Leading From Where You Are:

Unraveling Privilege, Power and Difference for Organizational Change

A Conference for Cultural Competence & Health Equity Champions in Health Organizations

Agenda

Day 1: Thursday, October 7

Focus of the day: Increase our understanding of privilege, how it works, and how we experience it personally and at work

8:30am Welcome and Introductions

Drumming to open the day: Attitudinal Healing Connection

Overview of what to expect for the conference and the day (Allan Johnson and Shakti Butler)

9:15 Shakti Butler, Executive Director of World Trust and Producer / Director of "Mirrors of Privilege, Making Whiteness Visible"

Short video with pair and whole group discussion

10:15 Break

10:30 Keynote: Allan Johnson: Unraveling privilege, power and difference

One of the greatest barriers to ending racism, sexism, and other dimensions of privilege and oppression is that we are trapped in cultural ways of thinking that  turn conversations about privilege and oppression into occasions for dominant groups to feel guilty and defensive, and for non-dominant groups to feel  burdened and frustrated.  As a result, the conversations we need to have either happen badly or, more often, don't happen at all.  This presentation can help  overcome that barrier by providing an alternative way of thinking about issues of privilege. We will examine the ways that our blinders keep us from seeing our  own privilege and how that privilege harms others.

12:00pm Lunch (Garden Room)

Drumming transition from lunch back to the conference room

1:00 Shakti Butler: How can we build and nurture just, equitable and inclusive communities-  reflecting on our experiences of privilege in our lives and organizations

You are invited to spend time unwrapping, learning, healing and exploring what it means to effect possibilities for transforming the internal and external aspects  of racism and privilege. Privilege is connected to a complex system that is destructive at every level of our society.  As an entry point to this topic, we will spend  time building community together.  There will be an overview of the relationships within the system of racism that allow us to better understand the role privilege  plays within this context. We will view film clips from the film Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible, as well as clips from our current project - Cracking the  Codes: Race and Relationships in the 21st Century. We will probe both stories from the films, as well as your own experiences in your personal and work lives, in  order to distinguish and analyze racism and privilege at both their internal and external levels. We will look at how privilege operates within organizations, and  explore the impact of privilege in our work lives. There will be time to reflect, journal and have dialogue in pairs and small groups.

2:45 Movement break with Derique: Participatory Body Percussion

3:15 Dialogue and Q&A with Allan Johnson & Shakti Butler:

Our two presenters will contrast their unique personal and professional perspectives on privilege and model how to meaningfully engage in  these difficult and  essential conversations.

4:15 LeConte Dill: Spoken word arts event

5:00 Closing

Day 2: Friday, October 8

Focus of the day: Leading from where we are - Advocating for Change

8:30am Welcome and intentions for the day

Review of what happened Thursday

Introductions at tables

9:00 Tammy Johnson: Advocating for change where we work - new tools for leading with a racial  equity lens & a social justice framework

Presentation, small groups, large group conversation

The Race Debate

- A lively talk-show debate to illustrate how the racial dynamics of a particular issue can be either concealed or revealed.

- Explore how the race debate around a particular issue is part of a broader societal debate about the meaning and existence of racism.

What is Racial/Social Justice?

10:15 Break

10:30 Tammy Johnson:  Advocating for change where we work - new tools for leading with a racial  equity lens & a social justice framework (continued)

Framing Issues with a Race Lens:

- How a story can be framed in different ways

- Explore the concept of “leading with a racial equity lens”

Racial/Social Justice in Action:

- Examples of how the racial/social justice framework has been applied for use inside organizations.

11:45 Lunch (Garden Room)

12:45pm Taking what we learned back to the workplace

How people can lead from wherever they are in the organization to work for change: A panel discussion with Isms Collaborative members: Michael Huff, Mia  Luluquisen, Kitsy Schoen, Dawna Vann

1:30 Shakti Butler: Consciousness, Communication, and Change

Where has our consciousness shifted, what have learned over these past 2 days, and how do we think we can take this to action?

2:30 Movement Break: Dance with Novuyo Masakhane

3:00 Shakti Butler: How can we take what we learned back to our organizations

Guided imagery and small group activity

4:15 Closing arts activity with Heart of Drum

Heart of Drum will offer a safe space where participants will learn to leave isms and privilege at the door by taking part in a musical conversation of instruments.

5:00 Closing

Conference pages:

Conference Information | Speaker Bios | Resources | Travel | 2008 Conference | 2006 Conference