DAY 1
Oops …. What Do I Do NOW? Fostering a Culture of Respect and Inclusion
Is “You have GOT to be kidding me!” one of the first thoughts that comes to mind when you hear inappropriate or offensive comments? Rude behaviors, derogatory language, and divisive unprofessionalism often leaves people feeling speechless, uncomfortable, and unsure of what to do next. Unaddressed and unresolved diversity-related issues and conflicts produce a stressful, unsafe, and unproductive work environment. This presentation will teach volunteer engagement leaders how to appropriately and competently address diversity-related issues in a professional and confident manner. When co-workers learn how to coexist respectfully and diplomatically with one another workplace morale and motivation increases exponentially.
Presenter: Jermaine Davis
DAY 2
What Microagressions and Allyship Look Like in the Volunteer Engagement Sector
Intent and impact are often inconsistent. Sometimes what you mean to say can actually harm or offend a person, reveal your biases (conscious or not) and perpetuate harmful stereotypes when this is not what you intended at all. During this panel discussion, you will hear from your volunteer engagement peers as they share their experiences of being on the receiving end of microaggressions and racism within the volunteer engagement community. This session is intended to shed light on these experiences with the hopes of creating compassion, disrupting patterns of thought and moving forward together for a stronger, more inclusive profession.
Moderator: Faiza Venzant
Panel: Tonya Draughn, Hope Lockett, Kia Xiong
DAY 3
Beyond Diversity and Inclusion: Building Anti-Racism within your Volunteerism Programming
In this session, participants will be introduced to to anti-racism and how it differs and extends beyond the practices of a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy as it relates to volunteer engagement. You will be walked through understanding and identifying the inherent racial biases that may exist within your own institutions and potential actions you can take to uproot those practices from volunteer engagement mechanisms that support your programmatic operations. Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss and explore how you can continue to be an advocate for communities of color in your volunteer engagement role.
Presenter: Jerome Tennille