Podcast: What does it mean to be a Prevention Leader w/Dena Kemp. [#33]
Today, we’re talking about community engagement, facilitation, and what it means to be a prevention leader with Dena Kemp, who is a Southeast Kansas Community Support Specialist.
Dena is also an alumni of the HueLife Prevention Leaders Cohort.
This Hue Journey is an intensive skill-building experience. The program will significantly improve facilitative leadership capabilities in the context of coalition work, develop facilitation methods, and provide a fun learning environment. Participants will be part of a learning community and support system lasting long beyond the five cohort intensives.
Angie Asa-Lovstad, Karie Terhark, and Dave Closson, your guides on this Journey, have over 38-years of combined experience leading community coalitions in the drug and alcohol prevention scope. Together they have also led state-wide collaboration using tools that will be taught in the Prevention Leaders Cohort to ensure coalition members are included in every step of the process, organically creating buy-in and sustainability.
HUE Prevention Leaders Cohort is a 15-month commitment. We meet two times each month (or 6 times per quarter) via Zoom.
Prevention Leadership Means:
Create a shared vision with stakeholders and collectively develop long-term and short-term goals.
Empower your stakeholders to carry out the plan that keeps people engaged to follow through.
Establish an evaluation practice with accountability within the teams to be responsive to a changing environment.
Build confidence in leading groups of stakeholders and community members.
Develop self as a transformational leader and use data to create shared awareness around community issues.
Develop your team, empower coalition members, and leverage the personal passion of each member.
Episode Links:
https://hue.life/prevention-leaders-cohort/
Transcript
Dave: Hey everybody. This is Dave Closson from DJC Solutions, and you're listening to the Prevention Leaders Podcast, the show that brings you conversations with like-minded and driven prevention leaders from across the globe. Before we start the show, I wanna tell you about my partners at Hug Life and their upcoming Prevention Leaders cohort 2023.
The insights and wisdom packed into this learningjourney stem from over 25 years of combined experience leading community coalitions in the substance use and misuse field. So I will put a link in the show notes, definitely check it out. We would love to have you join us in the Prevention Leaders Cohort.
Today we're gonna talk about the prevention leaders cohort, one of the, the alumni from a past cohort. We talk about prevention. We're gonna talk about what it means to be a prevention leader, and we're gonna talk about facilitation, building your facilitator's toolkit. We're gonna have a wonderful conversation filled with stories from the field, real life examples, and some tips and tricks that you can take with you back to your communities to be a prevention leader. without further ado, I am excited to welcome Dena to the podcast, Dena welcome.
Dena: Thank you. I'm excited to be here today
Dave: before we jump into today's content i'd love it if you would, just, take a moment to introduce yourself to our listeners.
Dena: I'm Dena Kemp with DCCCA. I'm the Southeast Kansas Community Support Specialist, and I had the opportunity to go through the Hugh Life leadership, process, and it was amazing, absolutely phenomenal. I learned so much from it. Met so many people, made memories and I would encourage.
Who is interested in prevention to attend the training. I have been in prevention, since 2012. I started in Oklahoma. Prior to that I worked in domestic violence and sexual assault and substance use treatment for over 25 years, and I had the opportunity at the age of 45, I went back to school to get my master's degree.
And an opening came up in prevention and I thought, whoa, to be on the front end to, to help people so they don't end up in, you know, inpatient services, in treatment or in a domestic violence situation or to help them become healthier individuals by giving them the skills and the, the techniques that they need, helping them with life skills.
You know, so many people don't have life skills. And so prevention is something that works with youth and to help them to develop those skills. And so I'm so excited about being on the front end and prevention is really a lot more cost effective .
So I'm excited to be at prevention.
Dave: I can just feel the passion radiating through the speakers and you care. I'm curious, I wanna unpack your role. Community support specialist. What does that mean?
Dena: So as a community support specialist, I work in 19 counties in southeast Kansas. When I started in 2018, I, there weren't very many contacts in southeast Kansas. I had worked in substance use in Oklahoma. I was the opioid overdose,, and worked under two different grants prior to leaving there.
