Bookcafé
Welcome to the
Bookcafé
Our special place to get on the same page with solutions.
Inside The Bookcafé
Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.
100% Community
The book ensuring 10 vital services for surviving and thriving that guides the 100% New Mexico initiative.
Anna, Age Eight
The groundbreaking book’s impact on our families, schools and workforces.
Read and Lead
Organize a book club, an author’s talk or contact us.
Invite (to your table in the cafe)
Here we invite you to connect with your local lawmakers, stakeholder and action team member to discuss the books and the 100% New Mexico initiative.
Let’s Get Started
As avid readers, we must admit that we find it baffling that Amazon, the largest book retailer in the world, can deliver 33 million books to almost anyone on the planet yet we can’t find within the pages a strategy to solve our nation’s biggest challenges.
Well, up until now.
100% Community
The EYE’s bookshelves are showcasing a couple of important books instead of 33 million. The first is 100% Community: Ensuring 10 vital services for surviving and thriving by Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello, who are also the curators of the EYE. 100% Community is the first-of-its-kind blueprint for each of our nation’s 3000+ counties to devise their own plan for keep their residents safe from colliding crises.
While we face hundreds of public health, education and economic challenges, it turns out it only takes one (1) data-driven strategy to increase all the good stuff (accessible health care, empowering education, fully-resourced communities) and decrease all the bad stuff (drug misuse, adverse childhood experiences, family trauma, violence, health disparities, suicidal ideation, lack of job readiness, and benign neglect).
100% Community brings together expert’s insights focused on ten interrelated “surviving” and “thriving” sectors to create a blueprint for change agents to use. The book is currently guiding county-based initiatives in New Mexico, Kentucky and Arizona and is considered a strategic plan for strengthening rural health across the nation.
New Mexicans may explore, free of charge, the book 100% Community and the entire 100% series that focuses on each of the ten vital services for surviving and thriving.
“If the pandemic has taught us nothing we NEED a real PLAN, and it must be in the hands of those who are poised to take action. Talking about what we ‘should do’ isn’t moving the dial or making a difference. Thankfully, 100% Community is just that. It’s your plan, my plan, and if you’ll read and pass it on, it’s our plan.”
— Michelle Rathman, Curator of the 2020 National Rural Health Day and rural health advocate
“This book could not have been available at a more important time. With this pandemic, we are currently witnessing what occurs in societies when these services are not available at all or not operating at 100%. This book provides a vision for a better future.”
— Dubra Karnes Padilla, Bernalillo County-based activist and former UNM-Valencia instructor
“A must read for anyone interested in innovative ways to improve the health and well-being of our population and not afraid to think outside of the box!”
— Mark Ruben, NYC Intensive Care Nurse
“100% Community — WOW!! Simple, impactful, methodical, and “do-able” action steps to change our communities in less than 5 years. A must read. A must share!”
— Rosemary Condor, Owensboro, KY, CASA program
“100% community does a great job of outlining a roadmap for communities to work better at serving all within the community, especially those who are the weakest and most vulnerable… children.”
— Shawn Waked, MS, CFP ®, Financial services sector, Santa Fe, NM
Anna, Age Eight
The EYE bookcafe proudly presents the groundbreaking book k Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment by Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello. Anna, Age Eight is the first book to take readers on a journey from being trauma-informed and raising awareness of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to taking data-driven action across ten service sectors to address the root causes of trauma. Anna, Age Eight, “Chapter 7: Why your zip code should not determine your destiny” introduces readers to the urgent work of ensuring vital services to prevent ACEs, abuse, neglect, trauma and social adversity.
To showcase the power of words and readers, Anna, Age Eight became the catalyst for the development of the Anna, Age Eight Institute for the Data-Driven Prevention of Childhood Trauma in Santa Fe, New Mexico, part of New Mexico State University, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
“The book asks that we educate ourselves about this hidden epidemic of trauma and mobilize our cities and towns around evidence-based solutions. The book is a blueprint for creating family-friendly and trauma-free communities across the nation.”
— Pepper Schwartz, PhD, Author and Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington
“Quite simply, everyone who has a child or works with children in any capacity should read this book. All of us — parents, educators, physicians, those in all walks of social work and law enforcement.”
— Heather Race, former educator
“This book brought data to a place of relevance for social change. It was written in an easy to follow, plain-speak format which made the read not only informative, but very enjoyable and motivating.”
— Dr. Melissa Hardin, Program of Social Work, Eastern New Mexico University
“I love this book because it’s recommendations are actionable, at what ever level of public engagement you begin from.”
— Robin Swift, New Mexico Public Health expert
“I appreciate the genuine and authentic approach to creating a narrative for a very emotionally charged social and public health issues.”
— Xenia G Becher, MSW, Syracuse University
Available in English and Spanish
EYE: READ AND LEAD
Enjoy your reading and empowerment. The EYE bookcafe is dedicated to the sentiment that leaders are readers and the power of words should never be underestimated. Our 100% Community book clubs across our state is a testament to the power of books to inspire.
To organize a book club or an author’s talk, please contact us at annaageeight@nmsu.edu.
Authors
Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD
Dr. Courtney has a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Texas Christian University, where she studied at the Institute of Behavioral Research. Dr. Courtney worked with the State of New Mexico for eight years, first as the Juvenile Justice Epidemiologist, then as Bureau Chief of the Child Protective Services Research, Assessment and Data Bureau. An advocate for data-informed decision-making, Dr. Courtney championed and co-developed the New Mexico Data Leaders for Child Welfare program. She has worked in policy, research and has led community initiatives through her work at the Santa Fe Community Foundation and the New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership. She is also the co-author, with Dominic Cappello, of Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment, which served as a catalyst for the development of the Anna, Age Eight Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she serves as co-director. Dr. Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello wrote the follow-up book 100% Community to guide local leadership in every county in their work designing trauma-free and truly family-friendly cities and towns. Dr. Courtney serves as an advocate for strengthening continuous quality improvement in all family-serving organizations through the 100% New Mexico initiative and course – a data-driven, cross-sector and county-focused childhood trauma prevention strategy. She is the Co-Director of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, at New Mexico State University, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
INVITE YOUR COLLEAGUES TO THE BOOKCAFÉ
Take this moment to invite your team members, co-workers and elected representatives to meet with you, right now. Set up a video conference to screenshare the EYE and discuss your county’s initiative and various projects and, most importantly, opportunities for collaboration. Why not walk a neighbor through the EYE, pointing out projects you are interested in already engaged with? Share ideas and insights over a cup of joe or tea.
As noted cultural anthropologist and writer Dr. Margaret Mead once said…
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
