Capacity Building and Training Initiative
The Capacity Building and Training Initiative prevents and addresses violence by promoting trauma-informed and equitable approaches, enhancing workforce well-being, and nurturing collaboration amongst a network of organizations serving children, youth and adults in Boston and beyond. We do this through learning collaboratives with City and community programs, training with service providers across sectors, promoting community care, and meeting emerging needs via technical assistance, funding, and referrals.
The Capacity Building and Training Initiative partners with agencies across Boston and has developed many core training offerings and models for promoting trauma-informed and equitable systems. Since 2013, the Capacity Building and Training Initiative has:
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Trained over 8,000 providers who collectively serve 100,000+ residents
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And partnered with 60+ agencies.
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Questions? Contact us!
Work With Us
Work With UsThe Capacity Building and Training Initiative offers five core Training Institutes. We worked with community partners to develop these trainings using an equitable process.
To learn more about our trainings, email bwhite@bphc.org.
Trainings Institutes are free and open to all providers serving children, young people, adults, and families. Trainings involve multiple sessions and range in length from 12 to 21 hours. Trainings are usually held once a year. Trainings are offered online and in-person.
Training offerings include:
- Trauma, Resilience, and Racial Equity Training Institute for Youth Workers
- Trauma and Resilience Training Institute for Early Childcare Providers
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience Training Institute for Providers Serving Immigrant and Refugee Communities
- Promoting Resilience and Health Equity in Boston: An Antiracism Training for Service Providers (co-developed with the Family Justice Center)
- Trauma, Domestic Violence and Resilience Training Institute for Home Visiting and Community-Embedded Providers (Disponible en Español)
We partner with organizations to create customized training, adapted from core offerings, to fit specific needs. There are two training formats:
- Short Workshops (90 mins - 4 hours): Basic concepts and skills.
- Extended Series (6+ hours): Advanced knowledge and practice skills.
We also work with agencies and providers to strengthen their ability to facilitate trauma, resilience, and racial equity content within their own communities. This includes small group “train-the-trainer” sessions on specific topics (e.g., domestic violence or youth work) or broader leadership programs focused on organizational change and facilitation skills.
To learn more about organization specific training opportunities contact bwhite@bphc.org.
We will then send you our intake form. Once that form is completed, our team will review and respond with next steps within 3-4 weeks.
We typically require at least six weeks from request to delivery, depending on level of adaptation and team capacity.
The Boston Preventing Violence Affecting Young Lives initiative focuses on creating a full spectrum collaborative, trauma-informed, and equitable approach among youth workers and the communities they serve. The goal is to address and reduce the different types of violence affecting adolescent and young adults. This includes strategies to promote protective youth environments and healthy gender norms via learning collaboratives, violence prevention strategic planning, and innovative social marketing campaigns.
Boston Preventing Violence Affecting Young Lives is a five-year grant funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a partnership between the Capacity Building and Training Initiative and Start Strong, a fellow program within the Office of Violence Prevention. Start Strong focuses on promoting healthy teen relationships and preventing teen dating violence.
To learn more about Boston Preventing Violence Affecting Young Lives, email sbourne@bphc.org.
We are currently not accepting applicants. Please check back at a later date to get involved.
The Capacity Building and Training Initiative and the Office of Recovery Services co-chair the Boston Youth Resiliency and Recovery Collaborative. This initiative focuses on bringing together youth- and family-serving organizations to:
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Learn and engage in dialogue: building shared language and collective knowledge around substance use and violence prevention
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Inform City initiatives: opportunities to provide feedback on violence prevention and substance use prevention programming and priorities
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Connect: with fellow programs serving youth and families in Boston
To learn more about the Boston Youth Resiliency and Recovery Collaborative, email bwhite@bphc.org and dlaing@bphc.org.
This initiative is designed to build the capacity of City of Boston programs serving youth and families to deliver trauma-informed and equitable care and promote workforce well-being. This includes learning sessions and tailored coaching to support participants in creating and championing trauma-informed and equitable change initiatives within their programs.
