Family Service Center (FSC)

Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation
2025-04-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Zoom
Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 7:00 PM, Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation, a FAN webinar featuring Doug Bolton, Ph.D. in conversation with Lisa Damour, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’20, ’21, ’23).
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/BoltonFANWebinar
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Untethered to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Over the past decade, children’s mental health challenges have reached epidemic levels—stress, anxiety, childhood depression, and suicide are at unprecedented high rates. Amid high-stakes pressure for kids to succeed, parents and teachers have never needed a road map to healthy child development more urgently. And as clinical psychologist and educator Doug Bolton, Ph.D. explains in Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation, his eye-opening and powerful new book, underlying our modern-day stresses is an even more pervasive problem: We’re relying on practices that are not in line with what science tells us about how to truly motivate children and help them thrive.
As Bolton persuasively argues, we need to step away from parenting and teaching based on controlling our children with incentives and punishments—they focus on short-term compliance at the cost of health development. Instead, creating healthy and strongly bonded communities for our children, both in our own families and in our schools, is key to their emotional well-being, and their success in life. Untethered offers tools to help us create these communities so our kids develop healthy attachments and learn emotional regulation, helping them feel more connected, less anxious, more included, less shamed, and more securely grounded. The power of communities is not only that they enhance our wellness—they buffer us from the impact of trauma and can be a guiding force in helping kids develop resilience.
Bolton will be in conversation with Lisa Damour, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’20, ’21, ’23), the author of three New York Times best sellers: Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, which have been translated into twenty-three languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Damour authored the monthly Adolescence column for The New York Times, is a regular contributor to CBS News, and created Untangling 10to20, a digital library of premium content to support teens and those who care for them.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life
2025-04-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 7:00 PM, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, a FAN webinar featuring Maggie Smith (FAN ’20, ’23) in conversation with Glory Edim (FAN ’24).
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/Smith25FANWebinar
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Dear Writer to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
New York Times bestselling author and poet Maggie Smith (FAN ’20, ’23) believes creativity is our birthright as human beings. Yes, all of us—no matter our age or profession. Creativity improves our mental health, our adaptability, and our communication skills. In Smith’s new book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, she offers, “anything that applies to writing also applies to life. Problem-solving is a creative act. Conversations are creative. Parenting is creative. Falling in love, leaving your job, changing your mind—all creative acts. Creativity isn’t just about making art. Making your life is the ultimate creative act.”
Drawing lessons from her twenty years of teaching experience and her bestselling, craft-focused Substack newsletter, For Dear Life, Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring essays, followed by generative writing prompts that readers can use to kickstart their own creativity. For example, the section on tenacity tackles how to turn off one’s inner critic, take rejection in stride, and stay inspired through creative blocks. Dear Writer provides tools that artists and readers of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them across genres and into all areas of life.
Smith is the award-winning author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Keep Moving, Goldenrod, Good Bones, and other books. She has been widely published, appearing in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Nation, the New York Times, the Atlantic, The Best American Poetry, and more.
Smith will be in conversation with Glory Edim (FAN ’24), is an award-winning literary tastemaker, entrepreneur, and advocate for diverse voices in literature. Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, an online platform and book club dedicated to celebrating the works of Black women authors and creating a supportive online community for readers, and author of Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change Emily Falk, Ph.D.
2025-04-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 12:00 PM CT, What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change, a FAN webinar featuring Emily Falk, Ph.D. in conversation with Ethan Kross, Ph.D. (FAN ’25).
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/FalkFANWebinar
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of What We Value to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
With so many competing priorities pulling us in different directions every day―family, friends, work, our health―it can feel difficult to make decisions that are aligned with what we care about most. Especially in the moment, we often default to the immediate demand, the path of least resistance, the worn old habit we wanted to change. In What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change, pioneering scholar Emily Falk, Ph.D. reveals how we can transform our relationship with the daily decisions that define our lives―opening pathways to make more purposeful, fulfilling choices; more successfully change our behavior; and influence others to see differently―by thinking like neuroscientists.
Drawing on her own award-winning research, Falk introduces readers to a new paradigm for understanding why we, and those around us, do what we do. This is the value calculation: the often-subconscious mechanism by which the brain computes our everyday choices. Falk shows that we can learn to work more strategically with the value calculation―whether we want to embrace new activities and behaviors, connect more meaningfully with others, or become more effective leaders in our organizations and communities. Falk demonstrates how we can change what we think just by changing what we think about; get less defensive by connecting with our core values; and seed innovation by seeking out different perspectives.
