthy for threatening to shut down the government. “

=========================================================

Detailed notes from the 2023 Conference, taken by Adam Frost on his Alphasmart keyboard:

10/14/23:

Howard's talk: little choice in mental health. Peers are part of the change, to give people more choices. "Consumer" Nami Greater Boston network. Boston Resource Center "Metro Boston Behavioral Health Resource Center"- dual recovery, including 12-step groups. They have an abstinence policy. Dual = recovery program is more open to. Rebranded as Boston Resource Center. The new term is "lived experience of mental health treatment"-- not a bad term. The new term now is "peers".

Two catgegories of people: people who recover well, and people who struggle for a long time. Howard is now doing better, he works for Boston Medical Center, and servers on many boards. I still consider myself in recovery, but I'm able to function and create organizations. We say if you want to be part of the community, you don't need another label.

One time, Howard told his birth mother, "I can't go on like this anymore”. He meant he needed to make changes in his life.

She misunderstood what he meant, and called the police, and they brought him to the hospital emergency room, and got admitted.

Howard opposes "involuntary outpatient committment". Mass is one of only 3 states that don't have this on the books. In New York, a person pushed a person into a train: Kendra's law. Easy to hospitalize people to involuntary commit people who don't follow their treatment plan. Forcing people into treatment. The law doesn't say what care can or can't be in a treatment plan. It's hanging over their head and they can be involuntarily hospitalized against their will. Similarly, Howard is opposed to solitary confinement.

Steve: PTSD?

Adam: Erich Weinberger –“I’m not feeding poor people in the park. I'm feeding people in the park. The importance of building a community with people from all walks of life.

Howard: Tikkun Olam-- to repair the world.

I like to feel like I'm making a difference. Tries to balance national and local. Buddha and the Borderline author: you're saving starfish. You can't possibly save them all. Well, I'm making a difference for this one.

Howard manages warmlines. Paolo at SAMSA office of recovery. Runs google groups for peole who do warmlines. Paolo had a conference for people who do warmlines. You can call for any reason. Warmlines are empowered to take peers.

Howard on the warmline: some regular callers. Some warmlines have a callout list. to check in on people. Most warmlines are at capacity, people can't always get through. Some warmlines limit time with a caller. Some limit the number of times people can call.

“When you've seen one warmline, you 've seen one warmline.” -- each line has its own character and policies.

Warmline.org website.

Howard notes how valuable these lines have been to people: “I called you so I wouldn't call a crisis line.”

Warmlines are overloaded, but they save the system money, and that money should be spent on more warmlines. We need more places to go-- we want more choices. Urgent care centers for psych-- you're not in an emergency room,

Peer in urgent care: 2008-- Rachel and Howard were piloting using peers in psych urgent care. Hospital emergency rooms lead to boredom, exposure to disease. Now there are urgent care that only uses psych peers. I came before, and I end up getting restrained. This time, I have a peer with me. I am happy.

Commonwealth Health Care One Care has a respite in Brighton. I helped open it. I went to it for respite-- I could come and go as I pleased, I went to several respites. Peggy Johnson was the doctor. Called Marie's Place.

Opening the Doors to the Arts-- free tickets to concerts, baseball. 20 to thirty shows a month. It's a social program to do stuff with other people. We try to plan a meal before the show. Bring friends and family as guests.

Bill Himelhoch:

As a child, reading Ferdinand was a hint that the social order was oppressing him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Ferdinand

Bill taught English in engineering school in Detroit. Standing in front of a room full of students, my defects exposed to a group of students. Enrolled in art school at Wayne State. The first time the pleasures of artistic expression. Thee plasticity of clay filled me with joy. Enrolled at the art students league, where stuednts enrolled by the month. Became an aspiring sculptor.

Youthful radicals were infiltrating the neighborhood. HAIR introduced mainstream America to the Age of Aquarius. Ushering in an enlightened counterculture. On the lower east side, I knew how to escape my lifelong suffering. Entering Andy Warhol's electric circus nightclub. Waiting to fill the void was an abundant and generous universe.

Magnus Hisrschfield coined the word transsexualism in 1923. Jan Morris: "Conundrum"-- James to Jan. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/20/jan-morris-historian-travel-writer-and-trans-pioneer-dies-aged-94

Mingling of masculine and feminine. Mingling what's not supposed to be mingled. Masculine persona visible above the waterline, and below is the feminine that I was always trying to hide. I envy Jan Morris’ courage. She could teach me to stand up to public opinion. But Jan accepted the inferior role of a woman.

I needed a fearless mentor who rejected the patriarchal template. David Bowie-- message of liberation. If I had been flexible enough to surrender. 40 years old, so inflexible.

Then Tootsie was a smash hit.

Gender fluidity—in a rural town in Massachusetts, big-boned farmers sat at delicate tables and sipped lattes.

Lisa Smith: her grown children find the gender changing thing new. They don't understand the history. They are pushy about pronoun changes. No one is helping us understand. "They this and they that"-- . For people who are not as flexible, it is hard to internalize these things. Whenever these changes happen, it has taken long time for people to accept it. It took a long time for people to come forward. The battle of accepting that there are differences in people.

