We are happy to share recorded sessions from our 2021 Virtual Cleft Con. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do! If you would like to request one of these speakers for an upcoming meeting or event, please email cleftcon@smiletrain.org.
Community Building and Smile Train and Cleft Treatment Sessions
Opening session
The 3rd Annual Global Cleft Con will begin with remarks from event emcees, Sofia Ballinger, Eric Bodo, and Suzanne Santomieri. They will provide you with tips on how to make the most of your time at the conference and some best practices for using our customized Cleft Con software.
Smile Train President and CEO Susannah Schaefer will then provide an official welcome and introduce our keynote speaker, John Bates, NFL Player with the Washington Commanders.
During his Keynote Address, John and his family will speak about their experience with cleft and share their personal advice for others who are navigating this journey.
An Unlikely Friendship
Our Journey from a FB Message to Good Morning America
Inspired by the touching friendship between Abigail Grady (9 years old) and Smile with Simon author Patricia Simon (60 years old), the children’s book Simon Says Mask On Mask Off shares a powerful reminder that "behind every mask is a face and a heart."
In this session, Abigail, her mother Anna, and Patricia discuss their remarkable journey and how their connection in an online cleft support group led to a book that promotes kindness and acceptance to others.
Workshop: Increasing your Confidence as a Cleft Affected Adult
In this interactive session, Christine Errico, a certified confidence and transformation coach, will share practical techniques to empower cleft affected individuals to confidently handle challenging social situations and move towards cleft acceptance. She will also discuss her own personal cleft journey and evolution from someone who did not discuss her cleft to a leader focused on positivity within the community.
Cleft Voices from Around the Globe
Cleft is a universal experience and one that knows no boundaries. In this session, hear from Butoul Alanizy, a medical student and Tedx Speaker based in Saudi Arabia, Nora Abu Hassan, an author, talk show host and philanthropist based in Malaysia, and Harriet Kelly, a coach, nurse, and facial advocate based in Australia. Butoul, Nora and Harriet will discuss their cleft experiences, their local cleft communities and their goals for the future.
Feeling "Othered" by your Cleft
While the term “othered” may be an uncommon one, it is an experience that has deep resonance for many members of the facial difference community. In this session, hosted in partnership with Face Equality International (FEI), Phyllida Swift, CEO of FEI will be joined by Smile Train Cleft Community Advisory Council members Kavitha Bhaskar, Vickie Stolle and Toni-Elizabeth Wilkerson. Our speakers will share their own experiences along with coping strategies to help support individuals overcome the negative emotions that often accompany these encounters. The second half of this session will be an open discussion.
Inclusivity within the Cleft Community
Every individual’s – and family’s- cleft journey is unique but how do the other pieces of our identity such as race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and family structure, etc. contribute to that journey? In this session, speakers Alexia Young, Nhu Nguye, and Luci Capo Rome will explore this topic through the prism of their own experiences and discuss ideas for making our global cleft community more inclusive.
Cleft Perspectives: Young Adults Share their Stories
In this important, candid session, panelists Lisa Fast, McKayla Kendall and Niamh Sosa will discuss their experiences and share why and how they chose to become involved with the cleft community. They will also what advice they have for other young adults – and parents of young adults - who are just beginning this journey.
Giving Back to the Cleft Community
The global cleft community is known for its generosity and commitment to helping one another. This session highlights three cleft community members, Dylan Fox, Sally Hiraldo and Katie Rodriguez, who exemplify our values, who noticed needs within the community and took creative — and inspiring — action to meet them.
CleftProud Community Building
Join Henry Baddour, Founder and Executive Director of CleftProud, in this interactive community building session. After a short introduction, participants will be provided with question prompts and then split up into breakout rooms. Teenagers and young adults are invited to join a dedicated room.
This session is open to cleft affected individuals and their family members.
Stanley Means Love
At Smile Train, if there’s anything we love almost as much as seeing those with clefts living their best lives, it’s dogs. That’s why Stanley the bulldog has always been one of our heroes. As a puppy, Stanley nearly pulled himself up out of his playpen when Debbie Pack first walked into his shelter. It was love at first sight for both.
Meet Stanley, Smile Train’s first animal ambassador.
Love Meets Joy: A Podcast hosted by Cleft Advocates
After meeting at Cleft Con 2020, advocates Iva Ballou, founder of RealSophisticatedJoy, and Ashley Barbour, author of the blog Cleft Love: Learning to Love My Smile, knew that their cleft community work together was just beginning. Join Iva and Ashley as they discuss their new podcast, Love Meets Joy. In this honest and empowering series, they discuss their personal journeys and all things cleft. In this session, you will watch exclusive, behind-the-scenes video clips, hear about the production process, responses from the public to the podcast, and reflections from Iva and Ashley.
Supporting your Older Cleft Affected Child through Treatment
Join Lisa Wyzlic, founder of A Cleft Mommy’s Bond of Friendship (ACMBOF), as she discusses best practices when it comes to supporting your 8–18-year-old child undergoing cleft treatment. From orthodontic and dental care to speech therapy, bone grafts, and jaw surgery this period can be challenging for kids and parents alike. Speaking as a cleft parent and not a medical professional, Lisa will discuss topics such as how parents can prepare themselves and their child for this next phase, how siblings can be involved in the recovery process, different ways that teachers, friends, and classmates can support their child, and techniques for combating cleft related bullying or self-esteem issues.
Empowering Children to Navigate Cleft Care, Appearance, and Social Concerns with Resilience
From difficulties in school to encounters with bullying, many cleft-affected children face social dilemmas from a young age. In this can’t-miss session for parents, Dr. Leanne Magee, Pediatric Psychologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, provides tools for caregivers to help their child build resilience and respond to teasing and bullying.
The Life Project at Fundación Clinica Noel
The Life Project is run by Fundacion Clinica Noel, a Smile Train partner hospital and world leader in psychosocial services for cleft patients, in Medellin, Colombia. This program aims to build a community of cleft-affected children and their families through special events and individualized support.
In this session, participants will meet Smile Train patient and Life Project participant, Valery and hear from Camila Osorio, Pediatric psychologist at Clinica Noel.
Smile Train’s Cleft Leadership Centers
Smile Train partners with more than 1,100 medical centers in 70+ countries around the globe to sustainably build critical surgical and cleft care capacity, empowering local medical professionals to provide best-in-class cleft care to patients in their own communities.
Smile Train Cleft Leadership Centers (CLCs), launched in July 2021, serve as regional hubs for cleft treatment, education, training, and research, presenting a holistic, team-centered model of care that encompasses surgery, speech therapy, nutritional support, orthodontics, and more.
Join us to learn about Smile Train CLC Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital located in Bengaluru, India.