Positive Discipline Community Resources

10/15/2026

Join us in congratulating Stephanie Barron Lu for being awarded the Outstanding Recent Alum Award — through each crisis whether COVID, Fires, Floods or the attacks of this administration, her visionary collaborative leadership has found a way to be of service embodying the Positive Discipline principles of focusing on solutions, connection, mutual respect, curiosity and joy, in turn strengthening families across our beautiful diverse CA Central Coast.

Stephanie Barron Lu is a biliterate, multicultural, strong Latina woman warrior of Mexican, Guatemalan, and Chinese descent. She is a proud daughter of immigrants, an emerging leader, a young mother, and a first-generation college graduate. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz at the top of her class, Summa Cum Laude, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Lu is best known in the Santa Cruz community for her work as the executive director of local social justice nonprofit Positive Discipline Community Resources, serving the Central Coast by bringing trauma-informed, mutually respectful parent and adult education across sectors of communities. Before taking on this role, she served as an administrative assistant at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and co-led their research and Latinx engagement efforts with the Of/By/For All project, to identify barriers to access and participation of elite spaces. Barron Lu is passionate about using her God-given talents to serve her community and shine a light of hope, positivity, and possibility for her family, her partner of 17 years, and their 12-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.

The UCSC Alumni Association will host the Alumni Awards Celebration to honor this year's recipients on Friday, October 16 at 5:30-8:30 PM at the UCSC University Center. Tickets are $75 and support alumni programs. Event tickets include the award ceremony, an elegant small plates reception, open bar service, dessert selection, and complimentary parking.

Learn more about each of this year's esteemed recipients and the Alumni Awards Celebration event on the Alumni Awards website. https://alumni.ucsc.edu/events-programs/awards/

📸Image Description:
Portrait of Stephanie Barron Lu with text reading "Stephanie Barron Lu Kresge '18, Psychology" and "Outstanding Recent Alumni Award"

10/13/2026

10/11/2026

08/28/2026

You are invited to hear fascinating leadership voices! Learn about what inspires, teaches, and supports them!

On Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 6-8pm, the Friends of the Watsonville Public Library and the Watsonville Film Festival will co-host a public event entitled: Women’s Leadership: Advancing Equity for Women and Girls.

Women's Leadership Panel includes:

Alicia Martinez, Director of the Watsonville Public Library

Dr. Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah, Vice President of Cabrillo College Student Services

Consuelo Alba-Speyer, Executive Director of the Watsonville Film Festival,

Stephanie Barron Lu, Executive Director of Positive Discipline Community Resources,

Mireya Gomez-Contreras, Executive Director at Esperanza Community Farms. Celebrating the United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer, 2026

In light of current challenges to self-determination in reproductive health, work-life balance, legislative protections for sports, discrimination against women in the workforce under evolving DEI policies, and wavering guarantees to advocacy at both the local and state levels, panelists will speak about films, mentors, and books that impacted their leadership.

This panel will be a community starting point for building a shared vision, one that incorporates resistance and inspiration.

Great refreshments will be served. This panel will be a community starting point for building a shared vision, one that incorporates resistance and inspiration. We sincerely hope you can join as we build this important conversation. Hosted by the Watsonville Friends of the Library. Come hear our surprise poet at the Watsonville Library, 275 Main St, Watsonville

07/23/2026

07/23/2026

We're hiring! 📣

Join the team at Second Harvest Food Bank in Santa Cruz and become an integral part of our fight against hunger and ensuring our community remains nourished! 🥬

We are currently seeking:
- Chief of Staff (new opening!)
- Junior Accountant
- Agency Network Manager
- Community Health Worker (Community Health Worker Certification is required for this role!)

Explore these opportunities and more at www.thefoodbank.org/careers. 💡

07/18/2026

This quote was circulated online recently and it gave me pause.

I spend several days each week observing therapy sessions and classrooms.

On Thursday, a little boy (on the spectrum) walked up to me…looking for a hug.

I crouched down to talk to him first, and before I could hug him, he hit me in the head several times.

From his body language, it appeared that perhaps I hadn’t responded to his request quickly enough.

Does his disability make hitting ok?
Obviously not.

But his disability absolutely EXPLAINS why it happened.

This wasn’t a calculated violent act.

I could get into a lengthy explanation about what it ACTUALLY was

…how he may lack skills in communication, impulse control, or perspective taking…but if you live in the world of autism, you’re probably familiar with this.

His staff redirected him, and then he moved on with his day.
There wasn’t a punishment.

Not because anyone believes hitting is okay, but rather, because the intervention matched his developmental and cognitive abilities.

If this had been a neurotypical child, the response likely would have looked different.

There’s a difference between an “excuse” and an explanation.

An excuse says behavior doesn’t matter.

An explanation tells us why the behavior happened so we can respond in a constructive way.

People with profound disabilities should absolutely be taught to control their impulses.

But we can’t expect someone to demonstrate skills their brain has not yet developed.

What’s worse…when a disabled child grows into an adult body, the world expects adult judgment, adult impulse control, and adult emotional regulation…
even when their cognitive and developmental abilities haven’t changed at the same pace.

Sometimes disability is the reason the behavior exists in the first place….

AND, recognizing that doesn’t remove expectations, it helps us set the RIGHT expectations.