So making contacts, starting things from scratch is one of my strengths. And so I just hit the ground running and started making contacts in southeast Kansas. I started by,, emails and then I realized face-to-face was what it was gonna take. And so getting out there, meeting people right where they're at, learning about their communities and letting them know that I wasn't going.um, developing those relationships. And it took about a year in all honesty for doing that, for people to reach back out and say, Hey, do you have this resource? Can you tell me more about this? And so we provide technical assistance and training to, um, communities and their coalitions for substance use prevention, including opioid prevention as well as suicide prevention, problem gambling, prevention and gaming prevent.
And we also, um, raise awareness around, um, mental health, um, because that's so important and we know they're all interconnected in some way or another. And so we go out there and I start by meeting with them. If they have a coalition, I learn what they're doing. if grant opportunities come along that they would qualify for and they're interested in, then I work with them.
So we have our Kansas Department of Aging and Disability,funding grants, And so I've had the opportunity to work with several coalitions over the time and just work along beside them, going through the core competencies of prevention and helping them understand the strategic prevention f.
and for those who may are listening and may not have heard it, for the life of me, when I first started in Oklahoma, I had the hardest time remembering each pedal and, um, my, my field rep I had in Oklahoma said, just remember awesome cherry pie. And I never forgot that. So we start with our assessment and then the capacity, then we go into planning and implementation, evaluation.
And then all along the way we're looking at culture competency and how we're gonna sustain the efforts. And so it, it is fun to take communities through that process and see their end results and then be able to evaluate it. What could we have done different? What are we doing right?
Sure. Awesome. Cherry pie.
Dave: All right, I'm gonna hit pause. I'm gonna go have me a snack cuz that
just
makes me
hungry. .
Dena: That makes you hungry. it could be the awesome chocolate pie if you
prefer
chocolate
Dave: Well, I, I like 'em both. , cherry Pirate, a little alamode, but I digress. So providingtraining and technical assistance to 19 counties,both with current coalitions. And then do you, do you help kind of foster or start up new coalitions if there isn't already one?
Dena: Absolutely. So if they're, even if there are current coalitions that may not be interested right now, I can offer assistance to
them. As well, um, with the resources that we have available. DECA is amazing at creating toolkits and resources, so I love getting the resources into the hands of the community members, but I learned early on, if I took all my resources with me, it overwhelmed people.
So I meet with them and then provide the resources. But we have toolkits on. The, um, commu the SAPs training, which I just shared about the, um, strategic prevention framework process. We have, um, toolkits on that. We have toolkits on suicide, opioid prevention.we have Naloxone, which is opioid overdose, prevention. that. they can go into our website and request Naloxone trainings as well as Naloxone kits. , we have doTERRA bags where their medications, and we also have some lock boxes available. So we have tons of resources that we can connect, , communities and coalitions agencies too, so that they have resources to educate and raise awareness. we also have we have trainers on our team that have been trained by the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children. And so we have five trainers in the state of Kansas. And we have three that had three or four that have been trained through DCCCA. So we can offer those trainings as well to let people.
What, what is an alliance for drug endangered children? What are drug endangered children? Because some people don't realize the vastness of it, and so that's another opportunity that we have. We have Chrissy Mayer, she's our prevention chief. She's amazing at looking out there and seeing what needs are met and and writing their grant and getting the resources to meet those needs.
And so we have those as. And, um, we have an older adult medication safety training that we can offer. You know, this is where I learned in Oklahoma. It was really eye-opening when I started working in there because as we get older, we lose our fingers, the way we feel, we lose our eyes and pills fall on the floor.
Andthat's how our little kids and our animals get those medications, and we don't want
that happening
to them. So that's a training on safe use, safe storage, and, and safe disposal as well.
Dave: I'm just gonna big old second the, the line. You
said DCCCA is awesome. Y'all are awesome. And from that, that lengthy list of what all you have going on, not only do you have a lot going on, But y'all are good at what you do too. You are good at it. And I think from an, an outsider looking in, a lot of that success comes from your culture, your organizational culture, the heart that you all have, the passion that you all have, and how you approach your jobs.
And that that
servant mindset.
Dena: I have learned firsthand, Dave, how amazing DCCCA is from the board of directors to everyone that serves in DCCCA, no matter what capacity. Over this last year, I could not worked for a better agency when I was going through my husband's illnesses and the support was outstanding. So the support we give to families and communities is not only recognized there, but it's recognized
internally and it truly is a wonderful agency to work for.