Falk is an award-winning Professor of Communication, Psychology, Marketing, and Operations, Informatics, and Decisions (OID) at the University of Pennsylvania; Vice Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication; Director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab; and Director of the Climate Communication Division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. She is an expert in the science of behavior change. Her research uses tools from psychology, neuroscience, and communication to examine what makes messages persuasive, why and how ideas spread, and what makes people effective communicators.
Falk will be in conversation with Ethan Kross, Ph.D. (FAN ’25), Professor, Management & Organizations, Ross School of Business, and Director of the Emotion and Self Control Lab, University of Michigan. He is the author of the international bestseller Chatter and the new bestselling book Shift: Managing Your Emotions — So They Don’t Manage You.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

No Shame on U: Cover My Mental Health: Overcoming Insurance Obstacles for Care
2025-05-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Cover My Mental Health: Overcoming Insurance Obstacles for Care
May 1, 2025
7pm CT
Via – ZOOM
Has your insurance ever denied mental health treatment deemed necessary by a professional? Been told your medication isn’t covered, even though you rely on it? If you’re tired of fighting insurance battles alone, this talk is for you. Cover My Mental Health, a nonprofit organization, provides no-cost resources to help individuals and families effectively advocate for the care they deserve. This presentation will introduce practical strategies for challenging insurance denials and overcoming obstacles to treatment. Led by Joe Feldman, founder of Cover My Mental Health and a parent who successfully fought for his children’s mental health care, this session will equip you with the tools to push back against insurer roadblocks and secure the coverage you need.
Presented by:
Joe Feldman, MBA
Founder and Director, Cover My Mental Health
FREE and VIRTUAL!
Register HERE!

[FAN] Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You
2025-09-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 7:00 PM CT, Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You, a FAN webinar featuring Jeff Selingo (FAN ’20, ’21, ‘22), in conversation with Frank Bruni (FAN ’15).
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/Selingo25FANWebinar
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Dream School to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Attending college has long been a rite of passage for millions of teens and a bedrock of the American dream. But that well-worn path has lately taken a wrong turn, denying admission even to super-achievers and putting intolerable stress on family finances. Now, in Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You, Jeff Selingo (FAN ’20, ’21, ’22) shifts the spotlight from how colleges pick students to how students can better pick colleges.
With test-optional policies and grade inflation leveling the playing field for applicants, getting into prestigious schools has become a kind of lottery. “Plan A” may work out, but increasingly it isn’t—so Selingo urges families to ditch the “Top 25 or bust” mindset and look beyond the usual suspects. Hidden-gem schools with incredible value and rich opportunities are waiting to be discovered.
Backed by unparalleled research—and an eye-opening survey of more than 3,000 parents—Dream School reveals what really matters in a college: strong job prospects after graduation, hands-on learning experiences, and a sense of belonging. To help students find their perfect match, Selingo highlights 75 accessible and affordable colleges that will satisfy those priorities.
Organized into three easy-to-digest sections, Dream School explains why elite college degrees turn out to matter less than you think, why many parents and students are choosing value over prestige, and how to make sure the degree really pays off.
Selingo is a New York Times bestselling author of three books on education and the job market. For more than twenty-five years, his in-depth reporting and storytelling have provided practical insight about the future of higher education and the workforce to university leaders, corporate executives, as well as students and parents.
Selingo will be in conversation with prominent New York Times journalist Frank Bruni (FAN ’15), author of Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, about the college admissions mania; The Beauty of Dusk; and most recently, The Age of Grievance. He is the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University, teaching media-oriented classes in the Sanford School of Public Policy.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

Screenagers Under the Influence
2025-09-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave., Wilmette, IL, United States
FREE MOVIE SCREENING + Panel Discussion to Follow.
A must-see for parents, caregivers, and youth ages 12+.
Addressing vaping, drugs & alcohol in the Digital Age.
6:30pm Doors Open | 6:45pm Movie | 8pm Panelist Discussion
Popcorn & Goodie Bags for all Guests!
Scan QR code in flyer to register!

