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Long ago, our Program Co-Founder Timothy Dunphy and I taught one of our first classroom workshops. As we finished, the first grade teacher said to her students, “If you wish, you may give Timothy and Irene a hug.”
Suddenly, we were kneeling down, embraced by a waterfall of smiling children, with their faces open and their little arms clasping each of us.
And now, through the power of community and the miracle of the Internet, Kidpower’s waterfall of love has grown to embrace much of the world.
This week, people are gathering from Australia, Montreal and Vancouver in Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, and, in the United States, from California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, and Washington DC, for our “Together in Kidpower” Conference.
Together, we will celebrate our 25 years of keeping kids – and people who used to be kids – SAFE!
Together, we will ask questions and share ideas and resources to make our programs and services stronger.
Together, we will plan how to stay connected over the distance and time that often separate us – and how to share with our instructors and centers who could not make it to this year’s conference.
And together, we will envision what Kidpower will become during the next 25 years – and beyond!
There are not enough words in any language to express the depth of my thankfulness for what we have been able to accomplish together – and my excitement about what lies ahead!
Published: July 9, 2014 | Last Updated: October 10, 2014
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.
