Description:
This 2-hour training is designed for advocates, community members, and professionals seeking to strengthen their ability to influence public policy through informed and strategic engagement. Navigating the legislative process can feel overwhelming, especially for those looking to translate lived experience into meaningful systems change. This interactive webinar breaks down Connecticut’s legislative structure, timelines, and opportunities for engagement, while equipping participants with practical tools to craft and deliver effective testimony.
Participants will explore trauma-informed advocacy practices that center dignity, amplify marginalized voices, and promote sustainable impact. Through guided discussion and skill-building exercises, attendees will learn how to build relationships with legislators, identify key moments for advocacy, and turn personal stories into powerful policy asks. This session empowers participants to move from awareness to action—transforming their voice into real change.
Learning Objectives:
- Trauma-informed approaches to advocacy.
- Strategies to build relationships with decision-makers.
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Learn tools to turn lived experience into lasting policy change.
2 RSS CEUs Available
Presenter Bio:
LaResse Harvey is the Founder and Board Chair of Once Incarcerated Anonymous (OIA), a Connecticut-based nonprofit dedicated to housing justice and reentry support for people with criminal records. An advocate since age 15, she brings over 20 years of lived and professional experience in reentry, prison reform, pardons, drug policy, education, and healthcare.
Recognized for her impact, she was inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Change in 2020 and has led major housing justice initiatives, developed over 50 programs for women and girls, and influenced statewide policy reform. LaResse is a Certified SAMHSA/GAINS Trainer and CITI Researcher, and in 2024 joined a Brown University research team studying yoga and meditation in prisons.
She is the award-winning author of Buttons’ Journey: My First Two Years Living with PTSD and continues to support survivors through speaking, writing, and healing-centered work, grounded in her guiding belief: Pave Your Pain into Power.