Winners of the 2023 WPCH Vender Lounge Giveaway have been contacted via email. If you have won a prize but have not received our email, please reach out to id-marketing@riseservicesinc.org!
About the Conference
The Western Partnerships Conference on Human Services provides quality disability and mental health training to human service professionals, teachers, counselors, parents, self advocates and community members who serve and support individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness.
Training sessions provide the most innovative, cutting edge techniques and information in the disability services field to our attendees. Speaker presentations will offer new ideas, insights and strategies to inspire and challenge our audience. Our sessions are designed to empower attendees to put into practice what they learn, interact with each other and find inspiration. The conference provides an exciting forum for the exchange of practical knowledge and new strategies.
Keynote Speaker
Josh Shipp
- At-Risk Foster Kid to Harvard University
- Featured by Oprah, NY Times, Good Morning America
- Bestselling Author of Several Books
Statistically, Josh Shipp should be dead, in jail, or homeless. But his success as a preeminent author, speaker, and global youth empowerment expert is living proof of the power of one caring adult. A former at-risk foster kid turned youth advocate; Josh is renowned for the documentary TV series on A&E that followed his groundbreaking work with youth and families.
He has written two national bestsellers, “The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans” – winner of the Nautilus Gold Award for Parenting & Family – and “The Teen’s Guide to World Domination.”
Thanks to the support of teachers, counselors, and a fantastic set of foster parents, Josh went on to be named to Inc. Magazine’s 30 under 30 list and completed his postgraduate studies at Harvard.
Josh is regularly called on by OPRAH, CNN, FOX, The New York Times, 20/20, Good Morning America, and others to comment on the next generation’s challenges. Over the years, Josh has keynoted events for countless groups of parents, educators, and social workers – with audiences as large as 55,000 – and, to date, has spoken live in front of more than two million people. Viral clips of his acclaimed presentations have been viewed an estimated 50 million times online through platforms such as UpWorthy, Goalcast, and BuzzFeed.
To serve his ultimate goal of reaching as many students as possible, Josh trains other speakers through Youth Speaker University, helping them use their own stories to make an impact. His social-emotional learning curriculum is used in hundreds of classrooms, while his free newsletter offers practical strategies to 200K+ parents, educators, and social workers.
Keynote Speaker
Russell Lehmann
Russell Lehmann is an award-winning and internationally recognized thought leader, speaker, poet, and advocate contextualizing autism, mental health, disabilities, and the overall human condition. His words have been featured in the USA Today, LA Times, NPR, Yahoo! News, Success Magazine and archived in the Library of Congress.
A graduate of MIT’s “Leadership in the Digital Age” course, Russell sits on the national Board of Directors for The Arc of the United States and is a lead council member for the Autism Society of America. He also serves as an advisor to NEXT for Autism. Additionally, Russell has been the Youth Ambassador for the mayor of Reno, Nevada, and a member of the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities as well as the Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Russell is also a contributor for Psychology Today.
Russell showed signs of autism as a newborn, however, he was not formally diagnosed until the age of 12 after suffering through 5 weeks in a lockdown psychiatric facility.
His new book, “On the Outside Looking In” recently hit bookstores nationwide. In 2018, Russell was named as Reno-Tahoe’s “Most Outstanding Young Professional Under 40”.
In 2019 & 2020, Russell lectured for the prestigious King’s College of London and the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Special Education in Abu Dhabi, respectively. In 2022, Russell was invited to the Finnish Parliament to discuss government supports that are needed in Finland for individuals on the spectrum.
Named the 2022 Advocate of the Year by the Autism Society of America, Russell currently travels the world spreading hope, awareness, and compassion in a raw and dynamic fashion, while also setting his sights on erasing the stigmas and stereotypes that come with having a disability. Russell’s passion is to be a voice for the unheard, for he knows how difficult and frustrating it is to go unnoticed.
Contact Us
Are you interested in being a sponsor or speaker for this event? Have questions about attending the event? Get in touch now.
Phone:
1-208-376-4999
Fax:
1-208-376-4988
Email: nienkec@riseservicesinc.org