2019 Inclusion Collaborative Conference

Welcome: Dr. Mary Ann Dewan, Dr. Gary Waddell, Kathy Wahl

Keynote: Twenty-Five Years of Courageous Conversation: Learning, Teaching and Leadership for Racial Equity by Glenn Singleton

The United States’ half century failure to effectively educate and serve the majority of our student population in schools and society, point to a truth…Race Matters! As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has shared, “...race matters because of persistent racial inequality in society—inequality that cannot be ignored and that has produced stark socioeconomic disparities.” During the first 25 of those years I was raised, socialized and educated in school systems that embraced, then systematically abandoned this truth, to the detriment of all of our nation’s children, adults, communities and schools. For the last 25, I have dedicated my life to racial equity and transforming systems into racially conscious, socially just environments that nurture the spirit and infinite potential of all people, especially people of color, indigenous people and their established communities. Partnering for these 25 years with a broad range of organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, extensive experience, practice and research has rendered three compelling lessons about racial equity, identity politics and cultural transformation: 1) Race Matters. 2) Leadership Must Lead. 3) Courageous Conversation is Essential. From our beginnings with PreK-12 public and independent schools to the current expansion and engagement across the corporate, higher education, government and philanthropic sectors, I’ll share how these lessons inform the path to intentional, effective systemic transformation to create and sustain a culture and climate in which all people, especially those of traditionally marginalized Black, Brown and Indigenous descent, discover and produce through their most brilliant and empowered selves.