FSC & GPL: Back-to-School Without the Meltdowns: Study Strategies That Actually Work
2025-09-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Glenview Public Library, 1930 Glenview Road, Glenview, IL, 60025
Join us! We hope to see you at the Glenview Public Library for our 90-minute workshop to ease the back-to-school transition for kids and the grownups who support them. We’ll have brain-based strategies to build focus, reduce stress, and boost confidence as you settle into back-to-school routines.
When: Monday, September 22, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Where: Glenview Public Library Community Room (1930 Glenview Road, Glenview)
Register here: https://glenviewpl.bibliocommons.com/…/68b9a076cefea328…
All caregivers welcome! Supervised activities and snacks for kids will be provided. Register today!

Topics to be covered:

Study tips that align with how brains actually learn
Simple tools for emotional regulation and motivation
How to troubleshoot tricky transitions and make routines work
Ways to support neurodivergent learners, including those with ADHD and anxiety
Parents and caregivers will leave with ready-to-use techniques, a better understanding of how learning and regulation work together, and resources to access additional support if needed.

[FAN] Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD
2025-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, September 25, 2025, 7:00 PM CT, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, a FAN webinar featuring Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD, and Tony Wagner, Ed.D., in conversation with Fernande Raine, Ph.D.
REGISTER: Click here to register
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Mastery to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
How much information is forgotten almost immediately after it is taught? How many students graduate from high school unprepared for careers where lifelong learning is essential to succeed? These problems stem from an educational system that uses time spent in a classroom and the results of standardized, multiple-choice tests as proxies for actual understanding. In their new book, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, educators Tony Wagner, Ed.D., and Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD, call for a radical new system of learning, where students progress individually when they demonstrate that they can use what they have learned—no matter how long it takes to get there. This is called mastery learning, and it is the future of education.
This book shows how mastery learning is already being used in the United States and around the world, from kindergarten to college and in the workplace. Through conversations with teachers, students, parents, policymakers, and employers, Wagner and Christensen show how mastery improves motivation and prepares students for productive work, an engaged civic life, and personal growth and well-being. They also outline the challenges of adopting mastery learning and how to overcome them. Mastery is an urgent call to action to transform education for all.
Christensen is a globally recognized authority in learning technology, and a co-founder of Area9 Group, a leader in personalized and adaptive learning. His current focus is on Area9 Lyceum, which has integrated the group’s educational investments and technologies to develop the fourth-generation adaptive learning platform and to pioneer four-dimensional education.
Wagner currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. He was the founder and co-director, for more than a decade, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the author of eight books, including the international bestseller The Global Achievement Gap.
Christensen and Wagner will be in conversation with Fernande Raine, Ph.D., a historian, serial entrepreneur, and Founder and Co-Lead of History Co:Lab.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

[FAN] Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kid
2026-01-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, January 22, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids A FAN webinar featuring Meredith Elkins, Ph.D., in conversation with Rebecca Jenkins
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/ElkinsFANWebinar
Bonus After-Hours Event: FAN donors are invited to attend a private After-Hours event hosted by Elkins that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
Parenting is hard—especially for families navigating anxiety. Today’s parents face an overwhelming volume of advice shaped by rigid cultural ideals of what “good” parenting looks like, particularly when it comes to managing children’s fears and worries. How do you raise resilient children in an age of uncertainty? How do you parent effectively when you yourself are anxious?
Much of the advice parents encounter, unfortunately, encourages responses that can increase the long-term risk of anxiety in children. In trying to protect kids from discomfort, well-intentioned parents may block experiences children need to build courage, confidence, and resilience.
In her new book Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids, Meredith Elkins, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and faculty member at Harvard Medical School, brings clarity to this increasingly urgent conversation. Drawing on her clinical work with children and families—and her own experience as a parent—Dr. Elkins helps parents rethink so-called “negative” emotions such as fear, sadness, and guilt, and understand how modern parenting pressures contribute to anxiety in both children and adults. She encourages families to clarify their values and adopt a “love and limits” approach—balancing compassion with healthy boundaries while resisting the urge to shield children from every discomfort.
Dr. Elkins offers concrete, evidence-based guidance for families experiencing everyday anxiety as well as those coping with anxiety disorders. This indispensable resource provides a clear roadmap for helping both children and parents build adaptability, emotional flexibility, and resilience across all stages of development.