Adam talked about Charlotte Waterlow: “It is my considered opinion that people who have a great deal to give to the world, endure much suffering when they are young. “ Adam found this most comforting and empowering during a huge life crisis.

Bill: the new insight: a continuum of gender-- very fluid. We need to be more nuanced.

Xiao (pronounced “Show” like “show your talent”): about accepting the mix, a different recipe for everybody, depending what their journey is. The boundaries have been someowhat constructed. The fixed boundaries are harmful to the world within us. Men don't grow up -- the fullness of who they can be is checked by their own ideas of correct male behavior.

My husband noticed how teen guys couldn't express affection for their Dad or their friends, as the girls were able to do. What is preveniting us from feeling free to do that? Men check themselves, and they keep an eye on each other.

Xaio grew up in Buddhism and grew interested in theology. I do midrash-- commentary on scripture. I approach scripture like a puzzle. Scripture is very malleable. Gender binary has been made over time-- it's not necessarily fixed into any religion.

Adam and Eve were helpmates. Xaio asks the spirit to come and help her work with the scripture.

Xiao: we need language, it's like an administrative thing. It helps us get together to get things done. People try to hold on to the labels so tightly. The binary helped create order. The patriarch helps things work out the way they want-- shaping the world around them.

Bonnie: does a gay person have a struggle between matriacrchy and patriarchy?

Bill: traditional masculine traits, traditional feminine traits. When we look inside ourselves, we find traits of the other gender. It is more helpful to see in a contnuum. This much of me is feminin, this part is masculine. Maybe a part that is neither.

Mike: people are people-- I learned that as a security guard

Bill: I appreciate your generosity and flexibility

Steve: played "The Age of Aquarius" from Hair for us from youtube.

Steve Provost and Mike Austin--Boston Project Rebound

County facility and State facilities

Local jails housing 8000 people

State has many facilities-- Shirley, Gardner, Bridgewater

Stte

sex offender prison: -- two sides: civil and criminal

Adam: explains the "sexually dangerous person" law—a person can be committed for life even after he has served out his sentence.

Bill: lack of opportunity for housing, jobs for sex offenders

Adam: I know some sex offenders who have made a life for themsleves.

Mike Austin: no colors in prison, towels are brown.

Steve: state bill to insist on ids for prisoners so they can get bank accounts and other services.

Lisa: are prisons run by privae companies?

Lisa: my late boyfriend worked as a phlebotomist in a prison, and it was corrupt-- you had to co-operate or you’d get in trouble.

Steve: family reunification, reconciliation.

Mike: CORI is criminal history. All emplyers look at CORI.

Steve: we support clients by testifying on their behalf. The attorney says, we have a program in the court right now.

Mass has higher incarceration rate.

Mike: a long time to get a way from prison mentallity.

Tom: how do the clients find you?

Steve: the website, bostonproductrebound.org.

Families sometimes refer. County caseworkers refer. Suffolk county sherriff's office reached out to us.

Bill: how many reentry centers are there?

ABCD at Alewife -- teamed up with MassHire.

Solutions at Work-- dress for success

Community Works, Bridges Reurning Citizens, Full Gospel Recovery , Project Place-- vocational training-- hands on computer training-- Galvin Foundation, Project Pepsi, CDL truck license, Roxbury Presbyterian Church

Diane: connection to Hartford, CT?

Adam: Sometimes we can’t help the people closest to us. One way of dealing with the pain of this is to find someone in the world you can help.

We looked at pictures of Egleston garden and Leland cooperative garden.

Stephanie C. Fox reads from her book, “The Visitor Experience at the Mark Twain House”

https://www.amazon.com/Visitor-Experience-Mark-Twain-House/dp/1734374365

Be a standup comic: Mark Twain was a standup comic, who had lectures in San Franscisco called "The trouble begins at 8:30 pm”

Mirror from Buffalo NY -- gift to Sam

Stephanie wrote and published her book in 1995 Dedicated to Vera Klein.

Stephanie's grandmother encouraged her to get the tour job.

Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain House got a "corporate divorce".

Ghost in Harriet Beecher Stowe

People said: best tour ever. You should write it down

Olivia's father founded Elmira College

Twain did most of his writing in the summers, in a gazebo. Olivia edited Twain's work in a billiard room.

Olivia's father left her 250K -- she held legal title to property

11 cats four dogs.

Olivia given the stupid rest cure of the 19th cntury.

Twain’s religious compromise: Let's go to church every three week.

Xiao Situ read aloud her poem about her teacher:

https://www.xiaosituphd.com/notebook/pocket-poem-6-english-teacher

10/15/23:

Sara Chalfen Coyle:

Charlotte Waterlow was one of the most subversive people I've ever met. We can each push against bad things and make good things happen-- we don't have to accept the staqtus quo. She saw the first 70 year peace in Europe.

Catholic Church scandal-- every member of every parish was betrayed, including the parish being sold off to pay the legal bills. It wasn't a one-to-one situation. Every member of the community is touched because of that level of betrayal.

