Silver Linings International

I’m honored to be presenting at the 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭, 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 BIPOC Parent Mental Health Project, on May 19–20 in Niagara Falls, NY. 💙

This summit brings together peers, leaders, and changemakers from across New York and North America who are committed to advancing peer support through inclusion, equity, and lived experience. If you’re doing this work or care about where it’s headed, this is a space you’ll want to be in.

I’ll be facilitating a 90-minute session:
𝐈𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐔𝐬: 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚-𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

In our time together, we’re going to get very real about what shows up at work.

Not just behavior, but what’s underneath it.

We’ll look at how trauma responses like fight, flight, freeze, and fawn can show up in peer staff, and more importantly, how supervisors can respond in ways that create safety, trust, and connection instead of unintentionally escalating stress.

Folks will walk away with practical strategies they can actually use to support peer staff with lived experience, strengthen collaboration, and maintain accountability without losing compassion 🤝

Because when peer staff feel supported, they stay.

When they stay, relationships deepen, especially for their clients.

And when that happens, outcomes improve for everyone 🌱

If you’re a supervisor, peer, leader, or someone who wants to create a workplace where people can truly thrive, I encourage you to attend.

And if you attend, be sure to connect with me!

👉 Link to the conference is in the comments.

I’m excited to share that I’m now 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 in EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360, 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

For years, I’ve been helping leaders strengthen self-awareness, regulate stress, navigate complexity, and build psychologically safe teams.

This certification doesn’t change that work. It deepens it.

It allows me to bring data and individualized insight into the conversations, helping leaders understand not just what emotional intelligence is, but how it specifically shows up in them… and how others experience them.

Same mission.
Stronger tools.

Grateful to keep growing so I can help leaders grow.

EQi 2.0/EQ 360 Certification was issued by OKA to Debra Cady. Earners of this badge now have a thorough understanding of the EQ-i 2.0 assessment tool and can coach and train on Emotional Intelligence. They are familiar with the Emotional Intelligence elements and have demonstrated the ability to interpret a client’s EQ-i 2.0 & EQ360 report. In addition to th...

💡 𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐈, 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

AI can analyze data.
AI can draft emails.
AI can optimize systems.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.
𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝.
𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.

Years ago, leaders like Bill Gates talked about how the future of work would depend less on technical skill and more on uniquely human capabilities as technology accelerates.

That future is already here.

What I’m seeing across organizations:
• Talented leaders burning out quietly
• Teams disengaging without saying why
• Performance issues that aren’t skill problems—they’re emotional load problems

When emotional intelligence isn’t intentionally developed, leaders default to urgency, control, or avoidance. And over time, people leave—not because they don’t care, but because it feels unsustainable.

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence isn’t about being “nice.”

It’s about:
✔ 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞
✔ 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞
✔ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞
✔ 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

As AI reshapes what work looks like, 𝐄𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬.

If you wait to build this skill until things feel hard, you’re already behind.

That’s why I teach 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Join us on Feb 17!

Your leaders can't afford to miss this...

👉 Link in the comments.

✨ 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐏 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲! ✨

Yesterday, I had the privilege of facilitating the 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 (𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐏) Staff Development Day in Albany — under the truly inspiring leadership of Deputy Commissioner Valerie Figueroa. Nearly 300 staff came together, and the energy was incredible. 💛

Our purpose was simple but powerful:
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 so every role functions like a bridge — helping move ideas, support, and purpose across the division.

Together, we focused on:
🔹 Reducing silos and seeing the big-picture mission
🔹 Building 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 & 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 practices that last
🔹 Pausing and responding with compassion — with clients and colleagues
🔹 Making it energizing, meaningful… and definitely not just another day at work!

And we did it.

We created a day filled with 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 — including staff who had never met before. We found practical ways to strengthen the bridges between bureaus and support one another through the emotional labor and moral distress present in this important work.

I’ll be facilitating a 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 for those who couldn’t join in person, so everyone has the opportunity to participate.

Enjoy a few pictures from this inspiring day! 📸