MAX Academy on Walking in Their Shoes, Presented by Google
About this Event
What if you could experience the barriers your customers face – not just hear about them?
Walking in Their Shoes: A Poverty Simulation Experience immerses participants in the daily challenges faced by families with lower incomes. By assuming the role of a struggling individual or family, participants navigate real-world scenarios involving housing, employment, healthcare, childcare, and public assistance.
This MAX Academy – Presented by Google and Powered by Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Social Work, Professional Excellence Program – will help customer-facing workforce professionals experience how quickly everyday challenges can become overwhelming – and how systems, policies, transportation, childcare, housing, healthcare, and unexpected crises can affect a person’s ability to pursue work and achieve economic mobility.
This is more than an empathy exercise. It’s a opportunity to reflect on how we serve customers, recognize the strengths people bring to challenging circumstances, and consider how our own interactions can either create barriers or help people move forward.
This training will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at a venue to be determined soon.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Through this MAX Academy, participants will gain the following:
- Deep Real-World Insight: Gain a firsthand perspective on the complex financial, emotional, and social realities of living in poverty.
- Clarity on Systemic Barriers: Uncover the hidden bureaucratic and structural obstacles that make escaping poverty so challenging.
- Empathy in Decision-Making: Understand how acute financial stress impacts daily choices, priorities, and long-term planning.
- Actionable Support Strategies: Leave with practical, trauma-informed, solution-based frameworks to better support individuals and families.
Come join us for a time of professional growth, networking, and fellowship!
CREDENTIALED TRAINING
This MAX Academy has been approved by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) as training counting toward continuing education hours (CEUs) for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs). Special thanks to Goodwill of North Georgia for serving as the sponsor with the CRCC for the MAX Academy.
Both the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP) and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) recognize training programs held through the MAX Academy as relevant training hours for their certification programs. Hours spent attending MAX Academy workshops can count as training hours for earning a Certified Workforce Professional (CWP) credential from IAWP and also as professional development (continuing education) hours for CWP recertification. For NAWDP’s Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP), NAWDP will accept MAX Academy training hours toward the professional development hours required for CWDP recertification.
REGISTRATION
Join us for a day of learning and networking! The registration fee for this training is $25.00 for MAX members and $50.00 for non-members.
Because we recognize the value of having multiple team members from the same organization participate so concepts and practices may be discussed and reinforced, discounts are available when multiple staff from the same agency register for the workshop as follows:
Thanks to a presenting sponsorship from Google, this training is discounted for MAX Members.
MAX Members: $25.00 for the first registration and $20.00 for each additional registration from the same organization.
Non-Members: $50.00 per registration.
ABOUT THE MAX ACADEMY
Launched in 2014, the mission of MAX is to advance economic resilience in the Atlanta region by strengthening connections, collaborations, and practices among workforce developers and organizations engaged in workforce development. One impactful way we do this is through the MAX Academy.
The MAX Academy offers professional development and capacity building training workshops to help workforce development professionals develop new skills, learn best practices, and engage in peer-to-peer learning.
Visit to learn more.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 20.00 to USD 50.00
