This workshop by Keona Rose showcases her family background, setbacks and how she overcame them to the career she has now through starting her family and career based upon self-healing and empowering others as a Lived Expertise Youth Advocate.

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Workshop presented by: Keona Rose 

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health 

This workshop focuses on what stress looks and feels like for adolescents. Using self-assessments, students will gain a better understanding of how stress affects them
personally. Students will discuss stressors, positive and negative stress, physical and emotional symptoms, and resiliency. This workshop will cover healthy and unhealthy coping skills and discuss constructive strategies for managing stress.

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Workshop presented by: Sunday Hamilton, Teen Lifeline

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

This interactive workshop led by students and staff will help participants identify tools and strategies for building resilience. Participants will learn about what resilience is and why it's important. Participants will experience hands on activities for practicing healthy coping skills and managing stress.

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Workshop presented by: Monique Landrum, Marbella Rodriguez, Jazmen Beltran, Isabella Maldonado, and Romina Chaidez, Mexican American Student Services Department, Tucson Unified School District 

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

This interactive workshop focuses on teaching youth about different topics related to substance misuse and substance use disorder. These topics include substance misuse vocabulary, an overview of stigma, types of substances, prevalence of substance use within youth, misconceptions of substance use, causes for early substance usage, substance use prevention methods, and privacy/anti-discrimination laws related to substance use. As substance use is a taboo topic that is largely stigmatized, this youth-led workshop is able to bridge the health disparity gap through shared experiences and directly connecting youth to a healthcare provider. 

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Workshop presented by: Daniel Marrufo, Ana Fernandez, and Coraly Felicie, El Rio Health Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP)

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Conference Theme Area: Substance Misuse Prevention

This workshop contains important and current information on what everyone needs to know about fentanyl use in Pima County and how it is affecting those who use it or may encounter it. Get ready for an interactive and eye-opening session! The workshop shares information youth need to know about how fentanyl use affects a developing body and brain. We'll share smart & practical tips on how you and your friends can steer clear of these dangers. Through engaging activities and relatable stories, you'll learn how to protect yourselves and support each other in making safe and healthy choices. Don't miss out on this essential and empowering experience. 

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Workshop presented by: Chaya Annabi and Karen McGarrity, STOPit Coalition, PPEP, Inc.

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Conference Theme Area: Substance Misuse Prevention

This workshop blends personal experience with real-world resources to explore mental health and substance use challenges facing youth in Pima County. Through storytelling, we will examine the void many young people feel often rooted in a lack of purpose and what fills it when support is missing. Participants reflect on how their choices impact themselves, families, and their communities while gaining practical tools, local resources, and strategies to discover purpose. Revealing how to live with accountability, intention, and alignment with who they are becoming.

 

Workshop presented by: Gabe Mendoza, Mason Custis, Malachi Ligenfelter, and Jared McMurry, Boys to Men Tucson, INC

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health; Substance Misuse Prevention

This workshop empowers youth and young adults to advocate for their needs by turning lived experiences into actionable change. Participants learn to identify challenges, address different power dynamics, and craft compelling advocacy messages. Through interactive exercises such as storytelling, collaborative peer work, and constructive feedback, Career Youth Leadership Table (CYLT) will address how young people can practice sharing ideas confidently with school leaders, community organizations, and policymakers. Youth leave with practical strategies, a personal advocacy plan, and the skills to influence systems that impact mental health and community well-being. The session emphasizes collaboration, youth voice, and actionable steps to create meaningful, lasting change.

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Workshop presented by: Ana Fabiana Fernandez, Vida Rodriguez, Mario Valencia, and Justin Curry, Cradle to Career Youth Leadership Table 

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

This interactive workshop introduces conference attendees to Integrative Touch's innovative Heal it Forward model, an approach that reimagines what it means to heal, in a world where most care happens outside traditional healthcare settings. Participants will experience a guided mindfulness and expressive arts activity designed to build emotional awareness, resilience, and connection. Youth co-presenter(s) will share firsthand insights from their service experiences, highlighting practical, heart-centered strategies for supporting youth mental health. Attendees will leave with accessible tools they can use in their daily lives and communities to foster healing, belonging, and well-being.

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Workshop presented by: Andi Hammonds, Woods Fairchild, Youth Intern Grace, and Youth Volunteer Evie, Integrative Touch Healing Center

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

This workshop will be centered around reflecting, regulation, and renewing. It will start with an activity about sorting one's baggage and deciding what things they want to take with them into life or leave behind. It will then go into learning more about our past and how that affects our brain. The workshop will then finish with an activity on learning healthy coping skills. The workshop is intended to be taught by both Child & Family Resources (CFR) staff and youth leaders in CFR's Youth Leadership Development Cohort.

 

Workshop presented by: Kennedy Van Norman and Olivia Gonzales, Child & Family Resources

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

Sat Bir Kaur Khalsa has facilitated this workshop at several Youth & Peace Conferences. Sat Bir has found that youth have a lot of insightful strategies to keep themselves and their friends safe online. This is an opportunity to share strategies, learn from others, and also live search factchecking based on participant choices. Workshop attendees will compile all information shared and post it online so others can benefit from the group's shared knowledge. 

 

Workshop presented by: Sat Bir Kaur Khalsa, Culture of Peace Alliance

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Conference Theme Area: Social Media Safety

This underage substance use prevention program empowers teens to say no to alcohol and other substances. Teens will learn what alcohol, cannabis and medications can do to a teen's brain and body and gain ways to take a stand for themselves and others by avoiding substances and practicing car safety.

 

Workshop presented by: Gretl Krooksmer, Mothers Against Drunk Driving

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Conference Theme Area: Substance Misuse Prevention

Voices of Lived Experience is a youth- and family-centered workshop focused on strengthening connection, wellbeing, and belonging through advocacy skills and community partnerships. Guided by Lived Experience Professionals, participants will explore how personal stories and real-world experiences can shape safer, more inclusive school and community environments. The workshop highlights practical strategies for supporting youth mental health, promoting social media safety, and preventing substance misuse while exploring different perspectives. Through dialogue, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving, attendees will learn how connection can drive change and build stronger relationships between youth, families, communities and schools.

 

Workshop presented by: Erin Soto and Brenda Replogle, Arizona Peer and Family Coalition

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health, Social Media Safety, Substance Misuse Prevention

This workshop empowers youth to strengthen their mental well-being by developing essential social and emotional skills. Through activities and guided reflection, participants learn tools for confidence, communication, and resilience, helping them thrive with the support of parents, guardians, and trusted adults.

 

Workshop presented by: Arcelia Cornidez and Paola D’Gyves, LPKNC

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Conference Theme Area: Youth Mental Health

Youth participants will move through three talking circles, each aligned with a key learning objective. They will explore root causes of gun violence, learn how people heal from trauma connected to gun violence, and outline actions they believe can strengthen safety. The session centers community voice, shared learning, and practical steps toward collective change.

 

Workshop presented by: Azul Navarrete-Valera, Isaac Durgin, Oscar Medina, City of Tucson Community Safety, Health and Wellness, & Jaslynn Granados, Goodwill Village Program

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Conference Theme Area: Gun Violence Prevention