Sara: many schools had scandals of predatory teachers going after children. Focus on predator and victims, but not on the larger community. We need to remember we are human. Humans protect themselves by saying this couldn't happen to us.

Our school, BB&N, had a head of scool, Rebecca Upham, who sent letters to the whole community about the predations. It was the first honest acknowledgement of remorse for the school having protected the predators. The institution protects them as one of their own.

What does that do to the children who knew something was wrong, and no one would listen. This letter led to a Facebook discussion, and some alums went to the school admin to ask for help with a facilitated conversation. The conversation on Facebook uncovered lots of other kinds of abuse, and alums felt regret that they didn't support heir friends better. Racism, homophobia, socioeconomic prejudice, bullying and many other categories of people in power abusing people with less power.

Many of us said: this is terrible-- I wish we could have done better. We wanted to create a platform to talk about this, and tried to work with the school leadership, who "yes, dear"ed us, and gave us breadcrumbs. Just enough to keep you going, but not enough to get something done.

There was a dropping off of interest among the alums, but Sara continued. Sara, as a business person, is very interested: a bunch of people with some inputs, and they take those inputs, and create outputs. That's what a process is. Sara was a business analyst, helping businesses understand how their business works, and how to use the energies better. This was Sara's approach: how do we take 6,000 people, spread across the country and elsewhere, spread over 4 decades, and have them recognize their trauma as a community.

How do we work with this? Partly with technology. But we want to have face to face. But not just talking. We want to produce something for people to look at.

50 people in 18-month-long conversation on Facebook-- no more than ten people online at one time.

Sara took the text of the conversation and developed a plan to gather people to discuss. The intention was to allow people to bring their lived experience as doctors, lawyers, people with less success, to have a say in this. The common bond-- we were made to be part of this community. Most of us were sent to the school by our parents.

Adam: I chose BB&N because of Ted Washburn's class rooom. He had a Moog Synthezizer. I wanted to be in a place that had such cool things going on.

Lisa Frost-Goodall: After going to public elementary school in Belmont, going to Buckingham was like a dream come true. I couldn't believe this is school. Theatre and music were her subjects.

Sara: the discussion had identified 7 different teachers who abused students. Not just about sex-- it was about the abuse of power. Homophobia, racisism, sexual predation, emotional abuse, mental abuse and phsyical abuse. Endemic in our society.

Sara did a lot of careful reading about what was shared in the Facebook: a person with more social power took advantage of someone with less power, and people stood by and didn't do anything. The idea that there are people with more power can hurt someone and that the person with less power cannot speak up.

Much more to this story than "bad apple"-- why didn't the authorities do anything? Because people didn't warn. The headmaster was trying to keep the school afloat. He says he didn't fully understand the problem. He "needed to keep the boat afloat"-- he was in an unforgiving environment. We have to do more than say racism is bad, violence is bad.

My objective is to create a platform where people can talk honestly about what we experienced, and what we did. This includes when we acted badly. We need to stop saying this problem is too hard.

Irina: these problems were nonexistent in Soviet Union. I came from a racially homogeneous environment. No sex abuse in school.

Sara: 2/3 of alums had no idea these bad things were happening. I get one of three responses: I had a great time thee. How brave of you are to take this on. No-- that couldn't happen.

Lisa Frost-Goodall: I was unaware of it. That was the nature of these things.

The BB&N Reconciliation project: many people saw this as making thing is "all right". More like accounting: creating the opportunity where people seem safe enough. I would have supported my peers if I had known.

Kevin: in fourth grade, we were supposed to stand up when a priest enters a room. Keith misheard and sat down—the priest beat him up. Kevin was sent by his parents to get his apology, and the priest vervbally abused him. I felt outrage. The church hid it-- the Diocse called them up, and there was a hearing-- this was in the 50s. On the wall of the church, there's a picure on the wall of this person.

Kathleen: this issue about power is a huge issue. We don't respond-- we all have our place in the power structure. Everyong who is in the power structure, and is afraid of it going down. Unless you're with a group of people who will work together to dismantle the power structure.

Sara: I was influenced by Black Lives Matter and their description of power structure.

Adam: when we confront people, the importance of saying yes. When we talk about something bad someone or we have done, give opportunity in present do do something to redeem.

Sara: I don't know how to make this part of the project.

Irina: are Catholic schools better schools than others in the United States?

Kevin: public schools have more accountability. But there are some very good Catholic schools. Public schools give broader exposure. Kevin felt so much freer in a public school. I resisted ever going to a private school.

Jay Hoffman’s talk: physics soirée-- physics, chemistry, and related science. In his education, the best math students were encouraged to study physics. At the physics soiréeWe've approached physics from many perspectives, historical documents, intuitive way and mathematics. We studied steam engine, the original work of the original chemists, and classical Greek and Rome. Discoveries of Tycho Brahe, Galileo and Newton. We used the internet and textbooks. We've began to try to create our own videos-- objects, ramp, ice, steady force. Adam contributes intuitive understanding, while Jay focuses on equations. We also want to understand how the computer hardware works.

Jay also tutors math online and at Center Club. He's helping a dyslexic student to learn long devision, and a student who is studying to prepare for college. He had training in learning how to tutor.

