PRIDES Learning Series: Session 4

Trauma-Informed Care in the Workplace

Presenter: Arc Telos Saint Amour

Employment opportunities have always been limited for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, opportunities for safe and affirming workplaces for disabled 2SLGBTQIA+ folks are even lower to almost nonexistent.

This presentation will explore simple, actionable tips and tricks to be more affirming to the disabled queer and trans people in your workplace, and in your life in general, centering around concepts such as intersectionality, lived and living experience, trauma informed care, and more.

Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them) is a neurodivergent, autistic, disabled, queer and trans, Two-Spirit, gender non-conforming person of Mexican Indigenous descent (Coahuiltecan), and a victim/survivor of childhood trauma who deeply believes self-agency and bodily autonomy. They are formerly gang-involved, justice system impacted, and consider themselves to be a harm reductionist and a person who uses drugs as part of their substance use recovery journey. This lived and living experience has led them to a deep belief in Native Indigenous animism, radical empathy, and the power of holistic affirmation. Professionally, Arc Telos spent over ten years as a national executive business developer, opening new businesses all over the US. Following this, Arc Telos spent another ten years as an executive leader in the non-profit field, leading organizations through-out the nation centering Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) practices and using trauma-informed and intersectionality-based frameworks. Currently they are the Executive Director of Youth MOVE National and the CEO of Arc Telos Consulting. Telos is of course more than just their career and identities. They are deeply passionate about all genres of music, documentaries, hiking and other outdoor adventures (in which they are infamous for achieving minor injuries and the loss of shoes), absolutely refusing to be anyone other than Princess Peach in Mario Kart or Mario Party, and consider themselves to be within the top 100 of all time high context ramblers that has an opinion on just about anything and everything.