Do you share our vision of the Greater La Crosse Area as an inclusive and welcoming place to live, work, access opportunities, contribute and belong?
Are you an employer trying to attract and retain a diverse workforce to strengthen the work of your organization?
As we begin our 2017 Member Drive, now is your opportunity to contribute to our work of strengthening the workplaces and communities of our area by promoting and cultivating diversity, access, inclusion and equity. Please join us as an organizational or an individual member, and help us advance our work for 2017, including:
- Quality Lunch and Learn programs
- Annual half-day conference
- New Community Calendar hub to inform the community about educational opportunities related to diversity, inclusion, and equity.
- Development of a Speakers’ Bureau to facilitate the sharing of expertise with employers and community organization
- Continued development of online resources, such as the La Crosse Area Multicultural Resource Guide
- Continuation of our Internship program
Benefits to Members:
- All employees of member organizations receive discounts to our educational programs: quality professional development at Lunch and Learn, annual conference, and informal networking events
- Show your employees and applicants your commitment to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace
- Set an example for broader regional commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and equitable workplaces: member organizations are listed on our website
- Network with fellow diversity and inclusivity advocates in the area
- Show your support by listing your membership on promotional materials
With your involvement, we can continue to offer quality programs, increase the visibility of diversity and inclusion initiatives in our area, and reach an ever-broader audience. Working together, we can address a critical need for employers to connect with and support a diverse workforce, and we can enrich our area’s civic and community life by fostering a vibrant, diverse, inclusive community.
Where do employers go to keep up on the ever-changing world of sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, and intersecting identities? Come learn from Will Van Roosenbeek, Director of the Pride Center at UW-La Crosse, in a session focusing on identities, terminology, and discuss how to create work environments that are welcoming to all.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender people have always been in the workplace. Many of these people, in the past, did not talk about their personal lives, and when they did they were careful what pronouns they used to keep their relationships silent. With more LGBTQ+ people speaking their truths about their lives, there are greater opportunities for people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions to be themselves in the workplace. Employers that welcome people with a diverse range of gender identities/expressions and sexual orientations, who educate themselves and their staff, can better attract and retain talent. Those places of employment will create inclusive environments, will be more productive, and will attract people who are looking for diverse businesses. Learn how your workplace can be part of this positive trend.
Employees of member organizations of the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council receive discounted registration fees.
Black History Month offers the opportunity to educate ourselves of the history of African Americans, as well as to recognize and celebrate the achievements and successes of black Americans in the history of our country and within our communities. Here are a few opportunities to learn and engage:
Rosa Parks Visting a School (Library of Congress)
Giordano Dance Chicago Performance, Feb. 9th, 7:30pm, Viterbo University, Fine Arts Center Main Theater.
Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC), America’s original jazz dance company, lights up the stage with its signature power, elegance, athleticism, and unparalleled energy
“13th” Movie Showing and Discussion, Feb 13th, 7:00pm, Winona State University, 120 Science Laboratory Center. “13th” is a Netflix documentary that takes an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality.
Feb. 15 La Crosse Reads 1: an evening with poet, memoirist, and Yale Law School grad R. Dwayne Betts. (Learn more about Betts here.)
The poet will be signing books immediately prior to his event at 6 p.m. in UWL’s New Student Union bookstore (first floor). His keynote talk will take place at 7 p.m. in the Theatre (lower level rm. 0120). Seating is limited. Overflow space will be available on the ground floor of Wimberly Hall (immediately adjacent to the U).
Langston Hughes’ Project – Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz – Featuring the Ron McCurdy Quartet, Feb 22nd, 7:00pm, Winona State University, Location TBD.The Langston Hughes Project is a multimedia concert performance of Langston Hughes’s kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite. Ask Your Mama is Hughes’s homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad at the beginning of the 1960s.
“With exclusion and inequality on the rise, we must step up efforts to ensure that all people, without discrimination, are able to access opportunities to improve their lives and those of others.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
UW-La Crosse has organized an exciting three days of events on the theme of Identity Matters.
Visit the calendar for a complete listing of engaging events that celebrate creativity, diversity, and awareness around issues of race, gender, culture, disability, and more. All events are free and open to the public, and the Identity Matters Exhibit is open during gallery hours at the Main Gallery-Center for the Arts. Here is just a small sampling of the learning opportunities:
The Over-Consumption of Native American Imagery and the Ongoing Results, Daniel Green, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Hall of Nations, Centennial Hall, Feb. 27 Dan Green’s research explores the misinformation, lies, stereotypes and myths about Native Americans.
Ridiculously Small Pockets, or The Challenges Women Face in a Stereotypically Male Work Environment, Megan Morey, Nabamita Dutta, Adrienne Loh, 3:00 – 3:55 p.m., Feb. 27 Hall of Nations, Centennial Hall Panel discussion on perceived and real identities of women working in male-dominated careers.
Disability & Diversity 4:00 – 5:15 p.m., Tues. Feb. 28, Hall of Nations, Centennial Hall This session will explore definitions, myths, and truths about persons with disabilities, and how diversity enters into the picture.