Dave: Absolutely. I get just, uh, goosebumps. Just
yes, yes, Any chance I had to, to work or even just hang out with any of y'all from DCCCA. I, it's an absolutely yes. Count me in. I don't care what it
is.
Dena: Well, we like hanging with you too,
Dave: well, Thank you. Um, you shared a lot of wisdom when you were talking about.
Your role, and I wanted to circle back to it a little bit for our listeners in that when you first started in this role and you had to go out and build relationships, you shared the importance, you know, like, Hey, you gotta go meet face to face and meet them where they're at. What other advice would you, you offer us for, for building relationships
with communities when it comes to
prevention?
Dena: you know, I learned not too long ago. One of the things that we can do, and this is an area that I need to grow in too, is just reaching out to and them and saying, Hey, how are you doing? Are you okay? Actually, just inquiring how they're doing is a skill to help build those relationships because they, they notice the people that.
and then just being there, letting them know, Hey, we've got this training coming up. I developed a email list of, uh, almost a hundred people from Southeast Kansas cuz I wanna get the information in and every so often you have to update it and just ask who would like to be taken off. But I'll tell you that I did that this weekend.
I had more people request to be put on than taken off. So I thought that was really cool. and. Then also, um, just calling and check on them, offering the resources, offering training. So if they're interested in knowing more about any of the programs or services that we offer, offering them a mini training on it. Facilitating,um, meetings with them, you know, after going through the hu, the Hue life facilitation, I love facilitation training I had the opportunity to facilitation with an
agency, and it was so fun because in the beginning when we got there, they had 19 goals
and objectives they wanted to accomplish for the next year,
And I said, okay. And, um, we incorporated some funds, some of the tools and skills, and I love having a toolbox. I love having a toolbox of resources and I received the toolboxof resources When I left and graduated, I have a toolbox of resources and so I was able to utilize those resources and we did a, um, facilitation training. They had a great time. Did a little bit of. You know, personalities characteristic stuff and have them write their names where they thought they fit in.
And it was so great because theCEO was like, my name's not on every one of 'em. I feel like my name needs to be on every one of 'em. And as we went through the day, something would happen. He'd go, I can write my name up there. Now, by the end of the day, they hadtheir five goals and objectives, five down to five.
And their
object. , everything was included that they had in the 19, goals to start with because some of 'em became objectives by the end of the day they had a working strategic plan that they were able to walk away from, and it was so fun. But the funnest part was watching them get us so excitedand being satisfied with what they had accomplished that.
and how it fell in place. And by the end of the day, the CEO had wrote his name on everything. He was excited. So, you know, making it fun and realizing they accomplished some serious goals was just fantastic. And that's what we learned,, in the Hue life. And, and, um,
and just helping them realize that they accomplished a lot in that amount of time, because before they were overwhelmed, they didn't know what to do with it.
and through the process, they created what to do next.
Dave: that is a beautiful story right there. makes my heart just beaming with joy. And to me, that right there is a perfect example of what it means to be a prevention leader. you brought the process, and incorporated fun. To where you empowered them, you just said it. They went from a sense of feeling overwhelmed to organized with a strategic plan with everybody signed up to help committed to bringing this plan to life.
And they were probably smiling at the end of the day too,
after doing all
this
Dena: they were. They
were smiling and laughing and
giving each other a hard time. It was great
Dave: Yeah. Uh, so tell me more like how would. Define or describe what it means to be a prevention leader.
Dena: to be a prevention leader. means to live by example, number one. If we're going to be sharing what prevention looks like, then we need to walk the talk,right? And being a prevention leader also is letting people know that everybody needs to be at the table, not just a few people. You know, we have our 12 sectors and I will say that a lot of our prevention efforts are youth focused or you know, substance use focused.
And the people that are missing from the table most often are youth. And those with lived experiences are those in recovery. And wow, that's a wealth of information and knowledge that's missing if they're not at the. You know, in prevention we have a saying nothing about us, without us. And so tho those are really important to make sure that we get to the table, making sure whatever processes we're using in prevention meet the criteria for evidence-based strategies, which just means it's been proven, right?
