We'll engage the new Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at the University of New Haven - Lorenzo Boyd - who also heads up the UNH Center for Advanced Policing, for the first of a couple of conversations we're planning around police practices, movements to de-fund police agencies, and the crossover points where racial diversity intersects with community policing.

Then we'll talk arts and humanities with the director of CT Humanities - and find out how this decades old agency is reinventing itself as a digital and community resource, while supporting and funding intriguing programs and projects across the state.

And we'll close with our partners at the CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence. If anything, the COVID pandemic has made things harder for the thousands of intimate partner and domestic abuse victims across Connecticut, so we'll touch base and get a snapshot of what's been happening in terms of prevention and response over the past few months.

Have you heard that The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) will make health insurance coverage more affordable for many CT residents? If you're ready to take advantage of these savings, Access Health CT has opened a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) running through August 15, and we'll introduce you the the CEO of Connecticut's exchange to tell you all about it.

 

Then we'll hear from the Domestic Violence Crisis Center (DVCC) - supporting individuals on their journey to safety by providing support for individuals who are experiencing abuse in personal relationships with free victim services. And we'll invite you to support the cause at DVCC's upcoming 'Voices of Courage' Spring Luncheon.

 

And we'll close celebrating Connecticut educators as we wrap up Teacher Appreciation Week with an ambassador from TEACH Connecticut, who will explain how this program is bringing folks from the workforce to our classrooms, and helping former educators jump back into their calling.

Today we're welcoming back the founder of Guardian Ad Litem Services, a liaison agency that exists between its clients and their "unique, interrelated networks" - courts, mental health service providers, physicians, state agencies, guardians, nonprofit organizations, hospitals and conservators as they launch a brand new program called Family Empowerment NOW.

The we'll bring in the CEO and Board Chair of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, also talking about an incredible new initiative addressing the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial inequity called Stepping Forward, along with a commitment of $26 million to address these issues.

And we'll close with the founder of Second Thoughts CT, a group of Connecticut residents with disabilities, who along with seniors, and advocates strive to be Connecticut's disability-rights voice standing in opposition to state legislation that would legalize assisted suicide.