The 2nd Annual ASPA Social Equity Diversity and Inclusion (SEDI) Workshop

Doing the Work: An Equity Minded Approach to Inclusion and Justice in Public Administration
 
Chinese Ballroom | Saturday, March 9, 2019| 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
 
This session is co-sponsored by COMPA, LGBTAA, SDSJ, SHHSA, SPALR, SNAPS and SWPA
 
PRESENTERS:
Brandi Blessett
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati
 
Tia Sherèe Gaynor
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati

Opening comments provided by ASPA President Jane Pisano.
 
This workshop offers participants foundational knowledge and key elements for the institutionalization of equity and inclusion in their work. Strategies will link to self-awareness, inter-personal interactions, and decision-making processes that lead to meaningful engagement with diverse constituents across and beyond the workplace.
 
During this session facilitators will work with attendees to explore issues of equity and inclusion. Participants will be asked to be introspective in order to closely examine how deeply held beliefs shape interactions, particularly in the workplace. Additionally, participants will engage in collaborative activities, using real world scenarios, to help contextualize workshop topics. Such activities will help attendees better understand the nuances associated with racism, sexism, homophobia, and other “isms” in order to develop awareness and meaningful engagement to strengthen equity and inclusion. Topics in this session include, but are not limited to:
  • exploring personal identities - privileged and disadvantaged
  • examining the impact of personal identity in the workplace
  • contextualizing how images & messages shape understanding/knowledge about people and place
  • recognizing the importance of intersectionality and
  • acknowledging the critical implications for inauthenticity
By the end of this workshop, attendees should be able to:
  • use self-reflection as a way to be conscious of and responsive to implicit and explicit biases
  • understand and be able to demonstrate how privileged and disadvantaged identities influence engagement with others
  • demonstrate understanding, respect, sensitivity, and empathy when interacting with differences in one’s own or others’ cultures
  • develop personal strategies that promote equity and inclusion in inter-personal interactions and decision-making processes

ASPA SEDI Planning committee:
Loretta Tillery, Karina Moreno and Kristie Lewis (COMPA)
Wally Swan and Staci Zavattaro (LGBTAA)
Hugo Renderos (SDSJ)
Hillary J. Knepper (SHHSA)
Sharon Mastracci (SPALR)
Rashmi Chordiya (SNAPS, SWPA) and Sean McCandless (SNAPS, SDSJ)
Michelle Evans, Meghna Sabharwal and Nicole Elias (SWPA)
 
Workshop conveners:
Rashmi Chordiya, Nicole Elias and Sean McCandless