Jay: tutoring is useful work, that uses skills I already have. I see these students as myself-- I didn't take my education as long as I'd like to. It gets my muscles back to work. I enjoy the social contact with others.

Kevin: Ubuntu Center for Peace -- https://ubuntucenterforpeace.org/

Overcoming Trauma and Mental Disorders in Africa With an Integrated, Scalable, Cost-Effective, Community-Based Social Healing Model

Bosco, friend of Kevin runs it, 5 233k -- move from seminary to being a mental health doctor. Wants to expand to secondary school.

Anatole Manzi sent by Paul Farmer to open up a clinic in a hut at the top of a hill. Now it is a large hospital.

Jean de Dieu-- soccer group. Invites Kevin to be his godfather. During the genocide, the Muslims in Rwanda took people in and hid them.

Kathleen: was the genocide between religious groups?

Kevin: Tutsi had been ruling class, Hutus the ruling class. In the genocide, most Tutsis were killed. It is illegal now to ask if Hutu and Tutsi.

Mt. Muhabura-- the guide

Belgian Colony-- Catholicism is big. Evangelical churches have taken role, and

Sam Fleischaker’s talk: On Israel. Concerned with Pelestinian and Israeli justice for a long time. The democracy movement needs to be extended to all. Far left people have celebrated Hamas victory. Humanity for both Israelis and Palestinian. Feels isolated-- hard to talk with Jewish community. Cousins who have been called out to front, and son of a close freind.

My father, born in 1917 in Germany, told me that in 1933 when Hitler came to power, he thought that Jews could be Communist or Zionist. His teacher convinced him to be a Zionist. We have relatives in Israel, and used to visit regularly. Went to Yeshiva in 82. His cousins ae Israelis. I used to be a strong Zionist, and felt the Arab complaints about Israel made no sense. I learned more about it, and came to change my mind.

I came to doubt whether an exclusive Jewish state is justified. Jews need a homeland-- due to their experience throughout Europe and the Arab world. Jews have a right to devlope religion and culture. We are a people, not only a religion. I'm not so sure about a state that is only for Jews.

From the Balfour declaration-- a home for Jews without prejudice to everyone who lives there. Israel committed to itself to this, but has not lived up to it. A right wing that doesn't care at all about this, is winning.

What happened last weekend-- it is ok to kill Israelis anywhere. This plays into the right wing. I support Jewish and Arab initiatives which are seeking reconciliation. In the long term, these groups offer the only route forward.

Kevin: it is so hard to have hope. Settlers are shooting Palestinians on the West Bank. The dogs of war have been released.

Jay: growing up, the rabbis emphaisized the need to support Israel, rabbis angry at the religious left. I want to donate $100, but I don't know where to send it.

Sam: I won'd give money to IDF. I have given money to the Mogen David (Red Star of David)

Here is a list of the other organizations Sam Fleischaker supports financially and in other ways:

https://www.standing-together.org/en

https://gh-is.org/ The Givat Haviva International School

https://www.alandforall.org/english/?d=ltr

Sam feels that the long-term efforts these organizations are pursuing are the way the Middle East can become a just, healthy place for everyone.

Standing-together.org -- Jewish and Palestinian-- all signs are in English and Arabic-- work social issues and economic issues. Idea is to build coalition below the radar of polarization. They got 51 Knesset members to support minimum wage. They had an Arab to speak about this on TV-- an Israeli issue, not just an Arab issue.

GH-IS.ORG International school -- 1/3 israli jews, 1/3 palestinians, 1/3 international students. The Jews and the Palestinians serve as hosts for everyone else. Close friendships betweeen Palestinians and Jews.

This will help much more than the political organizations. They don't build trust between the two sides.

Evy: the Hamas and the Hezbollah are evil evil people.

Adam: AJ Muste: if I can't love Hitler, I can't love at all.

Irina: the Hamas invasion was a clean, professional job, using state-of-the-art Ordinary Men --

Jay: Netanyahu went to MIT

Sara: why is this hapenning? To provoke a heavy-handed security response, to enlist people into a cause. It is an extremely sad situation. It is a very effective method-- people in an existential threat state of mind. This has hapepened a lot in history.

I ask, is there a way to think abou this? What are the tecniques and methods? What are they trying to get hapen? It is happening all over the world, as more pressure is put on more regional situations? I'm encouraging myself to look at this as beyond the regional conflict. Modern day Jews are being a canary in a coal mine. They tell us when conditions are getting dangerous for survival. How can we survive?

Sara: Sam said Israel has not lived up to its creed of fairness. Our country is that way too.

Sam: trying to pull himself away from the "just war" discussions Everyone needs to say that murdering innocents is not the way to get their rights. The hope won't lie in debates about this issue.

Robin Leist’s talk: tons of stuff online for gratitude. We need to be grateful for who we are, as much as we need to be grateful for what we have. Robin saved herself as a child. Who has helped you grow?

Stephanie: her mother is neurotypical , and Stephanie is on autistic specturm-- her mother helped her grow.

