Come together to advocate for the mental wellness of students, families, and educators.

2020 Student Mental Wellness Conference

2020 Keynote Speakers

  • A woman with long black hair smiling, wearing a dark blazer, and sitting at a desk with a pen in her hand.

    Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP

    California Surgeon General

    An award-winning physician, researcher, and advocate dedicated to changing the way our society responds to one of the most serious, expensive and widespread public health crises of our time: childhood trauma.

  • A woman with curly hair wearing glasses, smiling, in a room with bookshelves in the background.

    Julie Lythcott-Haims, MFA, JD

    The author of the New York Times bestselling book How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success (2015) and Real American: A Memoir (2017).

  • Headshot of a bald man wearing a blue dress shirt and gray blazer, smiling at the camera.

    Steven C. Hayes

    Developer of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and his book, Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life was featured in Time Magazine and has been ranked the #1 best-selling self-help book in the US.

  • Smiling man in a gray blazer and white t-shirt outdoors

    Isaiah Pickens, Ph.D.

    Licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in counseling and educational services for individuals and organizations. Dr. Pickens is currently Assistant Director of the Service Systems Program at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), the coordinating site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).

  • Portrait of a smiling woman with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a blue blouse, in an indoor setting.

    Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D.

    Serves as the Executive Director of The Education Trust–West, a research and advocacy organization focused on educational justice and supporting the high achievement of all California students.

  • A middle-aged man with a bald head, wearing a black shirt and a wristwatch, speaking into a microphone on a stage with a black background.

    Stephen Sroka, Ph.D.

    Adjunct Assistant Professor with School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, and has worked in schools worldwide for over 30 years, delivering cutting edge information and skills in an entertaining, motivating, and inspirational presentation that lets theory translate into practice.

Close-up of a smiling older man with glasses and gray hair, wearing a plaid shirt, outdoors with blurred greenery in the background.

 Mark Collin, M.A., LMFT

Mark is the founder of The Toolbox Project. The Toolbox Project began to emerge in 1993 while Mark was serving as a school counselor for disadvantaged children. Since then, Mark has worked in and with schools for over 26 years developing Toolbox, a comprehensive social and emotional learning curricula and program now serving over 265,000 children, 12,000 teachers, their families and communities worldwide. The strength/asset based common language of the 12 Tools and strategies of Toolbox is rooted in resilience, self-knowledge, self-awareness, non-violence, and empathy for self and others. Mark has received awards and much praise for this work. To name a few: In 2013, Mark received an ‘official’ endorsement of The Toolbox Project from the XIVth Dalai Lama. He was a 2017 Finalist in the Jefferson Awards.

Mark has been teaching, studying, and practicing in the field of humanistic, Jungian, and transpersonal psychology for forty years. He did graduate work at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California. He received a master’s degree in Eastern and Western Contemplative and Developmental Sciences. Along with developing Toolbox, Mark also practices as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Santa Rosa, CA.