The Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (“MAST Center”) Networking Events

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019

Event 1: 12:30-1:30 pm #222

Networking for Emerging Scholars: A conversation with HMRE Researchers and Practitioners   

Event 2: 1:45-2:45 #222A

Networking for Practitioners and Researchers: Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice

 Descriptions:

The Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (“MAST Center”) supports research and evaluation on marriage, relationships, and families in the U.S. to help inform Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and other related programs.

The MAST Center was established in 2018 by a five-year cooperative agreement from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MAST Center is comprised of a strong team of national experts in marriage and relationship research and evaluation, led by Child Trends in partnership with Public Strategies and the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.

 A primary goal of the MAST Center is to build capacity in the HMRE field by: 1) providing support to emerging scholars (graduate students and early career professionals) and 2) facilitating strong connections between HMRE research and HMRE practice. As part of these efforts, the MAST Center is partnering with NCFR to host two special networking sessions while at the 2019 NCFR Annual Conference. Event 1 is targeted to emerging scholars and Event 2 is targeted to researchers and practitioners.

REGISTER HERE (https://www.ncfr.org/form/2019-mast-events-registration)

Event 1: 12:30-1:30 pm Session #222
Networking for Emerging Scholars: A conversation with HMRE Researchers and Practitioners   

Emerging scholars—those still in school or who are less than 5 years out from their terminal degree—will meet with established leaders in the HMRE research and practice fields will to get advice on navigating graduate school and/or the early stages of their careers in academia, nonacademic research organizations, and with programs. Topics will be determined by attendees’ surveyed interests.

Mentors still needed! Registration for mentors has been extended until Monday, Nov. 11. Registration is complete for mentees. Established scholars and practitioners (i.e., mentors) will be selected based on need and topic areas of expertise. 

Facilitators:
Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., Sociology and Family Demography, is Program Area Director at Child Trends in the area of Reproductive Health and Family Formation. She is the MAST Center’s Principal Investigator and leads the Center’s research in Program Design and Implementation. Elizabeth Wildsmith, Ph.D., Sociology and Family Demography, is a Research Scholar at Child Trends in the area of Reproductive Health and Family Formation. She is the MAST Center’s Project Manager and co-leads the Center’s capacity building activities.

REGISTER HERE to be a mentor (https://www.ncfr.org/form/2019-mast-events-registration) Registration is complete for mentees. 

Event 2: 1:45 - 2:45 pm Session #222A
Networking for Practitioners and Researchers: Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice

Researchers and practitioners will gather to discuss an array of topics, such as accessing and applying research to programs, research needs among practitioners, how practitioners can prepare for a researcher to work with their program, building strong collaborations, and how to develop a research agenda. Topics will be determined by attendees’ surveyed interests.

We invite both researchers and practitioners to sign-up today! Space for this event is limited to 40 participants with a good representation of practitioners and researchers and spots will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Facilitators:
Chelsea Yamamoto, M.A., Psychology and Sociology, is a Project Specialist at Public Strategies. She is the lead in multiple areas within the MAST Center including resource collection, networking, and site engagement. Lauren Mattox is a Project Manager with Public Strategies and has worked in the HMRE field for 12 years. She recently joined the MAST Center and brings to the project expertise in developing service strategies for couples, individuals, and capacity building activities.

REGISTER HERE as a researcher or practitioner (https://www.ncfr.org/form/2019-mast-events-registration)

 To register, please respond to the survey so we can best tailor the event to you needs. It will assess your interests, help to inform the content of the networking session, and serve as your registration for the event. You must be registered for the NCFR Annual Conference. Registration closes Nov. 7, or whenever space fills.

Your information will be shared with the MAST Center staff so appropriate matches can be made.

Once you register, the MAST Center staff will reach out to you with more details about the event. You must be registered for the NCFR conference to attend this event. If you have questions about the event, please email Jennifer Crosswhite, NCFR's Director of Research and Policy Education ([email protected])

 REGISTER HERE (https://www.ncfr.org/form/2019-mast-events-registration)      REGISTER FOR THE NCFR CONFERENCE (https://www.ncfr.org/ncfr-2019/registration)

Mentors still needed! Registration for mentors has been extended until Monday, Nov. 11. Registration is complete for mentees.