It's been proven to make a difference. And there's research out there to back up that this, this does make a difference. And then also having that passion and demonstrating that excitement. I am actually am a certified prevention professional in Kansas and was an, uh, certified ion specialist in Oklahoma. And, um, that process was quite the process to go through. You know, you had to sign, have a supervisor who signed off, and then you also had to take the IC&RC test.And I'm grateful that I had that experienceto go through that because that gave me a guideline of what prevention's about, plus it holds me accountable, right?
I mean, Now currently it's not required, but I still believe it's so vital and important because it helps people to feel like that they have accomplished something. And believe me, when you pass that prevention test, you have accomplished something.
, so you know, putting those different things in place, making sure you make the connections professionally, you like the, , you know, we have the opportunity to do the, , alliances for drug endangered children's training with you And that opportunity helps us grow as prevention specialists to know what other resourcesare out there.
There are so, Agencies and organizations are doing the same
work communication so that we can utilize the funding so much further than we could in isolation. And so making sure that we're collaborating so. That, you know, if a community's collaborating with their Live Well Coalition, the Live Well Coalition has things that they have to accomplish and the Substance Use Coalition has things they have to accomplish.
So working together so that money can be spread out further, to meet, reach more individuals
is so important and, , exciting too because you're helping each other accomplish goals.
Dave: Oh, it just radiates. Prevention is better together.
Dena: Yes it is. I love that saying
Dave: Oh it is. Oh, so true. So ya unpacked what it means to be a prevention leader. And you shared some wonderful stories of how you are in fact a prevention leader. You mentioned the Hue life prevention leaders cohort toolbox that you now have. Let's, let's open up that toolbox. What, what are some of those in air quotes for this audio only podcast?
tools in your toolbox.
Dena: So the resources to be able to set up a strategic plan, right? The different guides and the layouts and The models. The DEVCA conversation. You know how people automatically think the data and the emotive and the visionary and the critical thinking and action. I love that conversation. cuz You can use that. anywhere because it's how people automatically think. That's what I learned. And so having that, there's a website they gave us that has tons of facilitation, things that I haven't even begin to explore yet, but some of 'em look really fun. So being able to have those additional resources. And then, DCCCA had a training with Hue Life notthat long. and, um, they gave us a, a way to do a strategic plan or help them build their goals objectives for the year and a shortened version. So now we have those tools. one of the things that we did was the Lumina Sparks, which I absolutely. Love that. And you're able, you know, and they have a app for it. So I can pull up one of my team members and I can see, oh, they're really strong in this area. Oh, I need them in this area cuz I'm not very strong in this area. And so an example would be like Mike, my supervisor and I, we have a lot of strengths that are similar, but there are areas he's strong. And then Chrissy, the prevention chief.
Her and I are totally opposites, but when you put our Luminas together, we're a full Lumina. And so, you know, one of the things that I see happen sometimes is people who are alike have the tendency to work together alike when we need to make sure that we're working with people who are different than us.
So they were catching the whole picture. And um, so that was something that was really eye opening. For me as well that could be used from that hue life facilitation training. And I'm proud to say that DCCCA, has hired HueLife to continue ongoing trainings and I think that's so important cuz you have staff that change and there's staff there that want to, to learn that.
And um, from our last training that we went. One of my new coworkers and I finished our facilitation process. We started in group because we wanted, we went to do some facilitation surrounding stigma. in just the different models and that we were able to take away how we were able to , collaborate together, and work as a team with the individuals that were on our same team went through the process the same time.
I mean, I got to meet some great folks from Kentucky and, and I can't remember the other state, but I met some great individuals from there, and I still have contact with them. So I have contacts in other states I would've never had.
Dave: The, the tools that you've got, the story you shared for the strategic plan and how you were able to use those tools to, to be a prevention leader. it kind of makes sense in my mind is I like to tie it back to Simon Sinek Golden Circle and that often in prevention we, we know our why, why, why we do what we do.
Because we care. We're passionate. We want to make this world a better place and. We may know what we need to do. Hey, you need to follow the strategic prevention framework and implement some evidence, debates, programs and practices. That's what you need to do. But when it comes to just what you were saying, bringing the diverse stakeholders, those 12 community sectors and more.
