Building Inclusive Workplaces

7:30-8:30 Community Open House with Scones, Coffee and Tea (Open to the community:  no registration required.) Meet Dr. Jodi Vandenberg-Daves, the new Executive Director of the Council

 9:00-1:30 Annual Conference:  Beyond Cultural Competency:  Building Inclusive Workplaces (Registration has closed)
Cultural competence has helped individuals and organizations better serve customers, clients, and employees from diverse backgrounds.  But transforming workplaces to create genuine inclusivity and organizational effectiveness requires even bigger thinking.

  • How do institutional cultures reflect the norms and assumptions of dominant groups, and how can we change this to make our organizations more inclusive?
  • How does cultural humility help us become more aware of our own individual identities and privileges?
  • How can we harness this individual awareness into more effective teams and organizations?

In this interactive conference, participants will develop insights and strategies to help them improve communication, strengthen teams, and create more inclusive and effective organizations.

Featured Speakers:

Nizam Arain

Nizam Arain serves as the Director of Affirmative Action and Title IX Coordinator at UW–La Crosse. In that role, he oversees the university’s equal employment opportunity efforts and trains colleagues across all university divisions on inclusive hiring practices. He is also responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. also teaches a graduate-level course on higher education law at UW-L, and has previously taught courses in U.S. government, constitutional law, and the first amendment. Prior to working at UW–L, he was a practicing attorney in his home town of Chicago. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois.

Amanda Florence Goodenough

Amanda Florence Goodenough serves as the Assistant Director for UW-La Crosse’s Research and Resource Center for Campus Climate. Amanda convenes the university’s Hate Response Team, provides leadership for Awareness through Performance, and conducts various cross-cultural trainings. Amanda also co-advises the Intercultural Organization Promoting Awareness (IOPA) and previously taught an Educational Foundations course: Understanding Human Differences. Prior to working at UW–L, Amanda received her M.S.E. in College Student Development and Administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and her B.S. in Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Registration:

Registration for the Annual Conference is $85 for non-members, $65 for members. (Registration has closed)

The conference is sponsored by Gundersen Health System and is part of La Crosse Global Initiatives Week.

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Multi­cultural Resource Guide

This guide lists established and emerging resources that reflect and celebrate cultural diversity in our area.

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