Seen, heard and understood: peer support was the center of the 2026 Duvall Conference

• Andrea Knies
• April 3, 2026
• Campus News, Events

When Dane Minnick assumed the role as the Evelyn Duvall endowed chair of family and community health in 2022, he found inspiration by reading letters that Evelyn Duvall wrote. Duvall conducted groundbreaking research during the 1950s and 1960s in the field of family development and her generous donation in 1986 formed the endowed chair position. Minnick shared that it felt surreal to read letters from almost 70 years ago that seemed to be written to him.

The Duvall chair facilitates two primary initiatives: the Duvall National Scholarship Program and the Sarasota-Manatee Duvall Initiative, which focuses on local efforts to enhance family and community health in the region. As part of the Duvall Initiative, Minnick convenes the Duvall Conference, a partnership that unites scholars, practitioners and community leaders to address local community health challenges.

Throughout his first two years as chair, Minnick listened to the community and identified peer support as a timely topic of interest for the 2026 conference. He then began a search for a dynamic keynote speaker. When he found Beth Walters' TedX video from 2022, he knew his search was over. Not only is Walters a passionate presenter, researcher and practitioner, she also happens to be based in Sarasota.

The topic sparked interest in the community and over 200 people attended the daylong conference. Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker welcomed attendees to the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus on April 1, 2026. "This year's theme," said Kemker, "Peers at the Center: Building a Modern Behavioral Health Workforce, speaks to both urgency and opportunity. Our communities face workforce shortages, rising demand and the need for systems grounded in lived experience. Today is about moving from conversation to action."

The event kicked off with keynote speaker Beth Walters, the director of training for the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) for Sarasota and Manatee counties. Early in her presentation, Walters shared an image of the actual job description that changed her life. In it, lived experience was listed as a preferred qualification. For Walters, this was the first time that she saw her mental health experiences being valued rather than feeling like it was something that she had to hide. This position began a dedicated journey for Walters to understand, advance and promote the field of peer support.

Walters described peer support as, "people with shared lived experiences connecting with each other." She continued by explaining that peers aren't trying to change or fix a person, instead, they are empowering people to make their own decisions. Walters believes that social change is required to shift the perspective of a person in power making decisions for someone else's life, to honoring that every person is the expert on themselves.

As peer support gains momentum within the practices of mental and community health, there are still hurdles to overcome. To discuss these issues, Minnick gathered a community health forum featuring local elected officials, public health and safety experts and community members with lived experience. The panelists came from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, however, they all agreed on the value of peer support.

Even with the positive impact of this approach, there were several items that the panelists identified that need attention, including:

• formalization of the peer role to increase pay and reduce role drift,
• continued research to provide more data,
• identification of new funding sources,
• and, more training and education.

During this discussion, moderator and Duvall Initiative Fellow Nathan Scott shared that a toolkit is being developed to help guide organizations through some of these challenges to institute a successful peer support program.

As the day continued, a learning lunch allowed participants to attend short trainings, view a recovery art showcase and talk to students about their research. Lunch was followed with the celebration of the annual Duvall Community Impact Awards that recognize outstanding contributions to the health and well-being of communities in the region.

The conference ended with new data shared by the Florida Center for Behavioral Health Workforce, a USF initiative that works to grow, retain and innovate Florida's behavioral health workforce through research, education, policy and collaboration. The research focused on the growth and retention of peers in the recovery process. The findings suggest that even though peer programs increase positive outcomes, professional recognition and integration are challenges to the role. However, even with these challenges, peers tend to be committed to the role and dedicated to working through those obstacles.

The success of the Duvall Conference is a testament to the vision and focus of Minnick and the incredible community of support of the Sarasota Manatee region.

Guided by Duvall's letters, Minnick worked with university leaders to articulate the four pillars of the Duvall Institute:

1. Advancing family and community health research,
2. Fostering meaningful community engagement,
3. Facilitating the transition of research into practice, and
4. Strengthening human service capacities in the Sarasota-Manatee region

Guided by these principles, the Duvall Institute has recently launched the Duvall Journal of Family and Community Health, has applied for over four million dollars in federal grant funding and has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement.

These accomplishments were not achieved in a vacuum; they are the result of an engaged collaborative of over 100 local representatives who continue to show what is possible when universities and communities are aligned around shared goals.

Learn more about the Duvall Initiative