May 19, 2026

Virtual

6:00 pm EST

Protecting Your Peace

An honest panel on what chronic workplace stress does to your body, what practical boundaries actually look like, and how to protect your peace when you can't just walk out the door.

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What to expect

What you’ll learn

We are living through a moment that is asking too much of too many people — and not asking anything of the systems causing the harm.

Voting rights are under attack. Black women are losing jobs at disproportionate rates. DEI programs have been gutted. And every day, people are being asked to show up to work, perform, stay professional, and hold it together — while the world outside the office is actively working against them. Your nervous system is not overreacting. It is responding accurately to a real threat.

This panel is for anyone carrying that weight. It is a space to get honest and get practical — not about staying positive, but about real, day-to-day methodology for protecting your mental health when the ground keeps shifting. Whether you’ve lost your job, you’re still in corporate America but uncertain about your future, or you’re simply exhausted from carrying all of it, this conversation is for you.

By the end of this panel, attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how systemic and political stress intersects with workplace mental health — and at least one concrete tool, boundary, or next step for protecting their peace, their livelihood, and their sense of self in an uncertain and hostile climate.

Attendees will be able to:

●       Recognize how political and systemic stress enters the body and the workplace — including hypervigilance, emotional labor, and physical symptoms

●       Distinguish between a difficult job and a harmful one — and understand what that means for next steps

●       Identify practical, power-aware boundary strategies —  that account for retaliation risk and financial constraints

●       Apply at least one day-to-day self-care tool —  grounded in clinical or organizational methodology, not inspiration

●       Leave with one specific, doable next step —  they can take within 48 hours

Meet the Panelist

  • Dr. Latasha N. Eley Kelly (Dr. Tasha)

    The Millennial Black Professor®: educator, wellbeing advocate, amplifier of underrepresented stories, and three-time first generation college graduate. She holds a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture; teaches English Literature and African American Studies at the University of Maryland Global Campus; and founded TMBP Media (a nonprofit disrupting mainstream narratives) and Left on Read (Kansas’ only Black-owned bookstore). A Virginia native, she lives in Park City,KS, with her husband, Corinthian Kelly.

  • Melissa Webb, LPC

    Melissa Webb, LPC, is a relational wellness expert and leadership trainer who helps organizations build emotionally healthy, high-performing teams. She is the founder of Purposeful Counseling and Executive Director of The Therapy Project, where she focuses on emotional regulation, communication, and workplace culture.

  • Portia C. Barnes, MSIOP

    Portia C. Barnes, MSIOP, is a Training and Organizational Development Consultant who helps leaders and teams transform the way they work through science-based learning and culture strategy. As founder of The Workplace Reset Consulting Group, she applies Industrial- Organizational Psychology to design practical solutions that improve communication, engagement, and emotional intelligence across today’s diverse workplaces. Her experience spans curriculum design, leadership coaching, and culture-building initiatives that strengthen belonging and performance. Portia has facilitated professional development workshops on emotional intelligence, leadership under pressure, and inclusive practices for higher education and corporate settings. She currently serves on the board of the Michigan Association for Industrial- Organizational Psychology (MAIOP) and contributes to The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist (TIP) publication, where she writes about people-first leadership and how organizations can build cultures that inspire trust, growth, and belonging.

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