Skip to content
Home » ResilienceCon

ResilienceCon

ResilienceCon 2025 will be April 6-8.

Help us celebrate our 10th anniversary!

Followed by a Resilience Portfolio Consortium meeting on April 9.

ResilienceCon is held at the historic Scarritt Bennett Center. The Scarritt Bennett Center is a social justice nonprofit that is truly an oasis in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee!

ResilienceCon is an international conference that offers opportunities to interact with colleagues who are interested in strengths-based approaches to understanding, preventing, and responding to violence and other adversities. ResilienceCon takes a multidimensional, ecological approach to overcoming trauma and emphasizes the role of social justice in individual and community wellbeing. ResilienceCon uses highly interactive formats and meets every April in Nashville, TN.

Left to Right: Miriam Commodore-Mensah, Nina Johnson, Tayon Swafford, Krissy Ray-Bennett, Zohra Asad, Rajanya Nandi, Joaquin Mariscal, Dr. Susy Mariscal, Dr. Susan Yoon, Dr. Vicky Banya. Back: Dr. Sherry Hamby, Alexander Lipsey–IUSSW Doctoral Students and ResilienceCon Conference Committee
Left to Right: Dr. Susy Mariscal and Miriam Commodore-Mensah
Left to Right: Tayon Swafford and Nina Johnson
Dr. Nicole Yuan (announcing the awards) and Zorah Asad (the second to the right)


Questions? Email us at lifepaths@lifepathsresearch.org



ResilienceCon Promising Scholar & Advocate Scholarships

We are offering 8 scholarships this year (4 Promising Scholar and 4 Promising Advocate). Click the link below for more information.

Full scholarships include conference registration and a $200 housing allowance for people who travel to Nashville from outside the area. We will pay full scholarship winners a $200 housing reimbursement after a submission of receipt from a hotel, AirBnB, or other forms of housing is received.


ResilienceCon™ is a new approach to conferences that offers a variety of traditional and innovative formats.
ResilienceCon is an international conference that offers opportunities to interact with colleagues who are interested in strengths-based approaches to understanding, preventing, and responding to violence and other adversities.


ResilienceCon™ focuses on strengths-based approaches for research, prevention, and intervention on violence and other adversities.
All ResilienceCon sessions are interview-based.
Every session makes time for moderated interviews of the presenters, followed by an audience Q&A.
The format makes space for:

  • Great conversations
  • Where participants hear about lessons learned, professional stories
  • What it really takes to successfully implement a project or intervention.

ResilienceCon is targeted to Social Workers, Psychologists, Mental Health Professionals, students, and related fields such as education, sociology, criminology, women & gender studies, and public health.  The program offers content at Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels.

  1. Describe strengths-based approaches for overcoming adversity.
  2. Identify evidence-based protective factors contributing to resilience.
  3. Describe program considerations for different settings, such as schools, communities, and clinics.
  4. Compare pros and cons of different models & programs for resilience.
  5. Explain the ways that resilience and social justice priorities overlap.

Read what others are saying about ResilienceCon:

Dr. Susana Mariscal and her graduate students attended ResilienceCon 2024. Read the article highlighting their accomplishments!
Indiana University School of Social Work Shines at ResilienceCon 2024

“ResilienceCon has given me the energy and space to hope and dream innovatively.”
Tayon R. Swafford, PhD Candidate and Adjunct Faculty, Indiana University School of Social Work

My attendance at ResilienceCon 2024 exceeded my expectations and left me grateful for the transformative experience. As a third-year international student in social work, I was initially apprehensive about connecting with others, but the IUSSW presenters and fellow attendees made me feel welcomed and heard. The sense of community fostered at ResilienceCon was remarkable, and I engaged in meaningful conversations, shared experiences, and gained valuable insights. Connecting with like-minded individuals and contributing to the discourse on resilience in social work left me feeling empowered. Overall, I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated in such an incredible event.”
Zohra Asad, PhD Student Indiana University School of Social Work

“ResilienceCon holds a special place in my heart as my favorite conference, offering an oasis of support, connection, innovation, and transformation—a vital haven, especially for faculty of color in academia. After this conference, I always feel renewed, inspired, and energized to continue doing my scholarly work. With deliberate intent, ResilienceCon provides a crucial space for innovation, growth, and healing, fostering meaningful connections and collaborations among emerging scholars, practitioners, and leaders in the field. Through inclusive conversations, it promotes dialogue that challenges and inspires. Witnessing our doctoral students and mentees shine, becoming scholars, as they present their research and engage in conference discussions fills me with immense pride. Beyond shaping the trajectories of emerging scholars, ResilienceCon serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of fostering connection, collaboration, and creating safe, inclusive spaces within academia, where microaffirmations replace microaggressions and where all voices are valued and uplifted.”
Susana Mariscal, PhD, Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Social Work

“ResilienceCon was the best conference I ever attended, exactly what the academy needs at this time!  In essence, ResilienceCon not only inspired me, but became a place that has set me on a new research trajectory, a trajectory that is based in CBPR and action, in strengths-based work. Thank you so much for all your work in this wonderful initiative. I am excited to participate in future conferences, and will continue to spread the word!”
Caitlin Elsaesser, MAT, LICSW, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut

“ResCon is a special space and I felt really fortunate to be around other researchers and clinicians doing important community-based and justice-focused work.”
Devin English, PhD, Assistant Professor, Hunter College

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence called ‘connectedness’ “the golden thread that ran through all of the presentations and discussions at ResilienceCon.”


We are seeking conference proposals on all aspects of resilience, strengths, well-being, and adversity in individuals, families, and communities. See the Call for Submissions for detailed topics.

— Sherry Hamby, Nicole Yuan, and Susan Yoon, Co-Chairs of ResilienceCon.