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December 16, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EST

Vital Lessons: Supporting Mental Wellness Through Inclusive, Connected Workplaces

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Vital Lessons: Supporting Mental Wellness Through Inclusive, Connected Workplaces

Date

December 16, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EST

Location

Online

Cost

Free

Credit

Attributes

Students with Disabilities
Subject Health and Wellness — Mental, Emotional and Social Health, Personal and Community Health
Grade Level Adult Education, Professional Development, Paraprofessional and School Related Personnel, Specialized Instructional Support Personnel

About This Webinar

In an increasingly complex world, the profound human need for connection and belonging has never been more critical for individual and collective well-being. This essential webinar brings together leading experts from education, public health, and social psychology to explore how we can intentionally build supportive environments—whether in our schools, workplaces, or personal lives—that empower everyone to thrive. 

Discover actionable insights to foster cultures where empathy, understanding, and mutual support are paramount. Learn how to create more cohesive and resilient communities, positively impacting the psychological safety and overall success of every individual within them.

What We'll Cover:

  • Strategies for cultivating authentic connection and mitigating social isolation in diverse settings.
  • The impact of inclusive cultures on individual well-being and community resilience.
  • Practical approaches for fostering psychological safety and empowering diverse voices in any group or organization.
  • Expert perspectives on bridging divides and building empathy to strengthen societal bonds.

This session is part of AFT’s Vital Lessons webinar series, bringing timely, trusted and practical health and wellness conversations to members in education, healthcare and public services.

Missed a Vital Lessons webinar? Access all sessions for free: https://webinars.on24.com/aft/VitalLessons

Speakers

Lia Council, High School Special Education Resource Teacher

Lia Council is an in-service high school Special Education Resource teacher servicing students in Yonkers, NY. An educator with over 27 years of experience, Lia is focused on delivering instruction through inclusive practices that promote fairness and respect, while providing opportunities for all through rich, academic experiences. Lia also serves as the director of the Richard Gazzola Teacher Center of Yonkers, which provides professional development through programming, direct assistance, training and mentoring for all teachers within the Yonkers Public School District and those in the non-public schools within the district. An instructor for the NYSUT ELT (Education and Learning Trust) for over 17 years, Lia develops curricula and facilitates courses for teachers across New York State.

She is an active member of her local, the Yonkers Federation of Teachers (YFT), where she served as the building rep in her school for 19 years, and is currently a member of the YFT Executive Board as an At-Large Officer and previous Vice President over Special Areas.

Laurie VanderPloeg, Associate Executive Director for Professional Affairs, Council for Exceptional Children

Laurie VanderPloeg is the Associate Executive Director for Professional Affairs, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). Prior to joining CEC, she was the director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), at the U.S. Department of Education. Laurie also served as director of special education at Kent Intermediate School District (Kent ISD) in Michigan. Also at Kent ISD, she served as assistant director for monitoring, compliance and parent support. She also served as a local supervisor of special education, a special education teacher, and an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University in the special education administration program. A parent of an adult son with disabilities.

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President, AFT

RANDI WEINGARTEN is president of the 1.8 million-member AFT, AFL-CIO, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for students, their families and communities. The AFT and its members advance these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through members’ work.

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Public Health Physician, Professor, and Health Policy Expert

Dr. Vin Gupta, MD, MPA, is a public health physician, professor, and health policy expert. As a Harvard-trained lung specialist, Vin has spent the past 15 years working worldwide to improve public health for organizations including the US Centers for Disease Control, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the World Health Organization, and the Pentagon’s Center for Global Health Engagement. Given his diversity of experiences, he is now a trusted advisor and contributor to national and international media outlets on several of the most important health issues today, including serving as a regular health policy analyst for NBC News and contributor to the New York Times and CNN New Day. As you will see below, Vin is committed to voicing evidence-informed perspectives across a range of critical issues like domestic US healthcare reform, the vaping epidemic, the effects of climate change on human health, and gun control. In doing so, he speaks honestly and is driven by evidence, not opinion or dogma.

Professional Credit

Share My Lesson webinars are available for one-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval.

In addition, Share My Lesson has arrangements in place as follows:

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