Dr. Elkins will be in conversation with Rebecca Jenkins, superintendent of Libertyville D70 in Libertyville, IL. Jenkins has presented about leadership at the National Conference on Education by the American Association of School Administrators, the award-winning PowerTrip conference for women in education; at the Illinois Association for Superintendents; and with Google at the ASU+GSV summit, a global meeting for leaders in education, technology, and workforce development.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Barrington D220, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Chiaravalle Montessori School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, The Cove School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community HS D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic HS, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican HS, Resurrection College Prep HS, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Sacred Heart Schools, St. Bernard’s School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson HS D125, Township HS D113, Township HS D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette D39, Wilmette Public Library, Winnetka D36, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT. Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History. A FAN webinar featuring Helen Zoe Veit, Ph.D., in conversation with John Waller, Ph.D.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/VeitFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Picky to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on
the webinar registration page.
Are children naturally picky, or did pickiness develop over the past century? Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History by historian Helen Zoe Veit, Ph.D., is an eye-opening investigation into why American kids no longer eat broadly and with gusto. As an award-winning historian of American food, Veit demonstrates compellingly that mass childhood pickiness is a cultural invention – not a biological inevitability.
Pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Kids in the past loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. American parents of the past assumed children could enjoy the same food as adults, and they almost always did.
Pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Kids in the past loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. American parents of the past assumed children could enjoy the same food as adults, and they almost always did.
Veit is an associate professor of history at Michigan State University and the director of the “What America Ate” and “America in the Kitchen” projects. She was an advisor for HBO’s The Gilded Age, and her work is often cited in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and more.
Veit will be in conversation with John Waller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at Michigan State University who has published seven books spanning science, medicine, and social history, and has just completed a major study of group dynamics across the past 12,000 years of human history.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Chiaravalle Montessori School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Sacred Heart Schools, St. Bernard’s School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most
2026-03-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Monday, March 2, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most. A FAN webinar featuring Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., in conversation with Daniel Pink (FAN ’18, ’22).
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/SLFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of How to Feel Loved to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Why, in an age of constant connection, do so many of us still feel lonely, anxious, or unseen? In their new book, How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets Get You More of What Matters Most, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. — the world’s preeminent expert on happiness — and Harry Reis, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading authorities on relationships and connection, reveal the simple yet powerful shifts that can transform how we experience our closest relationships.
The authors argue that the problem isn’t the number of friends we have or how busy our social calendars are — it’s that too often, our interactions don’t leave us feeling genuinely loved. We may worry that if people really knew us — our flaws alongside our strengths — their affection would disappear. Or we may quietly conclude that we’re simply not lovable enough.
How to Feel Loved offers a liberating alternative. You don’t need to reinvent yourself, impress others, or bend over backward to earn love. Instead, the key lies in shifting how you approach your next conversation. The authors present five practical mindsets that can fundamentally change the way you relate to others — habits that, with practice, will help you create relationships where you feel deeply known, valued, and loved.
Lyubomirsky is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and the author of the bestselling The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness (published in 39 countries). She has been featured across a wide range of media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, as well as the Today show, NPR, and CNN.
Lyubomirsky will be in conversation with Daniel Pink (FAN ’18, ’22), the author of seven bestselling nonfiction books ranging from human motivation and the science of timing to a graphic novel career guide. His deeply researched works have been translated into 46 languages and have sold more than five million copies worldwide.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation
2026-03-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation A FAN in-person featuring Rep. James E. Clyburn, in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore. Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of The First Eight to attendees, while supplies last.
Today, South Carolina Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) is renowned as a Democratic kingmaker and one of the most distinguished Black political leaders in American history. But behind him stand eight other remarkable men: the first Black politicians elected to Congress from his home state, who blazed the path for his own ascent. Since arriving in Congress in the early nineties, Congressman Clyburn has been guided by their wisdom and example — and sobered by their struggles, particularly against the enduring demon of American racism.
South Carolina’s first eight Black congressmen all rose to office in the wake of the Civil War and emancipation — only to see their gains extinguished as the dark veil of Jim Crow fell across the South. It would take nearly a century before the ninth Black representative from the state, Clyburn himself, was elected.
