This workshop explores the foundation of emotional intelligence in order to help school leaders and teachers thrive and build the core skills needed for peak performance, especially as it relates to equity work and creating trauma-sensitive environments. We will explore components of mindfulness-based emotional intelligence, mental and emotional resilience, and engagement. In addition, participants will explore scientifically proven methods of mental conditioning and attention-training that improve creativity, communication, productivity, and personal and school/classroom leadership. Also, participants will learn varied mindfulness and reflection practices that support happiness, thriving and overall well-being. The result is enhanced self-awareness and authenticity, better communication skills, stronger relationship-building skills, and the ability to lead and teach with greater presence – which supports a better school environment and better school and stakeholder relationships.

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Outcomes:

1. How mindfulness can support deeper learning of equity work and cultural-proficiency to improve work with youth and people of color, resulting in greater authenticity, connection, and well-being;

2. How meditation, when used explicitly as an equity tool, can reduce unconscious bias, stereotype threat, and other factors impacting cultural responsiveness and equity work;

3.  The science behind the effects of meditation on the brain and body;

4.  How mindfulness practices benefit stress-reduction, happiness, health, and well-being…giving our lives and work a greater sense of ease, flow, and peace; and

5.  A “tool kit” of practices and exercises that work immediately and beyond​​

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Tovi is a visionary educator, author, and award-winning urban high school principal with over 25 years of emotional intelligence and self-mastery experience. Currently, Tovi serves as California’s Regional Executive Director of Partners in School Innovation, where she leads the largest regional team to improve educational outcomes in the nation’s lowest-performing schools. She also serves as the founding co-director of the Association of CA School Administrators Equity Leaders Academy, and as ACSA’s Region 6 State Equity Representative. Further, Tovi is a founding co-teacher of the trauma-informed leadership course at Mills College, where she uses an integral approach of inside-out work and research-based best-practices of adult learning to develop emotionally intelligent and SEL-influenced educators with strong leadership capacity to ensure that we educate the whole child as well as support educators to live lives with greater peace, ease, and resilience. Before re-entering the non-profit sector, Tovi co-founded a fully-accredited independent Black school with 100% college-going rates and was an urban high school principal who led a complete school transformation with scalable, replicable strategies focused on culture-climate and academic-culture building. Tovi certified with Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.