Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Registration OPEN!

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We have an exciting day planned! For full details, see our Online Conference Guide! You can open this link during the conference and read all about our presenters and abstracts of their topics. We are just days away!

Registration is open! Cost is $115 per person.

Keep Checking back for the latest updates!!!

Volunteers needed! Join us and help out during the conference. The energy and enthusiasm is contagious! The topics are current and our speakers are dynamic!

Opening Remarks:

A special thanks to Leslie Laing for serving as our Master of Ceremonies - we are in good hands!

Our key note speaker is Michael Wade Smith, Senior Vice President/Chief of Staff, Office of President, The Pennsylvania State University. He will be presenting Doing the Work: Understanding and Integrating DEI into your Personal Leadership Practice

Government Resources and Initiatives:

  • Racial Equity Advisory Commission [REAC]: Judge Donald M. Hahn, Magisterial District Court 49-1-01

  • Betsy Whitman, Township Supervisor, Patton Township; Get a Seat at the Table:  Why and How to be a Part of Local Government

  • Lori McGarry & Virginia Squier, Co-Cordinators, Centre Region Anti-Bias Coalition: Building Toward Belonging: Developing a DEIB Community of Practice for Municipal Leaders

  • Panel on Restorative Justice in Centre County: Don Hahn, District Judge; Elizabeth Siegelman, Program Coordinator for Community Conferencing; Irvin Moore, Community Liaison for Restorative Justice Initiative at PSU; with Alix Croswell as moderator

Community Health and Safety

  • Morgan Wasikonis, Executive Director, Housing Transitions/The HOME Foundation & Colleen Ritter, Executive Director, State College Community Land Trust: Building an Equitable Future through Housing

  • Dr. Carline Crevecoer, MD. FACOG leads a panel talk about Black Maternal Mortality (Dr. Abike James, MD, MPH; and SeriaShia Chatters, PhD)

  • Sonya Wilmoth, Director, Center fo Sexual and Gender Diversity, PSU: Understanding Transgender and Gender Diverse Identities - Support and Advocacy

Our Whole Selves in our Community and Workspaces

  • Katie Marshall, Senior DEIB Specialist, Office of Inclusion, Equity & Diversity, Outreach & Online Education, PSU & Baron Rogers, Penn State Psychologist, Coordinator of Black and African American Student Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, PSU: an in-depth two-session workshop presentation regarding Work Culture: Practices in Development Inclusive Culture

  • Nalini Krishnankutty, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program Manager, Human Resources Office, PSU; Christy Helms: BUILD [Broadening Understanding and Inclusion through Learning and Dialogue] @ Penn State - Lessons Learned from this Multi-Year, University-Wide, Voluntary Learning Initiative

  • Jamie Campbell, Associate Dean, Penn State Smeal College of Business:
    The Business Case for Diversity in a Time of Opposition

  • Sophie Penney; Naana Nti, Vice Chair, Community Diversity Group and Diversity & Inclusion Chair, AAUW State College; and Sandra del Pilar, Communications Manager, Office of the Bursar, Penn State University: Racial Day of Healing - State College

  • Terry Watson, Founder, Strategies for Justice, BWMP LLC will lead a workshop spanning two sessions: “THE QUESTIONS WE KEEP ASKING:” What leads to harm and what leads to healing when discussing race during times of division?

  • Leslie Laing, Director Adult Learner Programs and Founder of Spheres of Influence & Marvin Worthy, President and CEO of Worthy Consulting & Training: Reimagining Discomfort

Empowerment and Advocacy:

  • Kate Rawson, Assistant Director, Penn State Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity: Allyship and Advocacy for the LGBTQ+ Community 

  • Dale Verchick, PABSS [Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security] Coordinator & Jeneé Oliver, Staff Attorney, both of Disability Rights Pennsylvania: Real Work in the Real World

  • Jason Browne, Keynote Speaker, Author, Social Media Consultant: Possibilities of Privilege

  • Nalini Krishnankutty, PhD: Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program Manager, Penn State Human Resources, The Pennsylvania State University, Member, PanAPIDA Circle: PanAPIDA Circle: Creating Community in Centre County

  • Sophie Penny, President, SW Coaching and Consulting, Sandra Gonzalez De Del Pilar, Communications Manager, Office of the Bursar, The Pennsylvania State University, Member of the State College Borough Racial Equity Advisory Commission, & Naana Nti, PhD, Vice Chair, Community Diversity Group and Diversity & Inclusion Chair, AAUW State College: National Racial Day of Healing

Closing session:

  • Chris Ortiz, Associate Director, Shaver’s Creek