Resilient Tennessee summit urges cross‑sector ‘5 C’s’ approach to help children

Richard Kennedy, the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth’s executive director, opened the Resilient Tennessee Collaborative summit by urging agencies, providers and community members to act together for children.

"When Tennessee's communities work together, when we pool our wisdom, our resources, and our will, there's nothing we cannot accomplish for our children," Kennedy said as he laid out the summit’s five principles: connection, collaboration, communication, commitment and contribution.

Kennedy thanked partner agencies that helped fund the event, including the Department of Children's Services and the Department of Health, and credited Commission staff and local organizers for planning the day. He framed the summit as an opportunity to move from diagnosis to action: "Today is a gathering to unlock the solutions and to do it together," he said.

Kennedy emphasized that resilience is built in community rather than in a single agency or program and urged participants to deepen referral relationships, share data and avoid working in silos. He also asked attendees to consider practical steps they could take after the summit—strengthening local referral networks, maintaining cross‑sector communications and sustaining small, repeatable practices that support families.

The opening set the tone for the day’s sessions, which ranged from a communications workshop to presentations on trauma‑informed clinical practice and public storytelling projects. Organizers closed the session with logistical announcements about post‑event surveys, continuing‑education certificates and local follow‑ups.

The summit organizers said follow‑up materials and slide decks would be shared with attendees and encouraged participants to apply the five principles when returning to local work.