In The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation, Rep. Clyburn brings these men’s stories — and their message of liberty — to the nation they served. Among them: Joseph Rainey, born enslaved in 1832, who became the first Black politician elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in American history; Robert Smalls, celebrated for his extraordinary Civil War heroism, when he commandeered a Confederate vessel and delivered it — and his freedom — to the Union; and Richard Cain, editor of a widely read newspaper for Black South Carolinians and a figure deeply associated with Emanuel AME Church, one of the oldest and most distinguished Black churches in America, and where nine Black congregants were murdered in a racist mass shooting in 2015.
Through the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and setbacks all nine men faced, Rep. Clyburn illuminates a whole new way of understanding the arc from the Civil War to the present day.
The First Eight is a singular blend of history and memoir — at once a monument to eight trailblazing Americans, a meditation on progress, and a clear-eyed reckoning with how far we have yet to go in our nation’s ongoing struggle for true democracy.
Rep. Clyburn will be in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore, an award-winning journalist and author and senior lecturer and director of audio programming at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Food
2026-03-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Friday, March 13, 2026 | 12:00 PM CT (Note earlier-than-typical start time) Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods A FAN webinar featuring Michaeleen Doucleff, Ph.D., in conversation with Heidi Stevens.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/MDoucleffFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Dopamine Kids to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Nearly everything you’ve heard about dopamine is wrong. It’s not the molecule of happiness — it doesn’t give us pleasure; it gives us motivation. Today, unprecedented “dopamine surges” pull us toward technology and ultraprocessed foods like magnets, many times a day, and neuroscientists have now begun to understand how these surges alter our choices, habits, and moods — driving adults and kids toward activities that bring no real enjoyment and leave us feeling sad, lonely, anxious, and depressed.
When Michaeleen Doucleff, Ph.D. (FAN ’21), set out to address her own family’s screen time and dependence on processed foods, she discovered that study after study refuted nearly everything the media claims about dopamine. She took that new neuroscience and merged it with practical experience to shift the power dynamic back to families — so that instead of devices and foods controlling us, we control them. The result is Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods, a five-step operating manual for habit remodeling that helps parents create boundaries, replace screen time with equally enticing alternatives, remove triggers, and celebrate new choices — ultimately weakening the neurological pull of devices and making dopamine work in a family’s favor.
Doucleff’s research culminates in a four-week plan to build screen-free sanctuaries that protect conversation, focus, sleep, and adventure. Where Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation sounded the alarm about screens, Dopamine Kids is the handbook for solving the problem — teaching kids a healthy relationship with technology and food while meeting their genuine biological and emotional needs. Doucleff has a chemistry doctorate from UC Berkeley, a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH, more than a decade covering children’s health for NPR’s science desk, a Peabody Award, and the New York Times bestseller Hunt, Gather, Parent.
Doucleff will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. She writes a weekly nationally syndicated column, “Balancing Act.” Stevens has been a FAN board member since 2021.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action
2026-03-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action
A FAN webinar featuring Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., in conversation with Marc Brackett, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’25).
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/PringleFANWebinar
Anyone who has ever participated in a brainstorming session knows that most of us do not lack ideas. Yet many people never breathe life into them. To turn inspiration into real achievement, you must decide to act—and then decide to act again and again, despite obstacles, until your thoughts take shape and come to life. This is what psychologist Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., calls the creativity choice.
In her new book The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action, Pringle—a senior research scientist at Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence—draws on twenty years of research to dispel one of our most stubborn myths: that creativity is an innate gift reserved for the Albert Einsteins, Steve Jobses, and Coco Chanels of the world. In fact, creativity is a decision. And it is one that anyone can learn to make.
With stories ranging from an entrepreneur who built a national nonprofit, to a YouTuber who turned a hobby into a professional career, to a business leader who established a company culture of innovation, Pringle illuminates
how people make creative ideas happen. She shows what it takes to get started, the psychological and emotional tools needed to navigate the creative process, and the social conditions that allow creativity to flourish—from the casual relationships that spark unexpected ideas, to the close bonds that sustain risk-taking and perseverance.
Among her key insights: problem finding matters more than problem solving; emotions are not obstacles to creativity but valuable information that can be strategically harnessed; and the difference between a one-hit wonder and a consistent innovator often comes down to the quality of one’s social network. Pringle also explores why people who genuinely want to be creative so often avoid it, and how accepting the anxiety that accompanies originality is itself the first creative act.
