Thank you to everyone who came together to make our 30th Annual A View from All Sides such an amazing event. Nearly 600 people joined us in person or online and both days were filled with engaging and thought-provoking presentations, meaningful connections, and a renewed energy that will power our work forward.
2022 A View from All Sides Award Recipients
Suzin Bartley (right) accepting the Frances Litman Leadership Award, pictured with Children's Trust Board Member, Peg Sprague.
Frances Litman Leadership Award: Suzin Bartley
As the Executive Director of the Children’s Trust for thirty years, Suzin Bartley led the Children’s Trust from a small group of dedicated staff to a nationally recognized leader in child abuse prevention. By partnering with a network of over one hundred family support agencies across Massachusetts, many of whom are sitting in the room today, Suzin has led the development and expansion of innovative programming that has a demonstrable impact, making the Commonwealth a safer place for children. Under her leadership, she has created and led one of the most successful home-based parent coaching programs in the country, a network of eight center-based family support programs reaching 40 Massachusetts communities, a robust statewide collection of group-based parenting education and support programs, and a nationally recognized fatherhood initiative.
Bartley has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including the Day-Garrett Award from the Smith College School of Social Work and the Outstanding Child Advocacy Award from the National Association of Counsel for Children.
About the Frances Litman Award: The Fran Litman Award recognizes an individual who has been in family support and parent education for at least 20 years. The awardee exemplifies the qualities of a strong leader and has made a significant contribution to families across the state. The Fran Litman awardee is thoughtful, hands-on, and has made an impact beyond their job responsibilities and their organization’s mission. The awardee demonstrates their commitment to families and children and guides, directs, and inspires others.
Boston Bruins Foundation President, Bob Sweeney (left) accepting the Community Partnership Award, pictured with Children's Trust Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations, Angela Haynes.
Community Partnership Award: The Boston Bruins Foundation
The Boston Bruins Foundation is a non-profit that collaborates with charitable organizations that demonstrate a commitment to health and wellness, education, and athletics. The Foundation strongly believes that advocating for children and families across these areas will create a strong support system that will ultimately lead to the betterment of our community.
For over 23 years, the Boston Bruins has been a Children's Trust partner in the fight against child abuse. Their support has been consistent through a variety of methods, including event sponsorship, in-kind donations, volunteering, and partnering with other organizations to raise funds and create awareness.
About the Community Partnership Award: The Community Partnership Award recognizes an organization that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of the Children’s Trust. The Community Partnership awardee has developed strong and long-lasting relationships, understands our shared responsibility to support families and children, and has directly impacted the goals of the Children’s Trust.
Samantha Morton and Kate Gannon (left) accepting the Community Visionary Award, pictured with Children's Trust Assistant Director of Home Visiting, Marissa Daley.
Community Visionary Award: Medical-Legal Partnership Boston
Medical-Legal Partnership Boston (MLPB) equips communities of care with legal education and problem-solving insight that fosters prevention, health equity, and human-centered system change. Through training, consultation, and technical assistance — our team-facing legal partnering framework — we help teams and organizations better connect people and populations to the resources and legal protections they seek.
At a household level, this capacity-building disrupts the trajectory of a barrier (to social, economic, or environmental health) into a legal — and health — crisis. At a population level, this work cultivates communities of care as partners in system and policy change.
About the Community Visionary Award: This Award recognizes the outstanding work of individuals and organizations that improve the quality of services in their communities through their passion, hard work, leadership, and dedication to helping families and children. A Community Visionary improves and promotes the well-being of their community members by advocating for and implementing services to improve the lives of all families and children.
Adrianne Simeone (right) accepting the Emerging Leader Award, pictured with Children's Trust Prevention Training Coordinator, Tammy Bernardi.
Emerging Leader Award: Adrianne Simeone
Adrianne Simeone is the founder & executive director of The Mama Bear Effect, a nationally focused nonprofit organization with the mission of making child sexual abuse prevention education down-to-earth and accessible to all.
Adrianne felt a calling to utilize her professional skills and make a positive contribution after reading one too many stories about a child being sexually abused. She believes that with the power of social media and a down-to-earth approach, The Mama Bear Effect can create change and encourage people to protect children from being sexually abused. The information is out there – people just need to hear it and make an active choice to be responsible and proactive.
Adrianne believes that all good people wish to help protect children, but that too many are afraid or uncomfortable talking about the issues of child sexual abuse. Furthermore, too many are unaware of how prevalent and devastating child sexual abuse can be for a person, family, community, and our nation. Her goal for The Mama Bear Effect is to tear down those obstacles and make people feel good about educating themselves, their children, and their communities.
About the Emerging Leader Award: This award recognizes an individual who has worked in parenting education or family support for at least five years. An Emerging Leader excels in their role, goes above and beyond their work responsibilities, and has the potential to make a significant impact in the lives of children and families in the future.
The Gonzalez family (left) accepting the Family Recognition Award, pictured with Children's Trust Executive Director, Jenn Valenzuela.
Family Recognition Award: Andrée Gonzalez and Krystal Duval
Andrée Gonzalez is a graduate of the Children’s Trust Healthy Families program and was just 19 years old when she and her longtime partner, Lucas, found out that they were pregnant. Even with supportive family and friends, she found herself in need of more resources as a first-time parent. Healthy Families worked with her and Lucas to help navigate the joys and challenges of parenthood as well as their personal and professional goals. Today, she is putting everything she has learned into supporting other families and creating a lasting, positive impact on her community. Andrée is truly on a mission to build a world for her children that is filled with happiness, love, and support.
Krystal Duval has served as a strong advocate for her family and others, particularly in supporting families with special needs. Krystal and her son engaged in early services with the Valuing Our Children (VOC) Family Center through the ParentChild+ home-visiting program. Krystal built relationships with staff and other families, while always bringing the voice of parenting a child with special needs to the table. Krystal became a valued member of the VOC Parent Advisory Group and Peer Ambassador. These leadership roles led her to be voted into the VOC Board of Directors.
Recently, Krystal began working full-time for a local clinical agency serving as a Family Partner. This agency works closely with VOC, sending referrals for parent education and parent-child activities. Krystal's strong advocacy was recognized immediately, and she quickly gained the respect of everyone there. Her reputation for bringing the voices of those utilizing services and needs to the table was instrumental in her earning this position, and she makes sure to carry that through her work as well. She is thriving in this position as she brings lived experience to the work with families in her community.
About the Family Recognition Award: The Family Recognition Award recognizes parents and caregivers who have taken great strides in enhancing the lives of their family and community through participation in a Children’s Trust-funded program. This award exemplifies the incredible commitment of the parents and the programs that support them. All participants of Children’s Trust-funded Family Centers, SAFE Child Communities, Parenting Education and Support Programs, Nurturing Fathers’ Programs, and Healthy Families Massachusetts are eligible to be nominated by program staff to receive this award.