Together, folks that are opposite of you. Bringing them together to collaborate is, is where these tools come into play. It's the the how, that missing link. How do you build capacity? How do you really implement in a way that is collaborative and gets everybody at the end of the day smiling and being excited that they got to write their name down next to things that need to
get done.
Dena: So I think the part that is really working with your contact person in the community. that you've developed and,
um, working with them because they know their community right, better than I would even begin to know their community. So it's me working with them in a small group to help them be able to, um, know what that capacity building is, to look at those 12 core sectors and ask why do they not have those at the table?
And to also ask the hard question of what's the history? Right, because we know that sometimes there's history and we have to work through that process and acknowledge the strength and, and everything. And then acknowledge these are some new steps that we might try, but making sure everybody feels heard and appreciated, whether or not they're, they've been there for 20 years on that coalition
and are very tied to how they've done that. So having those conversations to help break those walls down so that everybody feels an important part of it. And, sometimes we want to run from hard conversations, right. And we're like, no, but, but in those hard conversation, Builds that cohesiveness, that collaboration.
So an example with your alliances for drug endangered children. I love this example. So you know they have Stacee and they have, Eric and Stacee came from the social work, the social services field. Eric came from law enforcement. Very two real different outlooks on, on what they do and everyday functioning, but they were able to sit down and have those hard conversations and as a result of that, the training and what they're doing for the alliances across the United States are absolutely phenomenal.
It's the same kind of thing in our communities, being able to sit down and have those hard conversations and realizing that not everybody can be at the table at the same time. And as you're going, if you're doing data data gathering, you might have the colleges, if you have colleges during that time, but they may not be able to come other parts and recognize and realizing those different things.
I work with them on having welcome packets, because, uh, one of the reasons that I really work with them on having welcome packets. So one of the things I didn't share was in Oklahoma, I was the community mobilizer. I did whatI'm asking coalitions to do and that was a really good benefit to have that experience and, and training.
So when I came to Kansas, I saw a billboard that said Sumner County Drug and Alcohol Coalitions Cadet. And I told my husband, I said, I'm gonna be a part of that coalition. And I actually ended up working in Wellington and I joined that coalition before I worked in prevention. And the first thing they did when I walked in was they gave me a welcome packet.
And in that welcome packet had the dates of all their meetings for the years had their coalition members names, emails, phone numbers, their officers information, pictures from things they have done, and different committees that they had. So when I walked away that day, I knew,oh, I wanna be plugged in here.
And it gave a sense. I can belong here. Where a lot of times people don't have that. And if you have somebody new that comes into the meeting, they're kind of lost and they might go away and never come back if they're feeling lost. So really making sure that new members feel welcome and.
Dave: Oh, that is, that is a beautiful bit of wisdom. Listeners welcome packet, I think onboarding for your coalition members or even your team members and that that's building that sense of belonging right out of the gate. Oh, I bet That just has a, a huge impact.
Dena: De definitely it did for me I know. So coming new to Kansas and, and that billboard, you know, drew me in. So making sure that we get the media efforts out there. , whatever that may look like for you and your community, making sure people know about your coalition and know about your efforts, because if they don't know about you, they can't join you.
Dave: . Well, let's run with that sense of, , belonging. What or how would you describe
your experience in the hue life prevention leaders cohort? What was the experience like?
Dena: So the experience was, at first it was like?
I'm not sure about this. there's a lot of new people on here, but my supervisor Mike was on there too. So I knew it'd be okay, but when I saw it come across my desk and there was a scholarship. I went to Mike and I said, I want this because I loved what it described, you know, being able to bring people together and, and us being able to practice it.
And, and so in the beginning I was a little cautious because I wasn't quite sure. And as the time went on, I looked forward to each time we could. And get together
I have the hue life folks are just fabulous. I mean, they're always there to answer any questions that you may have as well. And the forms they gave us online so that we could go back and we had those tools. I mean, I pulled up my folder a while ago when you were asking me questions. I thought, I need to go back in here and look at this.
In the beginning I felt like I don't know how I fit in. Right,
but at the end I knew that I fit in. I knew that I had, I like to say family . When I left there, I had made not only professional connections, but personal connections, I, um, knew that I could reach out to the Hue Life people anytime, and I felt excited.
