Mahesh Prajapat for Fun & Free FRIDAYS: Leadership

Speakers: Mahesh Prajapat, CEO, Elia

Mahesh Prajapat: What really brings me hope in this field in terms of leadership is for the first time, I see real attention being paid to issues of disparity and disproportionality, where whether it's families that are experiencing poverty, families who are racialized families who are indigenous, there is real attention being paid by leaders to say we have to pay attention to disparity and disproportionality and we can no longer ignore the way child welfare intersects with and impacts marginalized communities. I see more people of color in leadership. I see more people of color being hired. And I see real strategies where equity is the focus. And there's real partnerships where work is being handed back to communities and handed back to people that are impacted them as seen as the expert of their own lives. And and what is best for them versus a large system making those determinations. I really hope that the work of diversity, equity, inclusion in child welfare continues because it is the most important work about how we can truly change a system and ensure that people that come from disparate and disproportionate populations are no longer harmed as they receive service from child welfare.