Evy: my third grade teacher brought me out, made her feel comfortable. I've been tryin to do this with children, especially shy ones.

Sara: I want people in my life to be comfortable.

Morgan Frost’s talk: making the theatre industry better for everyone. Generational divide between the stakeholders and younger generation who can't afford tickets.

Morgan is a stage mangaer-- partnership with Search Inc-- organization that connects peole with disabilities to get connected with the arts. I created a packet to help actors to empower themselves, and for stage manager to help.

We assume good intentions. Our industry is really difficult, and no one is in it who doesn't care.

Improving power structures: theatres think the only way they can make money is to put on classic show. But younger audiences want something that will challenge them. Gradual move to adding new shows. We're doing brainstorming.

Stephanie: a whole new story.

Lisa: but Shakespeare can be reworked .

Morgan: The goal of theatre is to encourage critical thinking. Steppenwolf in chicago is doing theatre for young adults

Irina: is American theatre different that European

Morgan: we talk with middle management people, and with our professors-- 65, 40, 28. Bridge the generationl gap.

Morgan: every day , why are we doing it that way?

Lisa: New Jersey Repertory theatre

Adam: Alain Locke and the Howard Players

Shira: prayer for the French Republic , about antisemitism. Very moving., It could be anyone.

Lisa: Comedia Dell Arte-- innovative

Evy Savitz’s reading: “The Blurting Party”—a young girl goes to a party, and finds that speaking up can changing the community around her for the better

Kathleen Robinson’s talk and song: Julia Butterfly's tree sit. Julia Butterfly -- 2 years and two weeks-- secured agreement, and become spiritually wise and mature person. Fear and anger are natural responses, but those emotions can't save us. Love for one another and other life forms, with whom humans share planet earth

Maxim went bankrupt. Diane Feinstein and other politicians got involved.

The Legacy of Luna -- the story of a tree and a woman, by Julia Butterfly Hill

https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Luna-Story-Struggle-Redwoods/dp/0062516590

The Last Stand-- David Harris -- the war between wall street and main street.

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Between-Californias-Redwoods/dp/0871569442

Kathleen's son was a member of the forest defenders movement. When Maxim left the county, they had a reunion

Kathleen set Julia’s words to music

We don't need cars

Big fancy houses

We don't need jet planes

We need the Earth

Clean air and water

And land for every species on this planet

Chorus:

I see a world

Where in love, all things are possible

And I have a love that's much bigger than myself

Flowing love, pouring forth

From the heart of the Mother

Think of the Earth

Think of your body

For truly they're the same

O, save the trees

They are our lungs

Love our body, this earth

All are one

Shira: if we don't tell it, we won't know it happened.

Samantha Yohe’s talk: People should be nice to each other, and people should give each other flowers.

Maia Frost’s talk: a couple of weeks ago, I went to Washington for the Sunrise Movement to lobby for the green new deal. https://www.sunrisemovement.org/

People from all over the country-- California, Philadelphia. The Green New Deal for Public Schools-- we needed co-signatures for the bill--

The green new deal for high schools. At Boston Latin, we just got air conditioning in last year. No windows in the basement. Schools need money to prepare for climate disaster. Only one psychologist for the whole school-- not enough for a horrific event.

As climate change creates terrible disasters, and butterfly effects—we need more funding to public schools and IE schools-- indigenous communities. The jobs create construction jobs to create air flow. Making sure funding is localized for the schools needs. Our efforts went from 59 co-signers so 77 co-signers

Second part was to protest Kevin McCarthy planning a governmnet shutdown. McCarthy wants to invest in fossil fuels. 3 groups: the green group, yellow group: ok with get arrested, red group: to get arrested. Shows up like a parking ticket on one's record.

We sang in the hallway in the halls. Singing really helps. People recognized their own legislator. Press conference: Maxwell Frost, Ed Markey.

We weren't trying to convince people to change their votes. We were trying to remind the supportive politicians to work hard for passing the bill.

2022 Conference:

Some details about the talks and the people:

Waterlow Conference talks:

Peg Preble

I'm Peg Preble. I work as an electrician in the Boston area. When hurricaine Katrina hit the news in 2005 I wanted to help. Calls to the Red Cross, Habitat, and other organizations offering to go and help were answered with "send Money" and no ways to physically help. The only direct action I could find was animal rescue. Working with that group got me into many different neighborhoods, many not open to the public yet, where I was able to make connections to return and rebuild homes. I've worked on 8 homes in New Orleans, and 5 in Mississippi. Since then I has volunteered in Texas, Brimfield, Puerto Rico and St Thomas.

I want to talk about the process of finding volunteer opportunities, staying safe while being there, and emotionally safe when returning from a disaster. None of that is a simple as it sounds.

