Join the movement

SAFE TO THRIVE

A commitment, not just a conversation

Safe to Thrive is a free, monthly live conversation and community for adults committed to building emotionally safe environments.

The first live session begins February 25th.

FREE REGISTRATION

 

A commitment to create emotionally safe environments where children, youth, and adults can build the executive function skills they need to learn, regulate, and thrive.

JOIN NOW

Here’s the truth that changes everything

Emotionally safe environments begin with emotionally skilled adults.

In a world that feels increasingly overwhelming, reactive, and unkind, behavior management alone is no longer enough. What our communities need now are adults who know how to build emotional capacity and resilience, starting with themselves.

That’s what Safe to Thrive is about.

The reality many of us are facing

  • Adults feeling overwhelmed and reactive
  • Children shutting down or acting out
  • Burnout disguised as behavior management
  • Systems focused on compliance instead of capacity
  • Emotional safety treated as optional instead of foundational

The impact of this work

When adults build emotional safety:

  • Children strengthen executive function and resilience
  • Classrooms become regulated instead of reactive
  • Adults reduce burnout and increase clarity
  • Systems shift from control to capacity
teacher with happy students

Who should join

Safe to Thrive is for you if you are:

  • An educator or school leader
  • A youth development professional or program director
  • A parent or caregiver
  • A community leader invested in long-term well-being

And you’re ready to:

  • Move beyond managing behavior to understanding it
  • Build emotional safety without burning yourself out
  • Support executive function, regulation, and learning in real, human ways
  • Lead with clarity, compassion, and confidence even when things feel hard

 

How the Safe to Thrive movement works

Safe to Thrive is a free, ongoing community experience.

When you join, you:

Attend a live Zoom conversation once a month

Join our LinkedIn Community to continue the dialogue, exchange tools, and share challenges and successes between sessions

This is not a one-time event.
You’re invited to return month after month as a newcomer or a familiar face.

You don’t need to have all the answers.
You don’t need a perfect system.

You just need curiosity, courage, and a willingness to take small, intentional steps that ripple outward into your classroom, program, home, or organization.

Registration is FREE.

JOIN NOW

Why this is personal

I started the Safe to Thrive movement because it’s the one thing I needed most as a child, and never had.

I grew up with a learning disability. Today, we call it neurodivergent. I don’t see that as something broken, I just learn differently. I see the world differently. But the adults around me didn’t have the tools or understanding to see me. Memory has always been hard for me. Even now, I struggle to remember names, titles, songs, simple things others take for granted. And as a child, those struggles didn’t just affect my learning; they chipped away at my self-confidence. I remember constantly asking myself, Am I enough? Am I even worthy of learning?

What I know now is this: my capacity to learn wasn’t the problem. The environment was. I didn’t feel emotionally safe. And when you don’t feel safe, you shut down, not because you can’t grow, but because your nervous system is trying to protect you.

Safe to Thrive is personal for me. It’s about adults taking responsibility for creating emotionally safe environments, by learning how to regulate themselves, understand difference, and lead with courage and care. Because so many of us carry these stories into adulthood, shaped by judgment, belittling, or feeling “othered.”

This is our moment to change that. To give children the tools we didn’t have. To help them build resilience in a world that can be unkind. Safe to Thrive is a community and a movement because when adults lead with emotional skill and courage, everyone gets the chance to thrive.

What you'll experience

This is not a lecture.
It’s a dialogue.

When you join Safe to Thrive, you’ll be invited into a guided, reflective conversation with Dr. Sonia Toledo to explore:

  • What emotional safety actually looks like in daily practice
  • How adult regulation directly shapes youth behavior and learning
  • The connection between emotions, executive function, and resilience
  • Simple, research-informed practices you can apply immediately
  • How to begin building safer systems

You’ll leave with:

  • A clearer understanding of your role in creating emotional safety
  • Practical language and tools you can use right away
  • A renewed sense of purpose and possibility
  • Connection to a growing community committed to doing this work together
black child feels safe with black mom at home
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Join The LinkedIn Group

"Emotional safety isn't a 'nice-to-have'. It's the foundation of engagement, regulation, and learning."

- Dr. Sonia Toledo