Hear Our Voices is a narrative-based group process designed to unearth critical consciousness through guided writing, shared storytelling, and structured dialogue. Participants are invited into guided writing prompts drawn from their lived experience in practice and open discussion to explore how the personal is connected to the collective. Through the workshops, librarians and social workers examine their unique and shared experiences working with the community and strengthen their network of support.

Dr. Leah Topek-Walker has been a social worker for 20 years. Leah began working in a community-based mental health clinic, and was privileged to work with individuals living with HIV/ AIDS, those  involved in the carceral and immigration systems, and people experiencing economic and social marginalization. She currently serves as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Stony Brook School of Social Welfare Practicum Department and supervises the library social work program. This program is committed to providing micro and mezzo interventions to address equity and access to care and to concurrently providing social work students with dynamic learning opportunities. It is the largest library internship program in the United States and reaches vulnerable communities across Long Island while offering internships to over 20 social students each year. Leah is dedicated to working on issues of liberation and social justice and creating systemic change to empower communities. Leah completed her DSW at the University of Buffalo  School of Social Work  in May 2025, and serves on the Long Island Legislative Committee for Our Unhoused Neighbors, Social Workers for Justice, and Patchogue-Medford Friends of the Library and is a member of the Association for Community Organization and Action and the Social Work Doctoral Scholars Institute.

Jessica Zambri is a second-year MSW candidate at Stony Brook University's School of Social Welfare, where she integrates clinical training, research, and creative practice to advance trauma-responsive and strengths-based care. She currently provides psychotherapy for individuals and groups navigating anxiety, depression, life transitions, perinatal mental health, and sexual well-being, and serves as a research assistant with the SUNY Research Foundation, supporting mixed-methods research, process evaluation, and implementation science to bridge direct practice with systems-level impact.
The founder of Intuitive Voicing®, Jessica brings over two decades of experience as a musician, mindfulness facilitator, and coach. She has released 12 albums, toured internationally, and collaborated with artists including Björk and Paul McCartney. A certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM) practitioner, she has trained through Berklee College of Music, Brown University, New York Insight Meditation Center, Breathe International, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Dedicated Practitioners Program.
Jessica's work sits at the intersection of the arts, mindfulness, and social change, helping individuals and communities reconnect with creativity and compassion, drawing on both unique and shared experiences to strengthen community and networks of support.

This public program is offered by the New York State Library and made possible by federal Library Service and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which enable the New York State Library to champion lifelong learning.