Speakers
14th Annual Commonwealth of Virginia CSA Conference - The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center - Roanoke, Virginia - October 15-16, 2025
The Office of Children's Services is seeking proposals to provide training sessions of 90 minutes in duration for the 15th Annual Commonwealth of Virginia CSA Conference. This event will take place at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center on October 14-15, 2026. Presentations may relate to conference theme "Collaborate. Innovate. Transform. Together, We Make It Happen.", and focus on topics such as:
- Local CSA Program Spotlight
- Self-Care
- Service innovations/Evidence Based Programs
- Evidence based practices
- Family-driven Practices
- Leadership Skills
All proposals are due by July 15, 2026 and must be submitted to csa.annualconference@csa.virginia.gov. Proposal acceptances will be sent out by August 3, 2026 by OCS.
Please contact csa.annualconference@csa.virginia.gov if you have any questions!
Keynote Speaker
Noah Scalin, is an artist and activist. He is the author of 6 books on design and creativity. Through his company Another Limited Rebellion, he has traveled the world bringing his motivating message of creative practice to everyone from incarcerated teenagers to Fortune 500 executives. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts, Noah started his career as the Art Director for Troma Entertainment and Avirex Clothing. Noah's artwork is collected internationally and has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, The Museum of Surgical Sciences in Chicago and NYC’s Times Square. Noah was the first ever artist-in-residence at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business, and Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University. His 2020 collaboration with Old Navy was one of the most viewed commercials of the year and in 2022, he won the Artfields Grand Prize.
Pre-Conference Session
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Ellen B. Kagen, MSW, PCC is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University and the founder of the Georgetown Leadership Academy, a national leadership learning and consultation effort for leading collaborative systems change for professionals, family and youth activists in the fields of human services, health and education. Ms. Kagen has successfully adapted the curriculum for non-profit organizations, Foundations, Universities, Child Welfare networks, state and community systems, early stage professionals, families, non-profit Boards, the US-Afghan Women’s Council, and over 30 States and Communities across the country with topics such as Adaptive Leadership in Child Welfare, Advancing Cultural and Linguistic Competence, Reducing Health and Mental Health Disparities and Systems Change in Early Intervention. At the heart of Ms. Kagen’s work is a focus on innovation and breakthrough strategies. To support executives, Ms. Kagen and her colleagues created an innovative new coaching and consultation model called Transformation Facilitation which strengthens leadership effectiveness in reaching system and organizational goals. Ms. Kagen was a founding partner of Coach Approach Partners. She holds an MSW in Social Strategy from the University of Maryland with additional training in Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Executive Coaching at Georgetown University receiving the highest level of ICF Certification. She is a proud Wexner Foundation Leadership Fellow and the co-author of two chapters in the “Leadership Equation”, entitled Leadership Function and Styles and The Work of Leadership in Systems Change published by Brooks. She and her husband David Waghelstein, live in Annapolis, MD and are involved in a variety of community and social change initiatives.
CONTACT: Liz Fillman, Virginia Tech Richmond Center
Email: lfillman@vt.edu