Our 10th annual Children's Rights Summit was hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, with an option to join virtually. This year, we lifted up some of the most important issues that the child rights community has focused on through a decade of Summits.
- In My Shoes, the Youth Experiential Learning Simulation helped many of us – both those experienced as well as those new to the work – understand the perspective of young people navigating a system that often feels like it was not designed to help youth succeed. Special thanks to the Bigglesworth Family Foundation for making that possible.
- Mental health was a focus because, as we learned from experts at the California Children's Trust and the Youth Law Center, children in systems are lacking the community-based resources that the system could provide if great advocates work to secure them.
- Benefits and social services can be the glue that holds an older youth's life together but only if every community takes advantage of the ways to secure those benefits for the most vulnerable children, as we learned from experts at the Public Law Center and the Youth Law Center.
- Education is where most children should spend the majority of their time and energy, but we learned from advocates from the Youth Law Center and Equal Justice Works that this requires advocacy to stop push out and discrimination against black and brown children, and engagement and enforcement of laws to meet the needs of youth experiencing homelessness.
- For LGBTQ+ children and youth, the landscape of laws and practices aimed to discriminate against them and harm them grows daily across the nation. It is only through support of important organizations in the fight against these dangers like Lambda Legal and their partners on the ground that will help reverse this course.
We look forward to our next Children's Rights Summit in 2024.
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Our 9th annual Children's Rights Summit was hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco, with an option to join virtually.
The Children's Rights Summit brings together disciplines and talent from across the legal community, to envision and reimagine what justice for children could look like.
We take action to serve and to hone skills of those advocating for children so that we may better serve youth in our communities, empower young people to understand their rights, and work to ensure that our child justice systems help realize their rights.
Outstanding Speakers in Justice for Children
Former youth with first-hand experience in our justice systems, along with outstanding advocates changing the face of child justice, share their stories. Experts lead discussions with Summit participants about how we can all contribute to meet the needs of children in our communities.
Pro Bono Sprint on Children's Rights
Justice IS Action, the newest evolution of the Children's Rights Summit brings together in-house counsel, children's rights advocates, law firm lawyers and technology experts from around the nation to engage in meaningful discussions about the legal needs of vulnerable children. These collective voices, joined by youth who have survived our legal system, will work together to find rights-based solutions to bridge the social gap that envelop these children and their communities.
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Our Children's Rights Summit started in 2014 with the aim of gathering child advocates, academics, law firm lawyers, in-house counsel and other experts to examine critical questions about how children can overcome challenges in the law.
2021 Children's Rights Summit
Baker McKenzie's 8th Annual Children's Rights Summit takes place as part of the 2021 World Congress, a global event focused on the rights of children. We are honored to have been asked to present the summit as part of this global exchange.
This year's summit brings together criminal justice experts, lawyers, community leaders, and volunteers from a yearlong project stemming from last year's Children's Rights Summit, Real Rights. A series of exchanges examines issues of equity and equality in the justice system ― discussions will feature the lived experiences of young people of color, legal lessons learned from the Real Rights project, and a conversation about the path forward to a more just reality for young people everywhere.
The Children's Rights Summit brings together voices from across the globe and across disciplines ― this is by design. Great thinkers help solve challenging problems.
Listen: Lifting Up Lived Experiences
People with lived experience share what it is like to walk down the street and feel police can stop you as a person of color on any block and around any corner. We examine the equity of criminal justice, law enforcement, security forces and safety through the lens of youth, race, ethnicity and poverty.
Learn: Legal Lessons Learned from Real Rights
Does the law realize the rights of young people? Are their limits to police power to stop and search young people? Examining the rights of young children in many jurisdictions teaches lessons about the state of child rights locally, nationally, regionally and globally. Lawyers who have studied these rights in the Real Rights project will unpack select findings so far.
Lean In: Leading a Path Forward
Thought leaders share ideas for applying lessons learned from the Real Rights project to constructing a criminal justice system that is more fair and free of discrimination against children.
Participants were presented with opportunities to engage in pro bono work on the topics discussed following the event.
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2020 Vision: Examining Child Rights Through an Anti-Racism Lens
Voices of Youth of Color
Young people will share their experiences on what racism means to them in their everyday lives. The impact of racism can be felt everywhere from housing and shelter to jobs and education to foster care and criminal justice.
The conversation will bring together voices from across the country to share experiences and reflections on the very real impact of racism on their lives. This will be a combination of formats including videos, interviews and panel discussion by young people and leading advocates.
Reflections and Discussion
A discussion-led breakout section for folks to reflect on what they heard, how they felt, and where we can all work together for change.
Transforming Inspiration to Action
Using the day's inspirations, we will work together to wrap the session with tangible ways to take action, including introduction of our Legal Sprint in January!
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2019 Children's Rights Summit
Amplifying Voices Left Unheard
For our 6th Annual Children's Rights Summit, we re-imagine the way we provide access to justice for children and youth. Once again, the summit was hosted by one of our Silicon Valley partners committed to housing a creative space for discussion, collaborative activity, and sparking new ideas.
Agenda includes:
Children's Rights: Time for a New Recipe
Key messages by renowned advocates and youth leaders touching on key topics.