The City Learning Collaborative is a two -year grant funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. It is a partnership between the Capacity Building and Training Initiative and the Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness at the Boston Public Health Commission. The Center aims to promote and coordinate behavioral health and wellness programming across Boston.
To learn more about the City Learning Collaborative, email Krupa Boradia at kboradia@bphc.org.
We are currently not accepting applicants. Please check back at a later date to get involved.
Testimonials
About the Capacity Building and Training Initiative
About UsOur Mission: The Capacity Building and Training Initiative prevents and addresses violence by promoting trauma-informed and equitable approaches, enhancing workforce well-being, and nurturing collaboration amongst a network of organizations serving children, youth and adults in Boston and beyond.
We do this through learning collaboratives with City and community programs, training with service providers across sectors, promoting community care, and meeting emerging needs via technical assistance, funding, and referrals.
Our Vision: We envision a Boston where communities can access safety, healing, accountability, and equity, especially our communities made most vulnerable by racism and other forms of oppression. We know the important role of the programs and systems interfacing with children, youth and adults daily, and so we aim to nurture collaboration and facilitate the creation of environments where empathetic, equitable trauma-informed care can reduce harm. Through this, we hope to address the root causes of violence and promote peace for generations to come.
Capacity Building and Training Initiative began as the Defending Childhood Initiative funded under the Obama Administration. It aimed to prevent and address children’s exposure to violence. Partnering with over 60 agencies across the City of Boston, Defending Childhood Initiative developed many of our core training offerings and models for promoting trauma-informed and equitable systems.
Following the end of federal funding in 2018, Defending Childhood Initiative became the Capacity Building and Training Initiative. Funded by Boston Children’s Hospital, the City of Boston, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Capacity Building Training Initiative has expanded its focus to include training dedicated to vicarious trauma and resilience, Spanish-language content, training with young people, and equity-focused organizational change.
We are grateful to former staff for their contributions to our work:
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Stephanie Doyle, DCI founding Director
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Victor Jose Santana, DCI Senior Training Manager and Director
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Yves Singletary, DCI Senior Training Manager and CBTI Interim Director
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Sojourner Rivers, DCI Social-Emotional Learning Program Manager
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Claudia Wilson, DCI Training Manager
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Neena McConnico, Director, Child Witness to Violence, DCI Leadership Team
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Diana Chaves, CBTI Training Manager and special project consultant
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Alyssa Benalfew-Ramos, MPH, BYRRC Senior Program Manager
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Benjamin Ruiz Rosado, LCSW, CBTI Senior Training Manager, special project consultant
| Name and Title | Contact |
|---|---|
| Bronwen White (She/her), Director | bwhite@bphc.org or 617-416-2699 |
| Kimberly Mendoza Iraheta (She/her-They/them) Senior Program Manager | kmendoza-iraheta@bphc.org or 617-680-7493 |
| Zarie Locke (They/them) Training Manager | zlocke@bphc.org |
| Krupa Boradia (She/her), American Rescue Plan Act Program Manager | kboradia@bphc.org or 617-735-7797 |
| Shanika Bourne (She/her), PREVAYL Program Manager | sbourne@bphc.org |
Our work is not possible without the support of our partners, including:
- Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
- Boston Healthy Start Systems
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Boston Family Justice Center agency partners
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East Boston Colaborativa
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Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement
- Stone House – Strong Where You Are Program – Page Clark and Ruth Rollins
- The Baker Center for Children and Families
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We Are Better Together: The Warren Daniel Hairston Project
Key Consultants:
- Gillian Betz, Evaluation Consultant
- Hythia Phifer, Clinical Consultant
- Jasmine Pérez-Pimentel, Domestic Violence Training Consultant
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Linda Sprague Martinez, Evaluation Consultant, BYRRC
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Samantha Isabel Calero, Special Projects Consultant
Resources
Resources
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Questions? Contact us!
