We are excited to announce our 2022 VIRTUAL Fall Speaker Series! Attend 1,2, or all 3! RSVP Required. Send us a DM or email us at RSVP@PFLAGMANHATTANBEACH.ORG to receive the meeting links. As always, support group will follow the education portion.
We are currently holding our PFLAG Support Group meetings virtually. Our meetings are supported by an easy-to-use online meeting tool called Zoom. CLICK HERE to get set-up with Zoom.
September 21st, 2022 - 7-9p PT
Join us as we learn about OkaySo, a free online support platform available to LGBTQIA+ youth nationwide with co-founder Elise Schuster, MPH, (they/them)
About our presenter:
Elise Schuster, MPH, (they/them) is a sexuality educator with 15 years of experience in sex education and youth development. Elise has a masters in public health from Columbia University with a specialization in sexuality and health and has worked with marginalized youth, medical providers, and adults. Elise is the co-founder and Executive Director of OkaySo @heyokayso, a free online platform that connects young people with questions about sex and mental health to experts they can't reach any other way. Elise also works as a trainer teaching adults how to better support LGBTQ people and has worked with corporations, parents, medical professionals, artists, and more. www.okayso.org
October 19th 2022 - 7-9p PT
Join us as we discuss Navigating the College Search process for LGBTQIA+ teens and young adults with founder of College Torch - Robert Powers (he/him)
About our presenter:
Robert Powers is the founder and college counselor at College Torch, an educational business where he works directly with families to guide teens through the college search and application process. Robert understands the unique challenges that LGBTQ+ students face in the college process, and he uses his expertise to help them find safe, supportive colleges where they'll thrive. Robert is an active professional member of HECA and NACAC, and he holds himself to their high standards for ethics in the practice. Outside of College Torch, Robert loves to volunteer for the community as the Vice President of his local Kiwanis Club. You can learn more about Robert and College Torch at www.collegetorch.com.
November 16th, 2022 - 7-9p PT
Join us as we discuss Ambiguous Loss - learn what it is and how it differs from grief with Aydin Olson-Kennedy, MSW, LSCW (he/him)
About our presenter:
Wherever he goes, Aydin Olson-Kennedy creates accessible mental care for the gender non-conforming and transgender community, and their families. He speaks internationally to medical and mental health providers, educators, social workers and families on the importance of accessible, informed-consent model of care. His focus is on identifying and acknowledging domains of privilege and broadening clinicians and families understanding of gender dysphoria and its impact on the psychosocial well-being of gender-nonconforming and transgender individuals. In early 2022 after 6 years as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Gender Center, Aydin has chosen to pursue other opportunities. He continues to work with the transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary communities and their families and offer training to communities and organizations.
A NOTE ABOUT VIRTUAL MEETINGS:
We will be utilizing Zoom features that provide the highest level of safety and confidentiality possible. Zoom is free to you and you need not have an account to join us. If you are new to Zoom, you can follow the links [here] for brief tutorials on all you need to know to sign on to a Zoom meeting with us. We ask that each of you that would like to participate in the on-line support, contact us in advance by email at rsvp@pflagmanhattanbeach.org to RSVP for the meeting. We will cut off RSVPs at 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. All participants will receive a follow-up email with the link to the Zoom call and a password. For confidentiality’s sake, please do not forward these to another participant — they are welcome to contact us directly to receive the link.
We recognize that youth may be interested in the educational part of this meeting and they are welcome to join us. As usual, we ask that youth who may want to stick around for our support groups be joined by a parent. Some heavy emotions can emerge in the course of our sessions and having a parent on-hand helps to ensure that the needs of any youth on the call are met.
There are some benefits to utilizing new tools like Zoom. We recognize that our typical evening support group meetings are not feasible for everyone due to work, family or other demands. If there is a need, we would like to offer an additional support group Zoom conference call sometime during the daytime hours. If you are interested in a daytime support group, email us at info@pflagmanhattanbeach.org and let us know what times might be more workable for you.
If you need more personalized assistance and support, we remain here for you. Email us confidentially and we will work with you to identify the best member of our team to assist with your individual needs.