Pringle studies the role of emotion, emotional intelligence, and self-regulation in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills. She will be in conversation with Marc Brackett, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’25), the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University, and the author of the 2019 bestselling book Permission to Feel and 2025’s Dealing with Feeling.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Barrington D220, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, The Cove School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, UChicago Network for College Success, Wilmette Public Library, Winnetka D36, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture
2026-03-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Thursday, March 19, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Everybody’s Fly: Art, Music, and Changing the Culture
A FAN in-person featuring Fab 5 Freddy, in conversation with Theaster Gates
Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Everybody’s Fly to attendees, while supplies last.
Blondie’s declaration on their 1980 hit “Rapture” introduced listeners around the world to Fred Brathwaite, also known as Fab 5 Freddy, a pioneering cultural icon whose fearless creativity reshaped the worlds of art, style, and music. Next spring, Viking is proud to publish his electrifying memoir Everybody’s Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture.
Everybody’s Fly is an essential, street-level cultural history from one of our most curious, passionate, and inspiring minds still working today. Picking up where Patti Smith’s (FAN ’19) Just Kids leaves off, it offers an intimate look into how New York’s underground art and music scene—guided by Fab’s singular vision of what could be possible— irrevocably transformed mainstream culture from the late 1970s to today.
Because Fab doesn’t just have a great story—he is the story. Name a seismic cultural shift of the last five decades, and chances are, he wasn’t just there—he was making it happen. He’s the graffiti artist who turned subway tags into fine art, showing his work most recently at the Saatchi Gallery in London; the visionary behind the first hip-hop movie; the bridge between Jean-Michel Basquiat and the downtown punk scene; the first person to take rap global on MTV as the original host of Yo! MTV Raps; the director behind iconic music videos for Snoop Dog, Nas, Queen Latifah, and KRS-One; and, of course, the inspiration for the opening rhyme of Blondie’s number one smash hit “Rapture”—the song that propelled hip-hop from the Bronx to popular culture for the first time. With a spirit of joyful creativity, he shattered racial and artistic boundaries, bridging worlds and bringing underground movements to the mainstream.
Vibrant, rhapsodic, and compulsively readable, Everybody’s Fly is a love letter to the art of seeing, a fascinating account of an inimitable creative life, and a celebration of what it means to shape culture.
Fab will be in conversation with Theaster Gates, world-renowned artist, archivist, social innovator, and professor and Special Advisor to the President at the University of Chicago. Gates creates work that focuses on space theory and land development, sculpture, and performance.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America Brian Goldstone, Ph.D.
2026-04-14 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America A FAN in-person keynote address by Brian Goldstone, Ph.D. Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of There Is No Place for Us at the event, while supplies last.
The working homeless. In a country where hard work and determination are supposed to lead to success, there is something scandalous about this phrase. But skyrocketing rents, low wages, and a lack of tenant rights have produced a startling phenomenon: People with full-time jobs cannot keep a roof over their head, especially in America’s booming cities, where rapid growth is leading to catastrophic displacement. These families are being forced into homelessness not by a failing economy but a thriving one.
In a gripping and deeply reported book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, Brian Goldstone, Ph.D., plunges readers into the lives of five Atlanta families struggling to remain housed in a gentrifying, increasingly unequal city. Maurice and Natalia make a fresh start in the country’s “Black Mecca” after being priced out of DC. Kara dreams of starting her own cleaning business while mopping floors at a public hospital. Britt scores a coveted housing voucher. Michelle is in school to become a social worker. Celeste toils at her warehouse job while undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. Each of them aspires to provide a decent life for their children—and each of them, one by one, joins the ranks of the nation’s working homeless.
Through intimate, novelistic portraits, Goldstone reveals the human cost of this crisis, following parents and their kids as they go to sleep in cars, or in squalid extended-stay hotel rooms, and head out to their jobs and schools the next morning. These are the nation’s hidden homeless, omitted from official statistics, and proof that overflowing shelters and street encampments are only the most visible manifestation of a far more pervasive problem.