Walk A Mile: Youth Justice Simulation
Youth involved in our justice systems must confront many different institutions which often don’t coordinate or communicate with each other. Through this experiential learning simulation, participants explore what it’s like to be a young person involved with the justice system and how community lawyering and pro bono can make a difference. It is an on-your-feet experience to see what life is like walking "in their shoes."
Juvenile Justice "Kitchens"
We download big challenges and use the opportunity to bring together professionals with diverse experiences to design solutions, share ideas, and chart out next steps. As participants move from "course" to "course," there are new discussions in each "kitchen" to explore each topic and participate in dialogue and solutions. Topics include:
- Hearts and Minds: Establishing Community-Based Mental Health Resources for Children and Youth
- Separating Families and Caging Children: Human Rights in America in 2019
- Gender INJustice: Are We Realizing the Rights of Young Women and Girls?
Turning Learning into Action: Looking to Next Steps After the Summit
Concluding our day, leaders and advocates lead us in a quick wrap-up to bring focus to what we learned during the day and what steps are to come.
A Toast to Justice for Children and Youth
End the day with cocktails and conversation with participants, facilitators and leaders. Opportunities to engage in pro bono projects available too!
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2018 Children's Rights Summit
Our 5th annual Children’s Rights Summit brought together the public and private bar to address challenges for youth in new ways, and problem solve solutions that the private bar and business world can engage in. This year’s event hosted an intimate discussion between a select group of social justice leaders, in-house counsel, and children’s rights advocates to work together and find rights-based solutions for children and their communities. Attendants left with a greater understanding of legal issues affecting children and their youth, and to better implement these solutions in their practice.
Among the issues covered:
Justice is NOT Just Us: Everyone can (and must) pitch in
In-house lawyers will share excellent examples of pro bono work across the city and across the globe.
Discrimination is Not Justice
When a child's identity as LGBTQ, or as a member of a particular race or ethnicity, causes others to discriminate against them, it is time for change.
"Walk A Mile In Their Shoes" – Experiencing Children's Justice Personally
Participants will engage in a simulation exercise where participants assume roles of young people in the justice system, and learn through their experience.
Better System = Justice For Children
Because improved systems of justice for children, no matter where they are in the world, for children better address the legal and other needs of children those systems serve, effort and energy is needed to make those systems better especially in the face of disasters – natural or manmade and true across the world.
Innovation = Justice
We need to think about new ways to address long-time challenges and use new technologies, thinking and innovations to meet the needs that are left unaddressed.
2017 Children's Rights Summit
Our 4th annual Children's Rights Summit brought together in-house counsel, children's rights advocates, technologists and youth themselves from around California and the nation to engage in meaningful discussions about the legal needs of children. At no time has it been more important to convene new thinkers to look at challenges children and youth face in new ways. Through the convergence across disciplines and areas of the law, we can trigger new ideas and new solutions inspired by local and national leaders in children's rights.
Attendees left with new information, critical insights, pro bono projects, new contacts and a fresh perspective on ways we can tackle old challenges.
Among the issues discussed:
Straight Talk
Why can't we do better for kids in multiple systems?
Debates
Why are children ever put behind bars for any crimes?
What if the federal government refused to fund any child welfare system that fails to deliver excellence?
Global Justice for Children
Examining the legal challenges faced by street-connected children on a global scale.
Disrupting Discrimination
A youth panel that offers thoughts, reactions and experiences to a myriad of discrimination experiences.
Race
How do we disrupt the injustice of race and discrimination against children in America? How should we respond to disproportionate minority confinement? How do we address neighborhoods racked by violence and no resources mirror a color and ethnic line?
Homeless Youth
Can we secure the dignity of homeless youth by providing them access to justice?
Child Targets
Immigrant children are facing new and unprecedented challenges in an age of changing laws and policies.
Pop Ups!
Learn about great projects that have been accomplished by Summit attendees form years past.
2016 Children's Rights Summit
Our 3rd annual Children's Rights Summit saw in-house counsel, children's rights advocates, law firm lawyers and technology experts work together to find rights-based solutions to bridge the social gap that envelops children and their communities.
Among the issues covered:
Straight Talk
Why do we need America's top innovators to help realize children's rights?
Race and Justice
How do we disrupt the injustice of race and discrimination against children in America? How should we respond to disproportionate minority confinement?
Education and Community Economic Development
How can you learn when you are hungry? Can you sleep when you are scared? Can you participate when you can’t walk down the street?
Foster Care
Are we breaking apart families of color to "help" children? How can we stop?
Homeless Youth
Can we secure the dignity of homeless youth by providing them access to justice?
LGBTQ Youth
How do we address the disproportionate representation of LGBTQ youth in the US child homeless population? How are we failing to protect the education of homeless youth despite federal and state laws?
Discrimination and Fairness
Do our 21st century entities responsible for children treat our vulnerable children like we would raise our own?
Immigration and Refugees
How does our children's justice system withstand an immigration crisis?
Justice for Juveniles
Is the juvenile justice system irreparably broken? How could technology help?
Children's Rights as Human Rights
How do we secure the basic dignity of children as right-bearing individuals here and abroad?