Civil dialogue involves creating a safe place for participants to assemble to discuss a challenging issue. The process of dialogue typically involves some level of facilitation, agreement to a set of guidelines, and has a central focus on increasing understanding among participants on the topic. Civil dialogue will always seek to foster listening and understanding. This particular framework focuses the dialogue efforts on race relations.
Micro-inequities fall between the cracks of what is considered traditional discrimination because they don’t fit neatly into a legal framework. They are subtle forms of discrimination-where a person is singled out, overlooked, ignored, or discounted due to their membership in a particular group.
We were thrilled to have Dr. Kevin McDonald, the vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion from the University of Virginia as the Keynote for our virtual Annual Conference this year. Dr. McDonald gave an inspirational message on Inclusive Excellence. Enjoy the video again that he shared with us: To Speak Up for Inclusion, we need to speak about inclusion.
Professional Development is offering a one day workshop for Extension and Outreach staff, faculty and council members, “Coming Together for Racial Understanding,” based on the national initiative developed by the Cooperative Extension Service Rapid Response Team.
According to Kim Roth Howe from CoCreative Labs and Eva Jo Meyers with Spark Decks, as facilitators, educators, and leaders in we may find ourselves hearing comments that we know are inappropriate and harmful, but lack the ability to think quickly enough on our feet to respond in the most powerful ways possible.
The events of the past few weeks have ushered in a deep sense of uncertainty. In the face of these fears, fostering a sense of safety and belonging starts with supporting each other. A great way to promote inclusion and support from afar is virtual team building!
