Resources for Organization Leaders
Want to lead your organization according to the needs of the human brain? Curious about how to lead your department through change, based on neuroscience? Curious about the economic impact of investment in brain development? These resources are for you!
Any organization considering workforce development, sustainability, growth, etc., will benefit from an understanding of the types of environments, behaviors, strategies that help brains (and therefore people) feel safe and motivated to engage.
As we learn more, there is no doubt that our early environments have an impact on not only our brain development, but our long-term physical health and well-being. Organizational and community problem solving efforts can often result in diminished return on investments when these essential pieces of understanding are left out of the strategic framework.
These links will take you to external resources created by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University that will introduce these topics to you. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University is an international leader in discovering and applying how our life experiences affect our brain function as we grow.
Health & Learning Are Deeply Connected in The Body
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How Early Childhood Experiences Affect Lifelong Health and Learning
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
YouTube • 5 minute video“In this animated video, narrated by Center on the Developing Child Director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., learn what the latest science tells us about how early experiences affect not only early learning and school readiness, but also lifelong health.”
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How Children and Adults Can Build Core Capabilities for Life
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
YouTube • 6 minute video“This 5-minute video explores the development and use of core capabilities — known as executive function and self-regulation skills — from early childhood into adolescence and adulthood.” This is a video overview of the following resource by the Center of the Developing Child at Harvard University, “The Science of Adult Capabilities.”
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Health and Learning Are Deeply Interconnected in the Body: An Action Guide for Policymakers
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
PDF • 3 pages“Three key messages from this science can help guide our thinking in a time when innovation has never been more needed in public systems in order to improve both health and learning.”
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The Science of Adult Capabilities
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
YouTube • 16 minute video“Adults need certain capabilities to succeed in life and support the development of the next generation […] When these skills have not developed as they should, or are compromised by the stresses of poverty or other sources of ongoing adversity, our communities pay the price in population health, education, and economic vitality.”
Whether your organization is focused in real estate development, city planning or health care, there is no doubt surrounding the economics of early childhood - it makes economic sense to invest young. Every organization benefits from a stable workforce, and investing in early childhood not only makes economic sense, but also results in a more stable workforce.
Economically speaking, there is no doubt that, while often a paradigm shift for investment and quarterly reporting, shifting investment to support early childhood and those caregivers of young children undoubtedly yields significant return on investment over the long-term.
The Economics of Early Childhood Development
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Invest in Early Childhood Development: Reduce Deficits, Strengthen the Economy
The Heckman Equation
PDF • 2 pages“In this two-page summary document, Professor Heckman argues that the best way to reduce deficits is to invest in quality early childhood development for disadvantaged children. It creates better education, health, social and economic outcomes that increase revenue and reduce the need for costly social spending.”
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The Economics of Human Development and Social Mobility
The Heckman Equation
PDF • _“This paper lays out the evidence on the importance of early life conditions in shaping multiple life skills. Authors James Heckman and Stefano Mosso find that parental engagement, stimulating interaction and attachment are essential for skill development and critical determinants of later-life success.”
“Trauma-Informed Care” might sound strange in a business setting, but the principles of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) are built upon the foundational understanding of brain development and function. TIC offers an organizational framework for thinking about how to turn all the data of brain development and expectation into actionable strategies.
Trauma-Informed Care
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The S-HC Trauma-Informed Approach Manual
Self-Healing Communities of Greater Michiana
PDF • 15 minute skim; Deeper-dive read can take as long as it’s givenThis workbook was developed to accompany the Trauma-Informed Care workshops that were developed in partnership between Beacon Community Impact and Notre Dame Neuroscience and Behavior. Instead of a more traditional trauma-informed care training, extensive community focus groups identified knowledge and capacity gaps in the neuroscientific rationale that supports a trauma-informed approach and understanding of organizational change strategies. This workbook offers an introduction to trauma-informed care and organizational change theory.
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Building A Trauma-Informed Community: Transforming Principles Into Practice
Beacon Community Impact, United Way of St. Joseph County, and The University of Notre Dame College of Science
S-HC Google Drive • 20 Minute VideoAn introductory video to trauma-informed care in a healthcare setting. Importantly, the principles of human behavior apply to all human-to-human interactions. While this video was developed specifically in the context of a healthcare system, the principles of trauma-informed care are universal to any setting in which humans will interact with each other or the world around them.
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Implementing Trauma Informed Care (TIC)
Trauma Informed Oregon
Collection of Tools & Resources • 5 toolsLink to Trauma Informed Oregon, a national leader in coordinating and resourcing state-wide trauma informed care practices. This link will take you directly to information about organizational implementation and accountability, but remember the site hosts a wealth of resources that can feel a little overwhelming at first. So take your time to explore. Consider reading the introductory Self-Healing Communities manual to familiarize yourself with some foundational terminology of trauma-informed care.
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Implicit Bias by Nancy Michael
Under One Dome, Nancy Michael
YouTube • 5 Minute VideoA quick 5 minute introduction to some of the normal brain functions that underlie implicit bias processing.
Created in Partnership with The University of Notre Dame
