Join The Buckeye Ranch for our 2025 We Raise Hope Foster Parent Conference on March 14-15, 2025, as we focus on creating connections, support, and education for all licensed foster parents. As well as world class speakers, we will have a variety of community partners available to share information and resources.
This year’s conference will be held at the Creekside Events Center (101 Mill St Ste 300, Gahanna, OH 43230)! We look forward to seeing you there.
We’re so excited for you to join us for two days full of learning, growing, and raising hope for youth in our community. Check out the two-day conference itinerary below to know what to expect.
Throughout Day 1 programming on March 14, there will be community resources on-site all day in Salon B and Salon C spaces for conference attendees.
9-9:30 a.m.
Continental Breakfast; Check-in
9:30 – 10 a.m.
Welcome Remarks from Jessica Thompson, Director of Foster Care at The Buckeye Ranch
10 – 11:30 a.m.
Day 1 Opening Session with Isaac Etter
11:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Programming Break
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
1:15 – 3:15 p.m.
Street Smart Session
3:15pm – 3:30 p.m.
Programming Break
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Breakout Session 1 presented by Isaac Etter
Breakout Session 2: PREP Program: Parental Stressors presented by Nationwide Children’s Hospital
4:30 – 5:15 p.m.
Introduction to Foster Parent Support Group
5:15 – 6 p.m. *For Buckeye Ranch Foster Parents Only
Social hour for attendees featuring live music by Rustic Revival and welcome from Lindsay Williams, VP of Child Welfare Services at The Buckeye Ranch
6:00 – 6:45 p.m.
Plated dinner with remarks from Vickie Thompson-Sandy, President & CEO of The Buckeye Ranch
6:45 – 9 p.m.
Award Ceremony, featuring:
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Day 2 Opening Session with Brice Mickey
10:00-11:00 a.m.
Panel Conversation: A Candid Discussion About Life in Foster Care
11:00-11:15 a.m.
Brunch
11:30-12:30 p.m.
Breakout Sessions
12:45-1:45 p.m.
Breakout Sessions
2:00 p.m.
Conference Concludes
Isaac Etter is an adoptee and social entrepreneur. Isaac was transracially adopted at the age of two. He founded Identity, a startup focused on helping adoptive and foster families thrive. At Identity, Isaac is working on re-imaging post-placement support for adoptive and foster families. Isaac uses his story and deep passion for adoption and foster care education to bring relevant, quality, and diverse resources for adoptive and foster parents.
Isaac has used his story of being adopted to curate deep conversations about race, identity, and adoption. With his unique insight, Isaac has been able to curate impactful discussions about adoptions’ impact on children and how parents can help their children navigate identity and racial identity development. Isaac specializes in helping child welfare professionals and parents understand the unique challenges and joys involved with transracial adoption/fostering.
Brice Mickey is the inaugural Vice President of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Beech Acres Parenting Center and serves as the chair of the DEI Committee. He came to BAPC with 12+ years’ experience as an award-winning JEDI consultant where he worked with over 200 organizations across the country to help them achieve their equity and inclusion goals. Additionally, he is excited to be leading a DEI learning community on behalf of the Ohio Children’s Alliance beginning in January 2025 for their 90+ member agencies.
He was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH where he graduated from Walnut Hills High School and later earned his BSIT from the University of Cincinnati. It was there he realized his calling for dialogue around diversity and inclusion after participating in, and later directing UC’s nationally recognized Racial Awareness Program (RAPP).
After leaving UC, he went on to advocate for trans youth at Living with Change and from there went to Public Allies Inc to manage a trans-national cohort of underrepresented leaders involved in AmeriCorps apprenticeships.
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) for Clark, Greene, and Madison Counties. NAMI serves members in our community who struggle with mental illness. They offer support groups that are peer led, grief support group, educational classes, and also have an on-site “drop-in” center where clients can come to feel like they are part of a family. They engage in community outreach events, college campus events, and events throughout our communities during the year. NAMI wants everyone to know that they are valued and loved. Mental health is just as important as physical health.
OhioKAN is a flexible and responsive kinship and adoption navigator program designed to support children, youth and their families. Building on the premise that families are inherently capable of finding solutions to the circumstances and challenges they face, OhioKAN is a free service that takes an inclusive, engaging, and genuine approach to strengthening families and their networks.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is a statewide initiative aimed to reduce unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexually transmitted infections in the state of Ohio for young people ages 14 to 21 who:
The Ohio PREP Statewide Initiative is funded by The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Service Bureau (FYSB) and administered by the Ohio Department of Youth Services in partnership with the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Please contact Sophia Keller, Recruiting Specialist, at skeller@buckeyeranch.org!