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With Susan B. Wilson, Ph.D. Transforming Self and Organizations Using Diversity and Inclusion Skills and Strategies. The awareness of diversity and inclusion is growing. Yet people and organizations often lack the skills or strategies to make meaningful progress in inclusion. Led by Susan B. Wilson, UMKC’s Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, participants will learn individual and organizational strategies that make a difference.

Facilitated by Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, this breakout session will explore how the unconscious mind shapes our behavior, particularly how implicit biases affect every person and every organization, no matter how socially conscious or racially inclusive we consider ourselves. Participants will take bites out of the elephant in the room by learning how to confront bias constructively.

With Juan Rangel. “I’m not prejudiced” is something we often hear from individuals when confronted with tough issues like racism, cultural bias and the manifestation of different forms of oppression. Yet we know “Nobody is Born a Bigot” and there is no genetic string that makes somebody prejudice. So, how does oppression come to be? Did we learn something growing up? Who taught us stereotypes and derogatory words? And how were they reinforced? Within a broad framework of social oppression and liberation explore several disciplinary lenses through which dialogue about oppression can occur. Learn the conceptual framework upon which to base efforts to understand how systems of oppression are constructed and maintained. Participants will be able to challenge these systems in their personal and professional lives.

Facilitated by Artist Michael Toombs, founder of Storytellers Inc., and artistic director of the cities Teens in Transition program, as well as a facilitator of one of Jackson counties drug court rehabilitation programs for adults.

An exercise in collaborative, interaction and creativity. This breakout session will present to you an opportunity to examine a creative process design to break down barriers which usually present themselves in most groups. As a society we are frequently challenged with having to interact with groups of people we are constantly being told we should distrust, in this process we will participate in a model that has been proven to be most successful in classrooms, teacher development training, as well as in drug rehabilitation programs.