Mind & Mines presents
Hope, Resilience
& Human Agency
A one-day symposium on what it takes to keep going — and to act. Clinicians, faith leaders, immigrant advocates, students, and neighbours, in one room, for one afternoon.
HOPERESILIENCEFAITHACTIONWITHIN
258 days out
The five pillars
What the day is built on
Radical Hope
Not optimism. The discipline of acting as though the future is still open, especially when the evidence is thin.
Resilience
What actually carries people through — named honestly, without turning endurance into a demand placed on the exhausted.
Human Agency
The recovery of choice. Where it was taken, where it can be returned, and what stands in the way in this city.
Belonging
Isolation is the multiplier on every other problem. Connection is the intervention we can start on the day.
Actionable Change
Everyone leaves with one concrete next step. Insight that does not survive the drive home does not count.
Keynote
The Change Within
Betrand Fonsa
Clinician, Storyteller, Immigrant & Survivor
Betrand's journey from Cameroon to Oklahoma City runs underneath everything this day is about. He speaks as a clinician who has sat on both sides of the room — and as the subject of the documentary Crossings.
“The change we seek starts from within.”
Betrand Fonsa
Who is in the room
Five groups who rarely share a room
Clinicians & therapists
Practitioners carrying other people's weight, who rarely get a day built for them.
Students
Undergraduates and graduate students deciding what kind of practitioner to become.
Faith communities
Pastors and lay leaders who are the first call long before a clinician ever is.
Immigrant & first-generation
Those navigating a new country and an old grief at the same time.
Civic leaders & nonprofits
The people who can turn one afternoon's commitment into policy and programme.
The target is that 70% of attendees come from these five groups — mixing them is the point, not a side effect.
Run of show
One afternoon, 1:00 – 6:00 PM
- 1:00 PM30 min
Doors & ConnectionDoors
Registration, the Mind & Mines toolkit table, and a community resource wall.
- 1:30 PM60 min
Keynote: The Change WithinKeynote
Betrand Fonsa on the journey from Cameroon to Oklahoma City, the Crossings story, and a working framework for hope.
- 2:30 PM60 min
Panel: Resilience in PracticePanel
Clinicians, faith leaders, and immigrant advocates on the barriers specific to OKC — and what has actually worked.
- 3:30 PM20 min
Belonging BreakBreak
Deliberately unstructured. Community connection, with partner tables staffed.
- 3:50 PM70 min
Agency LabsWorkshop
Three concurrent practical sessions on agency, resilience, and actionable change. Trauma-informed facilitation throughout.
- 5:00 PM40 min
Close & CommitmentsClose
Every attendee names one concrete next step before they leave the room.
- 5:40 PM20 min
Connection & Load-outClose
Where clinicians and pastors exchange numbers. Staffed, not incidental.
What to expect
How the day is held
Trauma-informed throughout
Facilitators are briefed to avoid graphic detail and to make participation optional. Nothing on the day requires you to disclose anything about yourself.
Accessibility planned, not accommodated
Access needs and language support are collected at registration and planned into the day — not improvised at the door.
A room you can step out of
A quiet space is available for the whole afternoon, and the schedule has real breaks rather than nominal ones.
Your data stays small
Registration collects what is needed to run the day and nothing more. Attendee details are visible only to the host and operations leads.
What success looks like
The targets we are holding ourselves to
- Attendees in year one
- 400
- Scholarship seats, fully funded
- 120
- Drawn from target audiences
- 70%
- Leaving with a concrete next step
- 80%
- Resilience toolkits distributed
- 1,000
- Partner organisations
- 22
- Programme budget
- $25k
- Partners adopting the toolkit
- 3
Published before the event, not after. Progress is tracked in the planning console and reported at the debrief.
Partner with us
Twenty-two slots, capped on purpose
The cap is part of the offer. Twenty-two partners means each one is visible; a hundred means none of them are.
$5,000
Resilience Partner
$1,000
Agency Supporter
$500
Community Friend
In kind
Venue, print, catering, media
What partners receive
- Logo on event materials
- Booth in the connection space
- Tickets for your team
- Insert in the resilience toolkit
- Acknowledgment from the stage
- Named in the press release
- Logo on the session recordings
- Feature in the attendee email
Which benefits attach to which tier is being finalised — ask and we will walk you through it.
Questions
Before you decide
Who is this for?
Anyone whose work or life runs on hope holding up under pressure — clinicians, students, faith leaders, immigrant advocates, civic leaders, and neighbours. No credential is required to attend.
What does it cost?
Ticketing opens ahead of the event. 120 seats are fully funded as scholarships, with no means test and no essay — if cost is what would decide it for you, take one of those.
Is it clinical training?
No. There is no CE credit and nothing here substitutes for supervision or treatment. It is a day of practice, framing, and connection, facilitated in a trauma-informed way.
What do I leave with?
One concrete next step you name yourself before you leave the room, and a printed resilience toolkit. We are aiming for 80% of attendees to leave with that step written down.
Can my organisation partner?
Yes — twenty-two partner slots, capped deliberately so each gets real visibility rather than a logo in a crowd. Community partners and in-kind support are welcome alongside the paid tiers.
What if I need to leave early, or step out?
Step out whenever you need to and come back when you are ready. The Belonging Break is deliberately unstructured, and no session takes attendance.
Attend
Paycom Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Saturday, 1 May 2027
1:00 – 6:00 PM
Ticketing opens ahead of the event. 120 scholarship seats are fully funded and reserved for those for whom cost would otherwise decide the matter — no means test, no essay.
Accessibility needs and language support are collected at registration and planned for, not accommodated on the day.