Trauma-Informed Leadership: A Playbook for School PR Professionals and School Leaders
Date: 7/20/2026
Time: 3:45 - 4:45 PM
Room: Grand Salon 21 & 24 (Floor 1)
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.
LEADERSHIP–Leadership, strategic counseling, management, mentorship in communications and public schools
Handouts (if provided):
Session Description
Schools are facing unprecedented levels of stress with students, staff, and communities carrying heavier burdens than ever before. At the same time, school PR professionals and district leaders stand on the front lines of crisis communication, community trust-building, and organizational recovery. Yet many have never been formally trained in trauma-informed leadership, despite its direct influence on how schools respond to crises, communicate hard truths, support affected individuals, and rebuild trust.
Drawing from three decades of crisis leadership, including direct experience leading the crisis response teams and supporting hundreds of districts since, this session distills the essential principles of trauma-informed leadership and translates them into practical tools for school PR professionals and school leaders.
Participants will learn how trauma impacts communication, decision-making, behaviour, and community response, and how intentional leadership and messaging can reduce harm, strengthen trust, and accelerate recovery.
This is not a clinical training. It is a leadership session designed for the real world: high-stakes communication, exhausted staff, polarized communities, and emerging threats that demand clarity, compassion, and courage. Attendees will leave with strategies for communication, engagement, recovery planning, and organizational culture, all grounded in evidence, backed by lived experience, and aligned with today’s school realities.
Presenter(s)
Ricky J Kaufman APR
Executive Director of Community Relations & Emergency Management
Bloomington Public Schools
Rick serves as the Executive Director of Community Relations and Emergency Management for Bloomington Public Schools (Minnesota) and is the Principal/Chief Strategist of Kaufman & Associates, LLC. A nationally respected consultant, trainer, and crisis strategist, he brings more than three decades of experience in school safety, emergency management, behavioural threat assessment, and crisis communications.
On April 20, 1999, he was one of the first responders at Columbine High School, where he assisted with emergency triage and rescue before being appointed co-leader of the Columbine Crisis Response Team. That experience shaped the foundation of his lifelong promise and commitment to helping schools prepare, respond, and recover with clarity, compassion, and strength.
For nearly 30 years, Rick has partnered with hundreds of school systems, law enforcement agencies, and emergency management organizations across world. His counsel has supported communities navigating some of the most challenging crises, including Broward County Public Schools (Parkland, FL), San Bernardino City Unified School District, Sandy Hook Elementary School, the New York Education Commission, and New York City Schools. He has also advised the U.S. Department of Education, the FBI (Los Angeles), the Association of State Colleges & Universities, and the National School Boards Association. In 2005, he served as a FEMA Field Coordinator during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Rick authored The Complete Crisis Communication Management Manual for Schools and recently provided the closing address at the 2025 International Behavioural Analysis Conference, and keynoted on Trauma-Informed Leadership at the 2025 Country Education Partnership Conference, Melbourne, Australia. His leadership roles include directing school communications programs in three states, consulting for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and serving as president of both NSPRA and WSPRA.
His work has earned national recognition, including PRSA’s inaugural Public Relations Professional of the Year and Silver Anvil Award of Excellence, five NSPRA Gold Medallions, the NSPRA and WSPRA Presidents Award, and induction into the Wisconsin Dells High School Distinguished Achievement Hall of Fame. LinkedIn Profile
Trauma-Informed Leadership: A Playbook for School PR Professionals and School Leaders
Category
Skill Session - Live lecture, panel discussion or interactive session with time for Q&A. 60-minutes.