We’re currently working to build the 2025 Children’s Justice Conference agenda. Check back again soon for more.

Monday, May 6

Gaelin Elmore
Gaelin Elmore is a dynamic and nationally sought-after keynote speaker, trainer, and thought leader. He works with organizations and people to become belonging-informed in order to help children overcome trauma and unleash their potential. Gaelin’s passion and energy for his work stems from his heart for justice and his own lived experience. His own belonging journey has led Gaelin to the National Football League, and now stages, boardrooms, and organizations, all across the country, aiming to inspire, encourage, and equip others to think differently about their work and its long-term impact on others. Gaelin now lives in Eden Prairie, MN, where he gets to experience the purest form of belonging as a husband to his wife, Micaela, and dad to their two daughters, Laniah and Tatum.

Tuesday, May 7

The Hon. G. Helen Whitener, Justice
Washington State Supreme Court
Justice G. Helen Whitener was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court in April 2020 and she was subsequently elected twice by the voters to retain her position on the State Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment to Washington State’s highest court, Justice Whitener served as a Pierce County Superior Court judge. Justice Whitener also served as a judge on the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and as a pro-tem judge in Pierce County District Court and the City of Tacoma Municipal Court. Before becoming a judge, Justice Whitener litigated both civil and criminal cases for 14 years as first a prosecutor and defense attorney and later as a managing partner of the law firm of Whitener Rainey Writt PS. Additionally, Justice Whitener is a judicial member of the International Association of Women Judges, the American Judges Association, Washington Women Lawyers and the Advisory Council for the QLaw Association of Washington. Justice Whitener is the first Black woman to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court, the fourth immigrant-born Justice and the first Black LGBT Supreme Court Justice in the nation and the State of Washington. Justice Whitener identifies as a person with a disability and speaks often to locally, nationally, and internationally organizations on human rights, and access to justice.