Goldstone is a journalist and author whose longform reporting and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and The New Republic, among other publications. There Is No Place for Us was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, named one of the 10 Best Books of 2025 by The New York Times and The Atlantic, and selected as one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year. He has a Ph.D. in anthropology from Duke University and was a Mellon Research Fellow at Columbia University. In 2021, he was a National Fellow at New America.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Connections for the Homeless, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment
A FAN webinar featuring Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., in conversation with Mary C. Commerford, Ph.D.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/AronFANWebinar
For this event, clinical and research psychologist Elaine Aron, Ph.D., author of the international bestseller The Highly Sensitive Person, will discuss her new book Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens: An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment. In it she offers the first ever objective overview of meditation methods and paths to enlightenment.
Why spirituality through a “Highly Sensitive Lens”? This is not a book or a talk just for highly sensitive people (HSP), though Aron is one. She reflected on meditation and enlightenment for years and saw a huge need for objective, complete information on all the many kinds of meditation and on all views of enlightenment. There were no books that fully described all forms of meditation and that provided the necessary information to make an informed choice. Further, most people do not realize that every form of meditation began with the purpose that you, the meditator, would reach nirvana. God Realization. Enlightenment. Awakening. Yet meditation teachers often do not talk much about it. They are apprehensive that students will see view it as unattainable or will aim for it and be disappointed.
Aron wants meditation and enlightenment discussed together, as they were meant to be. She maintains that a spiritual supernova exploded in the Sixties, but like a distant supernova, its light has only now reached us. Many
people began meditating back then, and while many stopped, some continued for fifty or more years. Suddenly more people, both meditators and others, are “waking up” to a state of profound inner peace, unshakeable calm, and clearer focus. There are hundreds of books and websites about this person’s enlightenment and that person’s method of getting there, but no overview of this chaos or the actual research on it.
But what about all those unethical spiritual teachers you hear about? Aron is very interested in this issue, explaining that one can “wake up” and still need to “clean up” your complexes. She addresses both in every chapter, and how to avoid being a casualty, whether due to tendencies in a teacher or in yourself.
Aron will be in conversation with Mary Commerford, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and instructor at an analytic training institute in NYC. She was for 21 years the director of the counseling center at Barnard College. Before switching to clinical psychology, trained in ministry at Yale University Divinity School, working subsequently as a chaplain. She has been a member of a meditation community for over 40 years.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again
2026-04-29 19:00 - 20:00 | Regina Dominican High School, 701 Locust, Wilmette, IL, 60091
Wednesday, April 29 | 7:00 PM CT
The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again
A FAN in-person featuring Mary Claire Haver, MD, in conversation with Heidi Stevens
Regina Dominican High School, O’Shaughnessy Theater, 701 Locust Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of The New Perimenopause to attendees, while supplies last.
For many women, the years leading up to menopause arrive without warning and without a name. Anxiety, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, disrupted sleep, volatile moods, and changes in sexual health can surface as early
as a woman’s mid-thirties — well before menstrual irregularity signals that anything hormonal is underway. Too often, those symptoms are dismissed by physicians or misattributed entirely. Mary Claire Haver, MD, has spent her career changing that.
In her new book The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again, Dr. Haver, a board-certified OB/GYN, a certified culinary medicine specialist, a certified menopause provider, and the founder of The ‘Pause Wellness, maps what she calls the hormonal “zone of chaos” — the years of endocrine fluctuation that precede menopause and generate an outsized toll on women’s daily lives. The symptoms are real, they are physiological, and they are manageable. Her book gives women the science, the clinical tools, and the language to insist on care that addresses what their bodies are doing.
The New Perimenopause delivers clear, science-backed explanations of what’s happening in the body across every dimension of the perimenopausal transition — menstrual changes, energy, mood, sleep, and sexual health — alongside a frank account of why addressing these changes now constitutes preventive medicine for the decades ahead. Haver walks women through the latest research on progesterone therapy, including both its benefits and side effects, and equips them with practical tools: checklists, questions to bring to the doctor’s office, and strategies for navigating a medical system that has historically underserved women in midlife. Whether or not a woman has yet noticed any symptoms, the book removes the mystery from this transition and restores the sense of agency that too many women lose during it.
Haver, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The New Menopause and The Galveston Diet, will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. She writes a weekly nationally syndicated column, “Balancing Act.” Stevens has been a FAN board member since 2021.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Beacon Academy, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Wintrust Financial, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.
