Registration is now open for Clark College’s 2021 Northwest Regional Equity Conference. This year’s theme is “Sharing Strategies for Equity and Anti-Racist Practices.” 

The online, two-day conference aims to improve equitable, sustainable experiences and outcomes for historically under-represented students and employees of the higher education system through effective instruction and anti-racist supports. This year the conference will broaden its scope of topics beyond higher education.  

“We see racism playing out before our eyes, and conversations around anti-racism are as much needed right now as they have always been, but what is really needed is anti-racism in action,” said Rashida Willard, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Clark College. “We all benefit by sharing our experiences and learning from those who bring their expertise to these vital conversations.”  

This conference has been broadened to include governmental, non-profit, and corporate sectors. It is really geared toward individuals across the nation who would like to broaden their social justice knowledge or remove institutional barriers for historically underrepresented populations.  

Workshops include: 

• Bias and Discrimination in AI systems 
• A Call to Anti-Racism -Teaching Cultural Diversity to Health Care Students 
• Data Storytelling   
• Creating IMPACTful Mentoring Opportunities for BIPOC Students  
• Restorative Justice  
• Employee Engagement and Retention 
• Best Practices for Working with Incarcerated Students 
• Disability Justice 
• Building a Community of Collective Care  
• Making DEI Training Count: Overcoming Common Pitfalls 
• Creating Pathways for Native, Latinx and Afrocentric Education from High School through College 
• Equity in Student Conduct  

“We created the conference last year because we saw a need to elevate the discussion, seek out best practices, and take action,” said Willard. “These are the very issues we are working on at Clark College. We are working on becoming anti-racist – not just on paper, but in everything we do. We want to share these best practices with community. We are in a time of seismic change as our nation grapples with systemic racism, politics, the pandemic and the economy. The Northwest Regional Equity Conference provides a pathway forward for communities ready to take the next step.”  

For more information about NWREC: http://www.clark.edu/campus-life/student-support/diversity-and-equity/equity-conference/index.php. Those who need accommodation due to a disability can contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314, 360-991-0901 video phone. 

Keynote Speakers 

Talila “TL” Lewis is a community lawyer, educator, and organizer whose work highlights and addresses the nexus between race, class, disability and structural inequity. Recognized as a 2015 White House Champion of Change and one of Pacific Standard Magazine‘s Top 30 Thinkers Under 30, Lewis engineers and leads innovative and intersectional social justice efforts that illuminate and address grave injustices within education, medical, and legal systems that have gone unaddressed for generations. A recent graduate of American University Washington College of Law, Lewis has received awards from numerous universities, the American Bar Association, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, American Association for People with Disabilities, the Nation Institute, National Black Deaf Advocates, and EBONY Magazine, among others. Lewis is a 2018 Roddenberry Fellow and a 2018 Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity.  

Aaron Reader is a practitioner, poet, activist and educator, with extensive experience in diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. He has served higher education in a number of capacities over the last decade from teaching, social justice, education equity, and currently is the Vice President of Student Services at Highline College. In addition to his work in higher education he has a passion for poetry and spoken word. He has been identified as workshop leader, facilitator and speaker for colleges, summits and conferences. Reader has been recognized as a local spoken-word artist who has a powerful, emotional, real, and conscious style.  

Dr. Angel B. Pérez has worked for over two decades to realize his belief that diversity and academic excellence go hand-in-hand, and that every young person who aspires to higher education should have the opportunity to achieve. A recognized thought-leader on issues of equity and access in American education, Peréz is a tireless champion for under-represented communities and a creative advocate for reform. Named by a Forbes article in 2019 as the most influential voice in college admissions, Peréz strives to build an educational ecosystem that better represents today’s America.