Jon McFarland
Ed.D.
Central Valley Pride
Jon McFarland
Jon McFarland, Ed.D. (he/him) has been an educator for three decades and has worked at multiple levels in public and private education. He is currently an Associate Professor of Teacher Education at California State University, Stanislaus. His current research interests include matters of equity and diversity in secondary schools. He is also the Executive Director of Central Valley Pride Youth Initiatives, the educational arm of the nonprofit Central Valley Pride, which provides professional development training for schools and school districts throughout the State of California on LGBTQ+ issues and best practices for supporting this population of students.
SESSION OVERVIEW
Collaborative Advocacy: Tapping into Community Expertise
This presentation highlights the collaborative efforts of driven individuals committed to social justice action—and the shared values that guided their journey—in developing the nonprofit organizations Central Valley Pride and Central Valley Pride Youth Initiatives, which serve the LGBTQ+ community in California’s Central Valley. Workshop participants will learn how the leaders of these organizations leveraged their values of collaboration and community to ensure efforts and expertise in grassroots advocacy and education address the unique challenges of supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in Merced County and other surrounding counties in the Central Valley. Through discussion and practical examples, participants will explore ways to partner with community members and experts in their own areas to turn shared values into action through greater advocacy capacity, sustainability, and lasting change.
Co-Presenter: