“I hope what we accomplish is starting to build an annual reflective action and learning event where scholarship, practice, and impact can be brought together.” – Professor Loretta Brady
MANCHESTER, NH – Located on the campus of Saint Anselm College, Requity Labs is “a dynamic research center and consultancy established to translate social equity research into practices that make organizations resilient and that result in equitable community impact.” The newest addition to their “Thrive Accelerator” programming is Repair and Renew, a two-day conference intended to cultivate an engaged community and creative arts-informed program to inspire equity work.
“Currently there are no intentionally designed academic, community, and industry-focused conferences, yet these are the places where diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) ‘work’ is being done, so it seemed like there was a need to create a space where that can begin happening within a community of scholars and practitioners who are engaging social equity and community resilience in their various work,” says Brady.
The conference focuses on the intersection of community, corporate, social and academic leaders, “sharing key lessons of exploring and implementing DEIB transformation.” Virtual Events will include a play reading on Thursday June 17 followed by day-long conference and workshop sessions Friday June 18 (see more below).
Keynote presenter, former Boston Chief Resilience Officer Dr. Atyia Martin, Founder and CEO of All ACES Inc., will inspire attendees to “explore DEIB transformation throughout companies, homes and communities”
“I would love to see this develop into an annual event that raises the scholarship, the effectiveness, and the science-based implementation of social equity and community resilience work in our region. One thing I can do to help that is create space within the academy for these kinds of sessions,” says Brady.
“Too often the practitioner and applied learning that draws from cognitive science, change management, and inclusion is not valued within academia, and yet that is where the work to understand what actually works is happening. And there, too, where the research work is happening isn’t always being informed by those who others see the work as being ‘for’ rather than ‘with’ (or it’s seen as service instead of as repair),” says Brady.
“What we can accomplish is providing a regular meeting for those who lead others, who engage DEIB work, or lead civic and community wellbeing work,” she adds. “I want those individuals to see this, learn with and support each other in the work of social transformation and social renewal that it seems our companies, our communities, and our systems need.”
Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Dr. S. Atyia Martin is the CEO and Founder ofAll Aces, Inc., an alternative to traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firms. Her personal mission is to unleash the invisible power that every person and organization has to intentionally act to disrupt oppression. Dr. Martin has over 20 years of experience applying the principles of racial equity and social justice during her career in resilience, emergency management, public health, and intelligence. Dr. Martin is published in scholarly journals and is the author ofWe Are the Question + the Answer: Break the Collective Habit of Racism + Build Resilience for Racial Equity in Ourselves and Our Organizations. Additionally, she is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Northeastern University’sGlobal Resilience Institute. Dr. Martin is a certified emergency manager with an Associate of Arts in Serbian Croatian from the Defense Language Institute (DLI), Bachelor of Science from Excelsior College, a Master of Homeland Security Leadership from the University of Connecticut, and a Doctorate of Law and Policy from Northeastern University. Dr. Martin and her husband were born and raised in Boston where they currently live. They have five children, two still at home.
Safety: Are You Working?
Community Chair: Jessica Cantin, Executive Director, YWCA
Jessica Cantin is Executive Director of the YWCA in Manchester, and has more than 23 years experience working on behalf of children and families in the state of NH. She also serves her community as part of the Manchester Rotary Club. Over the years she has served on multiple nonprofit boards, and she also is employed as an Adjunct Professor at Southern New Hampshire University.
Workshop: How Nonviolent is Your Social Action?
Shayla Betts, Longwood University
In response to the many catastrophes and conflicts experienced in the US, there has been a rise in civic engagement, protests, and public demonstrations, especially within the last year. When considering nonviolent strategic action, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. noted that one of the first principles of nonviolence is to be willing to endure violence without inflicting violence on another. However, personal stances on nonviolence vary as Gandhi has indicated that individuals have the right to defend themselves, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. considered hiring armed security, and scholars have noted that it is very rare that nonviolent strategic action alone is responsible for significant gains and outcomes. On the other hand, direct action campaigns that use nonviolent action are estimated to be twice as likely to succeed compared to campaigns that utilize violence. Therefore, with the rising number of direct strategic actions and the differing perspectives on violent and nonviolent intervention, it is important that those engaging in demonstrations and civic disobedience understand their personal stances on the principles of pacifism, nonviolence, and violent action. This participatory workshop will engage participants through the use of self-reflection, interactive activities, and discussions to reflect on personal beliefs and boundaries related to nonviolent strategic action. Participants will consider where they identify on the non-violent spectrum and how this may influence their work as scholars, leaders, advocates, healers, and artists.
Nancy Pearson (Mind The Gap, LLC)
Don’t Reach for Normal, Reach for Better: Reimagining Civic Engagement
Between conference programming, interstitial slides/videos will provide datapoints on our centuries-old system of public meetings and public comment. Attendees will learn how public meetings were created to reinforce existing power structures and preserve the control of land-owners which has had lasting repercussions on civic engagement.
The inequities of modern civic engagement will culminate in a group brainstorming session intended to disrupt the status quo and reimagine engagement interventions that work for everyone, not just the already connected.
Critical Making Session featuring work by Erin Allgood.
Founder of Allgood Strategies, Erin harnesses entrepreneurship as a vehicle for social change. Her clients include folks launching social enterprises, nonprofits looking to authentically communicate and carry out their missions, and businesses that want to align their values with their cultures, products, and/or services.
Requity Labs Repair and Renew Conference
June 17, 2021 1 p.m. – June 18, 2021 4 p.m.
Location Information
Virtual via Zoom. Registration required.
Contact Information
Additional Information
- June 17: On-demand playreading, “Recounting,” via Zoom with breaks
- June 18: Virtual live conference sessions 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
- Optional “critical making session” and closing – 2:30 – 4 p.m.