In Memory of Caroline Bridgman-Rees

Caroline helped found the conference to honor her good friend Charlotte Waterlow. Caroline, who died several years ago, had many decades of experience serving in the peace movement. We will read her essay, “The Gifts of Charlotte Waterlow”

Kim Kay Holt

Kim Kay Holt is a seeker of solutions to problems, those of individual people, organizations, groups, and communities, and is a person who loves doing anything with or directly for someone else. One of her felt-purposes in life has always been to use her experiences for the benefit of any she was able to. This has led to diverse vocation and a vocational pursuits, highlights of which included: co-founding the Metro Boston Behavioral Health Resource Center (Now the BRLC) and being its first director, founding the first and only licensed middle school level afterschool program in the Arlington community in the mid-2000’s and co-directing that program, and founding and directing a Model United Nation s and Civic Engagement Club program for 5th-12th grade students in this region and beyond.

Kim expects to talk about the way she attempts to be a mentor to young people and other individuals, and does a very similar thing for grouos/organizations, as a very hands on model of figuring out what the mentee wants/needs and accompanying them throughout the process of successfully meeting that need or reaching that goal. This is some ways what she thinks we need to all of us be doing for our world. And her current biggest thing, besides specific individuals she supports, and organizations she is supporting the birth/growth of, is learning better how to truly care for herself fully in the process in a way that respects all, herself included

Jim Leist

Jim Leist has been involved in aviation since 1973 when he attained his Private Pilot Certification. Jim has managed several large fixed base operations (FBOs) throughout the US. In 2010, Jim was contracted to Airbus S.A.S. to work as site manager in Xaiman, China, to train a Chinese company to convert the Airbus A381 through A321 series aircraft to Corporate or VIP aircraft.

Senior Research Fellow in physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 2001

Jim will be speaking about employee shortages in the airline industry

In 1960, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began to strongly enforce a mandatory rule requiring airline pilots to retire at age 60. The FAA believed that pilots over 60 were not safe to fly passenger flights any longer.

In the late 1990s, the airlines began to anticipate a coming shortage of pilots and began lobbying the FAA to raise the mandatory retirement age to 65. I 2007, the FAA agreed to this request and the bill was passed into law.

Shortly, after several management planning missteps, the airline companies began to offer ‘early buyouts’ to pilots and aircraft mechanics (A&Ps) to cut costs. A great number of employees, many more than anticipated, chose this option.

Fast forward to 2020; the airlines are experiencing severe shortages of pilots and mechanics. The FAA is also suffering a shortage of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC).

All this leads to the travel grief that travelers have been experiencing. Earlier this summer, one “mega carrier cancelled 1,000 in a week due to crew shortages. The demand for professional pilots has never been greater. Airlines are hiring like never before and recent data indicate that the demand for air travel has never been greater.

Sam Fleischacker

Sam Fleischacker is LAS Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Jewish-Muslim Initiative at the University of Illinois in Chicago. His books include The Good and the Good Book (Oxford, 2015) and Divine Teaching and the Way of the World, (Oxford, 2011), and he has been active in Americans for Peace Now, Partners for a Progressive Israel, the New Israel Fund, and J Street.

I'll discuss here several initiatives bringing Jews and Palestinians together in Israel today - Standing Together, the Givat Haviva International School, Roots, and A Land for All - and talk about why I now put most of my efforts in support of Israel/Palestine peace into supporting these efforts rather than organizations directly advocating for a particular political solution to the conflict.

Judith Ashton

Judy Ashton is joining the Conference from Boston. I’m a retired discrimination lawyer. My work over the last fifteen years has been to hold hope for and collaborate with folks seeking recovery from mental illnesses. I will talk about what I do and perhaps we can discuss how we can all assist in this effort. One of six US adults lives with mental illness. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for kids 10-14 and the third leading cause for youngsters 15-24.

Morgan Frost

Morgan Frost (she/her) is a Theatre student at Northwestern University. She has stage managed professionally and is currently in the process of earning a BA in Theatre Management. She likes geese, Lake Michigan, and short bios.

She will be discussing the Collabaret, a university-funded performance project centering students who have felt underrepresented or excluded from the Northwestern theatre community. This is her first college directing project and it is both overwhelming and exciting.

Stephanie C. Fox

Stephanie C. Fox, J.D. is a historian, author, publisher, and editor. She is a graduate of William Smith College and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She runs an editing and publishing service called QueenBeeEdit. Her website is https://www.queenbeeedit.com/ – please visit!

Ms. Fox has written several books on a variety of topics, including the effects of human overpopulation on the environment, honeybee colony collapse, Asperger's, travel to Kuwait and Hawai`i, and cats.

She will read from two of her books:

Saturday: Nae-Nee Book 3, entitled New World Order Underwater, from the 1st chapter.

Sunday: What the Small Gray Visitor Said - the opening of the novel.

In Memory of Wayne Clark

Wayne was an avid contributor to the Waterlow Conference from the very beginning. This is our first conference without him. We will read his essay about how philosophy can be a life-giving tool to make our communities better.

Howard Trachtman

Howard Trachtman will tell his recovery story from when first experiencing symptoms as a student at MIT to present day as a leader in the
national peer recovery movement. Learn how he was mentored at M-POWER (Massachusetts People/Patients Organized for Wellness Empowerment and Rights)
to how he mentors others now.

Mr. Howard D. Trachtman is the co-founder and on the leadership team of the
Metro Boston and Southeast Recovery Learning Communities and is a Certified Peer Specialist,
A Certifed Older Adult Peer Specialist and a Certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner.

