From DCto thenation
Five years of LEX leadership in Washington, D.C. showed what happens when lived experience leads. Now we train agencies, councils and communities everywhere to build with families, not for them.
We are not only helping; we are healing, building, leading, and becoming a pathway for others.
Dr. Bruce Purnell, lead trainer for LEX in DC
Dr. Bruce Purnell is a psychologist, author, community healer and the Founder and Executive Director of the Love More Movement. As facilitator, consultant, coach and thought partner to DC's Lived Experience Advisory Council, he has helped members turn lived experience into leadership, advocacy, outreach and systems change.
He has helped guide the 211 Street Team and LEX's weekly planning and professional-development sessions, and he authored the concept paper for the Keeping DC Families Together five-year celebration, prepared for the Child and Family Services Agency and the Council. Through all of it, LEX members remain the owners, voices and leaders of their own movement.
Systems transformation, through a lived-experience lens
The LEX training framework
Drawn from five years of practice with DC's Lived Experience Advisory Council.
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From the Nightmare to the Dream
The five-movement journey (Nightmare, Awakening, Cocoon, First Flight, Dream) as a shared story each member can place their own experience within.
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Ethical storytelling
Consent, choice, confidentiality and credit, so stories show gifts, joy and leadership, not trauma alone.
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Brave Space
Agreements that protect truth, dignity and the right to pass, pause or step away.
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Trusted messengers
The 211 Street Team model: outreach followed by a debrief that turns every outing into professional development.
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The First Flight
Leadership tiers that move members from advisory participant to legacy leader, coach and mentor, and co-architect.
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The Dream Lab
Facilitating the commitments, and the Dream Declaration, that carry a council into its next chapter.
Ethical storytelling and Brave Space
Your story, your call
Every member decides whether, when and how to share personal experience.
Expertise without exposure
Participation and recognition never depend on revealing painful details.
More than trauma
Stories include gifts, relationships, humor, joy, learning and leadership.
Agreed together
The team decides what may be photographed, recorded, published or shared.
Named and valued
Members are named, credited and compensated as appropriate for their contributions.
Room for everyone
Disability access, emotional support, grounding options, family needs and many ways to take part.
For everyone building with families
Lived experience councils
Members and Core Advisory Boards ready to move from voice to influence.
Child and family-serving agencies
Leaders and staff learning to center lived experience from the beginning.
Foundations and funders
Partners investing in lived-experience frameworks and systems change.
Community organizations
Resident leaders, faith communities and outreach teams.
Your road to a LEX of your own
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Step 1
Connect
Tell us about your agency, council or community and what you hope LEX can make possible.
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Step 2
Listen
Healing Huddles: listening sessions with the people closest to the work.
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Step 3
Co-design
Build the training around your people, your systems and your goals.
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Step 4
Train and take flight
Train your team and grow your own First Flight of lived-experience leaders.
Every community is different, so every engagement is shaped with you.
Bring LEX training to your community
Lived experience is expertise. Let's build the next LEX together.