Foundation

Overview

The Dismantling Systemic Racism: 2016 Conference on Race, Education & Success was held on May 16, 2016 at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. The conference was a collaboration between SERC and the SERC Foundation with co-sponsored by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the Greater New Haven Community Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, and CT Parent Power. The day was critically important to the cause of ensuring access to an equitable education for all of Connecticut’s students. Approximately 300 participants gathered in New Haven to hear from Glenn Singleton and more than 25 other speakers across 18 breakout sessions. Glenn Singleton, President and CEO of Pacific Education Group presented the morning keynote: A Courageous Conversation About Race™* and Its Impact on Achieving Equity in Schools. At lunch we heard from Carl Williams, JD, Attorney at ACLU of Massachusetts who presented: Criminal Justice and Systems of Social Control. Participants were able to choose the following breakout sessions:

    A.M. Concurrent Breakouts:

  1. Civil Rights and Equal Access to Educational Opportunity – Presenter: Cheryl A. Sharp, J.D.
  2. Student Voice for Equity: A Tool for Positive Change and Collaborative School Improvement - Presenter: Nicole M. Vitale
  3. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway: Talking about Race in the Classroom – Presenters: Joan Edwards and Michelle Pincince
  4. Culturally Responsive Approaches Along the Talent Development Continuum – Presenters: Kim Audet, Anne McKernan and Charlene Tate Nichols
  5. Implicit Bias: A Factor in the School-to-Prison Pipeline Reflected in the Intersection of Race and Juvenile Justice – Presenter: Leon Smith, J.D.
  6. They Made It! Now What? Supporting the Success of our African-American and Latino College Students – Presenter: Reginald Simmons, Ph.D.
  7. Using the Dual Capacity Building Framework to Engage Culturally Linguistically Diverse Families – Presenters: Judy Carson, Ph.D., and Nitza M. Diaz
  8. Healthcare Access and Educational Performance: The Frequently Ignored Connection and Its Impact – Presenters: Darcey Cobbs-Lomax and Collette Fearon
  9. Absent in the Classroom: Challenges, Concerns and Solutions for our Native American Students – Presenter: Beth Regan

    10. P.M. Concurrent Breakouts:

  10. “I Don’t See Color”: The Subtlety of Racism on College Campuses – Presenter: Enobong Hannah Branch
  11. Trump This!: Surfacing and Engaging Multiple Racial Perspectives – Presenters: Beth Brunet, Ivelise Velazquez and Janet N.Y. Zarchen
  12. A Facilitated Conversation with Connecticut’s State Board of Education Chair and Vice-Chair - Presenters: Theresa Hopkins-Staten, J.D. and Allan B. Taylor, J.D.
  13. Role of the Mentor for Young People in Mitigating the Effects of Racism – Presenter: Robert Felder
  14. Discipline and Disproportionality: Suspension and Expulsions in Connecticut - Know the Data - Presenters: Leigh Higgins, Ed.D. and Kim Traverso
  15. Proud to be Me! Racial Socialization: A Family Process to Promote Positive Self-Image - Presenter: Paquita Jarman-Smith
  16. Setting the Stage for Courageous Action: Where Do I Begin? – Presenter: Ingrid M. Canady
  17. Supporting the Black Liberation Movement / New Civil Rights Movement – Presenter: Carl Williams
  18. Everyday School Leaders, Leading Courageous Conversations About Race and Equity in Your Schools and Classrooms – Presenter: Glenn E. Singleton

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