Mr. Trachtman's personal experience with receiving many forms of mental health
treatment has led him to become a strong advocate for people labeled
with psychiatric illness. Mr. Trachtman has served on many mental
health related boards and committees, frequently serving as President,
Chair or Co-Chair. The boards he has been on in the past or currently include the chair of the
PAIMI (Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness) of the Disability Law Center
the Disability Law Center Board Board of Directors, the MBHP Consumer Advisory Council, Center Club
Advisory Board, Department of Mental Health State Mental Health Planning Council, One Care Implementation
Council, Transcomm, DMH Restraint and Seclusion Committees, NAMI Massachusetts board of directors,
NAMI GBCAN, NAMI Boston, Massachusetts Representative to NAMI National Peer Leadership Council, President
of the DMH Metro Suburban Area Board, Edinburg Center Human Rights Committee, M-POWER/Transformation Center and
Chair of the NAMI Advocacy Committee.

He is also a frequent presenter nationally on topics including restraint & seclusion
growth of peer-run programs, managed care, entrepreneurship and warmlines.

Maia Frost

Maia Frost is a senior at Boston Latin School, an experienced activist and an avid figure skater.

Maia will help us discuss climate justice, specifically how climate change and pollution disproportionately impact people of color in Boston.

Linda Eyster

The Boston Nature Center is hosting the Insect Macro Photography Exhibition from mid-October through November 2022. One goal of the project is to demonstrate how Looking Closely can focus our attention on the intrigue of nature instead of on life's stressors.

The photographer is Linde Eyster, a retired biologist. In her Gallery Walk on Saturday at 2 pm, Linde will briefly describe her decade-long project photographing close-up views of arthropods in her garden. Then with the guests, she will discuss each image from the standpoints of nature and photography.

Julie Brandlen

Building A Sanctuary for All what are some of the community engagement strategies that Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center practices to create a welcoming environment for all.

Julie Brandlen was the Director of Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center (BNC), one of the nation’s first urban nature centers and wildlife sanctuaries for the past 21 years. Her work included providing six of the most diversely and densely populated neighborhoods in Boston with an opportunity to learn about the natural world, conservation, and protection of the environment. As a bold climate action initiative, BNC’s campus became net zero, carbon neutral in 2022!

Prior positions include Executive Director of Rosie’s Place, a human service organization serving poor and homeless women, and the Executive Director of Marshall Home, a licensed residential facility for elders.

Some of her achievements include introduction and interpretation of the first “green” municipal building in Boston to visitors from around the world and engagement of new, traditionally marginalized audiences in building conservation communities. With its 67 acres located in the heart of Boston, BNC is a multi-faceted, multi-partnered, thriving community nature center which operates nationally-accredited camps, a licensed nature-based preschool, STEM programs within the Boston Public School system, a youth employment and leadership program, and a host of public programs.

Other achievements include opening one of the first HIV/AIDS residences for women in Boston, providing permanent housing for women living with mental illness as well as creating the only low-income food cooperative in the state for poor and homeless women and their families.

She has dedicated her career to working with underserved populations, is committed to the tenets of social justice, and advocated for sound statewide social policies.

She has Bachelor of Science Degree in Education with focus on Special Education and a Master’s Degree in Education Administration.

Contact information:

Julie Brandlen

617-983-8500 x-6901

jbrandlen@massaudubon.org

Ori Alon-Ray

Ori Alon-Ray is the founder of the Empowering Clerks Network, issued over seven million Playful Paperwork documents globally since 2006 such as Refurbished Report Cards, Forgiver's License, Racism Release Form, OK Parent Award, DIY Certificate of Recognition, Apology Declaration, Alternative Street Signs, Adults Special Achievement Stickers, Open Carry Permit for musical instruments and many more. The Center for Supportive Bureaucracy has hundreds of branches all over the world in ten languages. Recently he's been advocating for Courts to accept comics as valid legal petitions (#CartoonistLawyer) and filed a petition to the Supreme Court to recognize comics as official language and welcome usage of it in legal advocacy ⚖.

In the presentation Ori will share creative ideas to use elements of authority as tools for creating uplifting fun and meaningful endeavors.

Some of Ori’s online work:

Www.JoyPermit.org

http://bit.ly/CartoonistLawyerSupremeCourt

http://bit.ly/EmpoweringClerksNetworkSeminar

https://bit.ly/RegulationsareFlexibleOriAlonRay2022

http://bit.ly/TEDComicsOriAlonRay2022

Robin Leist

After she retired, she created Ittybags, Inc. and has developed a series of books and games to encourage personal growth and communication skills.

For the Waterlow Conference, she will talk about the conversational games she has developed and demonstrate them with participants.

Educational Games Enhance Learning founder of Ittybags, Inc.

Our research has proven that these games help school children learn more about themselves and others. Families who play these conversational games during family times strengthen the family bonds and solve problems.

The bilingual versions of these games help language learners understand a new language and begin to frame thoughts in that language. It’s truly multi-language learning at its best and most fun!