I was excited about everything that I had.and I am a visionary person though, and so I can see how things can happen. So people who are detailed people, sometimes they can't see that vision and sometimes as a visionary it's hard to tell them how to get there cuz I'm not detailed, right? And so just demonstrating those through actions is the best way to show.
and um, I'm excited cuz like I said, I think I have another facilitation coming up with coalitions. They're gonna set their goals for this next year and I'm super excited that I get to be the facilitator with that processand just demonstrating that we can do this in coalition meetings. Mm-hmm. , you know, we just have to work with the coalition to figure out the time and and it's so exciting when they want you to be a part of that process and it's their process.
there facilitating it, And , I feltby the end of it, I'll say the last session, everybody was sharing their stories. There wasn't a dry eye in that session because everybody shared from their heart, from their experiences, from their past, , from their knowledge. And it was so empowering. .
And I was excited about what we had learned. And I'm still excited about what we've learnedthe
facilitation.
Dave: Got a, a new extended prevention family
now. Yeah. Yeah. And actually you might not.
Have heard the news yet cuz we're putting it out today, the day that we're recording this, that Hugh Life is launching a community, a special space just for the prevention leaders cohort that all of the alumni will now you get access to, to stay connected with your extended prevention family and the other folks from the cohort to build that big family, that big community of prevention leaders.
You'll be getting that email invite today.
Dena: That's awesome.
Dave: so you talked about how you knew right away, Hey Mike, this is something I want to do, but then when you started you said you're a little uncertain or a little hesitant. Well, what would you say to somebody that, that is kind of on the fence right now considering signing up for this journey, but it's a little unsure.
What would youtell them?
Dena: I would tell them, do not be afraid. I heard a really great definition years ago, a. And it's false evidence appearing real. And that's exactly what that was. It was false evidence appearing real. Go join it. Don't miss out on it. Get the tools and skills and resources, make those new connections, build those new relationships. We're asking coalitions to build new relationships. We're asking communities to build new relationships, so we better be willing to build new relationships.
And what better way than to make connections across the United States in prevention.
Dave: Ooh, goes right in line with live by example. To lead by example.
Dena: Exactly.
Dave: Yeah. Oh, that was beautiful Fear, false evidence. Appearing real. I like it. I like it. I've got, I'll say two more questions. We've been chatting for a while and I know you've got a, a lot you got going on there, but I'm curious, who would you say is a good fit for the prevention leaders cohort?
Dena: anyone who wants to grow their skills in prevention. Because the tools and skills that they will take away from it and the resources that they will take away can be applied to any, coalition effort that they are utilizing because it's that good a resource .
So the answer to that is anyone who's interested in prevention should attend.
Dave: Awesome. I agree. But you know, my perspective might be a little biased, but, my last question, so you've already shared a ton of wisdom with us I just wanna ask one last question. So if you were to tell our listeners, if you're gonna remember one thing from this episode, remember this, what would that be?
Dena: If you could remember one thing from this episode.
Remember that prevention makes a difference in the lives of others. It saves lives so that they never have to go down the road of addiction. It helps our youth set up strengths and it teaches us how to do that. So remember that prevention saves lives.
Dave: Beautiful. It has been an absolute delight to spend this time with you. I miss y'all there at DCCCA. Tell everybody I said hi. oh. Hey, how can folks get connected? Stay up to date with what y'all got going on
Dena: they can actually go to deca.org and let me spell that out. It's D c c c a.org. And they can go to the preventions or we have prevention, services in Oklahoma and Kansas. So if you wanna go to the Kansas one, you go on there and you can find the links request, um, Naloxone trainings.
You can also find tons of resources on there.
Dave: Marvelous. And folks, I will put links to the DCCCA website and all of their social media because they put out some great, informative educational. Valuable content across all of the mainstream social media platforms.
Dena: Thank you so much, Dave, for allowing me to share the experiences today.
Dave: Absolutely. Hey, any excuse to to jump in Zoom and have a little chat with you. I'm all for all for it, but give my best of the DCCCA of crew and keep on doing the amazing work that you are doing. You're, you're definitely having an impact making this world a little bit better, a little bit brighter, a little bit happier.
Dena: Thank you, Dave.
