We are delighted to enrich the work of the Diversity Council with the work and ideas of two young people who have a passion for diversity and inclusion, our first intern, Morgan Kolinski, and Kassie Dorman, who reached out, after attending our annual conference, to ask if she could volunteer her time for the Council.
Morgan Kolinski is from Eagle River, Wisconsin, and will be graduating from UW-L in May with a major in Organizational and Professional Communication Studies, and a minor in Women’s Studies. Throughout college, Morgan has taken advantage of opportunities to develop her awareness of diversity, attending the White Privilege Conference, getting trained as an LGBTQ ally, as well as serving as a student ambassador to Essential Health Clinic. Over the last year, she researched employee experiences with diversity initiatives in organizations for her Communication Studies capstone. Morgan says she hopes “to contribute to creating holistic and sustainably inclusive cultures within organizations by providing education and evaluating structures during my career. This internship is an amazing opportunity and I am humbled to be working alongside such amazing members of our community!” Morgan’s internship this semester will focus on Communication and Outreach.
Kassie Dorman will work with Morgan on Communication and Outreach as a volunteer. She recently graduated from UW-L with a Communications Major and a minor in Ethnic and Racial Studies. Her first experience with the Council was during the Annual Conference this past November. She was thrilled to see so many of La Crosse’s organizations and companies concerned about equality in the workplace. “One of the resounding takeaways for me was to be continuously conscious of different perspectives as well the power of social norms and the difficulty in altering these norms. There is a lot of important work to be done in terms of workplace equality. Volunteering with the Diversity Council is not just what I can do to help the organization but also how the members of the organization can help me in my journey to continue learning about social structures, different identities and understanding how the world works. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this organization and its mission! “