Out of seven games, three have already been translated into bilingual games.

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October 2020 Conference: for a complete summary, click here to download

Participants:

Diana Clift, joining us from British Columbia, longtime friend and neighbor of Charlotte Waterlow, now practices as a hypnotherapist and is a member of the Scientific and Medical Network https://explore.scimednet.org/. Diana led us in a discussion she called “The Discipline of Optimism”, an exploration of some of the ways people have grown and created amidst the virus disaster.

Helena Snow, psychotherapist and parent educator, joined us from France, and shared her reading from The Book of Joy by Desmond Tutu (the Anglican Archbishop of South Africa) and Lhamo Thondup (the Dalai Lama), and Daniel Siegel on brain trauma and development.

Claude Solnik, journalist and playwright, joined us from Long Island, New York. Claude taught us about fact checking and its vital role in journalism and political life.

Maia Frost, high school student, joined us from Roslindale, Massachusetts. She shared with us her study and website about gang databases used by law enforcement.

Dina Wolfman Baker, market strategist, synagogue leader and essayist, joined us from Waltham, Massachusetts. Dina shared with us a davar Torah (a teaching from the Jewish tradition) she used to persuade her fellow congregants to use the synagogue as a warming shelter for homeless people this winter.

Morgan Frost, a college freshman at Northwestern University in Chicago, joined us from Lincoln Park, Chicago. Morgan told us of the difficulties she surmounted in finally voting in her first presidential election.

Paula Phipps joined us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and talked about her work with the organization Biodiversity for a Livable Climate https://bio4climate.org.

Wayne Clark. co-operative activist and philosopher, joined us from Newton, Massachusetts, and shared his proposal to the Minneapolis City Council to create a structure for co-operative policing. (Please note: Wayne died the following year, and we miss him).

Brad Baker, landscape designer and environmental educator, joined us from Waltham, Massachusetts. Brad showed us how he educates the public about the vital importance of trees and how to care for them wisely.

Adam Frost, computer repairman and educator, joined us from Boston, and talked about a small personal political conflict with a colleague, and led us in a discussion of how a conflict like this can teach us about larger conflicts.

Paula Doress-Worters, author and editor, joined us from Newton, and read from her memoirs in progress.

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October 2019 Conference:

We opened with Dodi Rees reading two poems her mom loved. One of them was Mary Oliver's “The Summer Day”, the other a Sanskrit poem that celebrates life. Caroline had written an essay about her wild and precious life. Click here to download the essay:Caroline

on her wild and precious life

Barb Ferullo then spoke with us about her work as a therapist. She said that she had been trained as a Freudian therapist, exploring childhood conflicts and trying to help the client see how patterns developed in childhood have become maladaptive in current life. She then trained in trauma therapy, including stydying with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk who wrote The Body Keeps the Score, about how trauma becomes incorporated into your body. She said she treats two kinds of trauma, one-time trauma and developmental trauma. For both kinds of trauma, the treatment begins with helping the client find calm. One of the simple ways she does this: have the client point to and name all the browbn objects in the room. Once calmer, Barb helps the client ind positive ways of dealig with his/her current situation. Barb taught us that scientists have found a strong connection between mental health/calm/happiness and the number of people you have in your life you can talk sincerely to. She cited 6 as a goal to strive for! She said that hers is a hard trade, and she doesn't always get things right with her clients, but continually tries sincerely.

Guntram Mueller spoke next. Guntram is a longtime peace activist, and he shared with us three steps that we can take which would reduce our C02 (carbon) foot print by 50%:

1. sign up for all solar/wind power with your electric company

2. Get an electric car

3. Put in electric heating appliances in your home.

He noted we were lucky that humans can do all three of these things to help save the Earth.

The discussion after explored some of the challenges posed by these three changes. Marlene noted that electric cars are expensive-- starting at $30K-- and there is as yet not much of a used market.

Guntram is from Newton, and says that Newton residents can choose how much of their electricity is from solar/wind-- 14% (the legally mandated percentage), 60% or 100. We were surprised to hear that only 5% of Newton residents had opted for the 100%, even though the cost is essentially the same as the lower percentages. This seems fertile ground for organizing.

Rosemary Jones talked about helping a friend whose partner died suddenly. She rushed in to help in practical ways, but found that what her friend wanted most was for Rosemary to be available.

Jay Hoffman talked with us about the math tutoring he does at Center House. He told us that the House has a training program for tutors, and showed us the careful method he was trained in, which makes sure the students understand the objective of the tutoring lesson, helps them through the problems, and has a good feedback and practice loop when the student has trouble.

Maia Frost talked about her experience as a student at Boston Latin. She said that she and her fellow students have almost no free time to hang out and be with one another, and that a lot of the schoolwork seems burdensome and not conducive to learning. She contrasted her Boston Latin experience with the Business of Doing Good weeklong program she took part in over the summer. In this program, she needed to create a substantial social entrepreneurial project. As she started her week at the program, held in a church in the South End, Maia was surprised that after each hour or so, the leaders of the program sent her and her fellow students out to play or take some other recreational break. She discovered that this greatly enhanced her thinking and her energy.