LETTER FROM CTIPP'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & BOARD CHAIR:
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) was founded in 2015 for two primary reasons:
To educate policymakers and staff about the impact of trauma and emerging promising practices that have shown to support and strengthen communities.
To integrate systems and remend social fabrics so individuals and families have the opportunities and support necessary to thrive.
It wasn’t until this year that we had paid staff and consultants to work toward these lofty goals. Before 2021, all labor was volunteered by passionate and dedicated advisors and directors, volunteer advocates, and practitioners across the United States and worldwide.
While CTIPP’s development and success are due to so many's work, no one has played a more significant role in the organization to date than Dan Press. From hosting the first CTIPP meeting at his law firm to serving as pro bono general counsel to leading our policy strategy before staff was hired to making significant donations to launch the organization to being a friend and mentor for so many and much more, CTIPP would not be CTIPP and perhaps not exist at all without Dan. Dan passed away in October after a long battle with lung cancer. He was the ultimate advocate, and we miss him dearly.
As we continue to grow our impact and support in the years ahead, it will layer upon the strong foundation Dan and countless other volunteers laid through their dedication and passion for the promises of trauma-informed care and healing-centered engagement early on. You’d often find yourself discussing and imagining ways to heal and repair our world in meetings with Dan. He was humble about his strengths and weaknesses, honest about what he did and did not know, and inspired others to contribute their strengths and experiences to the movement. We continue to work to embed this spirit and energy into the organization forever moving forward.
In addition to Dan and his family’s gift, we want to thank the Winer Family Foundation and The Burke Foundation for making the first foundation investments in CTIPP’s work and their ongoing partnership. We want to give a special thanks to the ANS Research Foundation for continuing to loan part of Jesse’s time to serve as executive director to sustain and scale organizational operations and for investing to support aligned projects between ANS Research and CTIPP. We also want to thank the Scattergood Foundation, CHG Charitable Trust, and the many individuals who donated what they could for their support this year.
This year, building organizational capacity to hire a talented team has exponentially increased our impact. In particular, we want to honor and thank Jen Curt, Laura Braden Quigley, and Whitney Marris, who brought expertise and passion to our team.
Jen has led our policy work to educate Congress and the executive branch and advance trauma-informed legislation. Jen’s expertise and engagement of advocates during monthly CTIPP CAN calls and weekly Chat and Chews has been incredibly helpful for many individuals and organizations.
Laura has led our communications efforts, including recreating our website and transitioning to a more navigable platform, creating templates for newsletters and advocacy efforts, producing reports, earned media, social media outreach, and much more. Her expertise in communications has helped us get our message out more quickly and widely to various audiences, which helps propel the movement.
Whitney has led systems transformation efforts through novel research and the creation of tools for our network, such as the asynchronous advocacy series, to propel the movement forward and keep us aligned and anchored in our values. Whitney has been working with CTIPP since 2019 as a volunteer with the National Trauma Campaign, and her dedicated time this past year has continued to create a strong foundation for us to build upon.
Beyond individual accomplishments, we are proud of how this team has navigated the complexities of being an under-funded startup nonprofit and a lot of the inherent uncertainty at this stage of an organization. The work is just getting started, and we will continue to evolve in ways that better align with trauma-informed values. Yet, we recognize the meaningful ways the team has come together around shared values of reparation, restoration, and justice for all communities and people. We are so excited to see the work that can be accomplished in our first full year together in 2023!
In addition, we want to thank the consulting groups that have helped support CTIPP’s growth this past year. Elevate has developed and supported a strong grants program to support our organization and the movement long into the future. Will House Global worked with our Board to solidify action steps around our commitment to accessibility, belonging, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (ABDEIJ).
We will highlight significant accomplishments this past year in the pages ahead. We will not be able to highlight every accomplishment, person, and organization that contributed to the successes we experienced in 2022.
We are grateful for the many contributions made to transform systems and improve lives, and we look forward to continuing to build the movement as time moves forward!
Sincerely,
Jesse Kohler, Executive Director
Sandra L. Bloom, M.D., Board Chair