Academic freedom, free expression, and inclusion are often held in opposition to one another. This session will dive into PEN America’s philosophy that, when leveraged wisely, these values can actually create a taut web of support for a thriving, diverse, and engaged campus community.

This session is designed for procurement professionals, diversity and inclusion practitioners, corporate leaders, and stakeholders interested in leveraging supplier diversity to drive organizational excellence and economic empowerment. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and practical insights, participants will leave with knowledge about supplier diversity and inclusive procurement, actionable strategies to enhance or establish supplier diversity programs, and concrete ways to contribute to a more inclusive economy.

The University of Rochester’s Equity and Anti-Racism Action Plan (EARAP) emphasizes building an anti-racism infrastructure to promote equity and inclusion across its medical center’s education, research, and clinical missions. This proposal aims to advance these initiatives within nursing practice through a facilitated discussion session at the 2024 Boundless Together Conference. The facilitated discussion will include interactive components using “Theatre of the Oppressed (T.H.E.)” tools. This approach will enable participants to analyze and address biases in a dynamic and engaging manner. The session will cover best practices for dealing with micro-aggressions and discrimination, equipping attendees with practical skills to support their colleagues and maintain positive patient relations.

This is a presentation of basic models of burnout and how they can be used as a lens to recognize and prepare for risks and opportunities in academic and professional settings. Concepts will be presented with explicit attention to how they relate to increasing representation, advancement, and retention in the workplace. Maslach’s Burnout Inventory, Taleb’s resiliency/anti-fragility theory, and Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory will be presented in a format that is accessible to a broad audience with novel metaphors of “Balloons, Ballast, and Boundaries”. Concepts will be presented with explicit attention to how they relate to increasing representation, advancement, and retention in the workplace.

This session aims to showcase an example of successfully integrating community learning and collaboration opportunities into a curriculum through a pilot simulation designed to increase OBGYN resident awareness of community resources by employing interactive, patient-centered scenarios to facilitate resident engagement with community organizations. We will not only review how the initiative was successfully implemented in our program but also create an open forum to inspire other educators. Attendees will be encouraged to think of ways to incorporate similar community learning and collaboration opportunities into their own programs. The forum will discuss the challenges and benefits of including such sessions in the curriculum, explore other ways to foster collaboration, and share experiences from those who have implemented similar initiatives.

Language barriers and a lack of culturally appropriate healthcare services hinder Latino communities access to essential resources, exacerbating health disparities. In Monroe County, where Spanish is the most spoken language after English, these barriers further limit access to vital community services. A shortage of culturally and linguistically appropriate measures, interventions, and Latino healthcare providers and researchers further compounds this issue. Addressing these inequities is crucial to improving health outcomes and reducing disparities and premature mortality.

This session will discuss best practices for assessing patients’ preferred languages, including consideration for Spanish dialects, emphasizing equitable language use, and addressing the stigma faced by non-English speakers. We will explore the importance of health literacy, considering the reading level changes that can occur in translated materials, and provide tools for assessing these materials. Additionally, we will examine the risk associated with the use of child interpreters, best practices for collaborating with interpreter services, and strategies for exercising cultural humility.

Fostering an inclusive atmosphere for diverse populations, whether in the medical school classroom, clinical wards, medical team meetings, waiting rooms, or patient encounters, starts with setting a safe, welcoming environment! This environment should be free of harmful behaviors or attitudes. One such negative behavior is microaggression. The disabled community, much like other marginalized communities, is also subject to microaggressions, and these are especially problematic in the medical setting. This session will introduce ableist microaggressions as a concept and provide examples. We also hope to equip you with some tools to create and contribute to an anti-ableist environment. Through this session, we hope to help participants recognize ableist microaggressions in hopes of helping prevent the perpetuation of any biases that may lead to such behaviors and promoting allyship. This session includes reflection and discussion sections, as well as a “spot-the-problem” series.

Fear of conflict is widespread. Many of us get quiet or avoid necessary conversations. This can be true in groups of like minded colleagues, and truer still given power dynamics. Resentment and reduced transparency generate judgments and contempt as fixed narratives replace authentic relationship. In this session, we will explore the possibilities of conflict without contempt, as something each of us can learn to do, and learn to stand for.

Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These determinants, including factors such as socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood, and access to healthcare, significantly impact health outcomes. In Rochester, NY, there is a 10-year difference in the mortality rate between zip codes in the city’s west side versus the wealthiest suburb.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Health Care Disparities (HCD) are “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.” The CDC also mentions systemic racism as a root cause of HCDs and has recently released numerous resources dedicated to roles and actions taken to combat racism as a public threat.

Inequitable access to safe anesthesia practices and analgesics such as pain medications, are two factors in disparate patient outcomes for five billion people worldwide. (Wollner et al, 2020) Due to their SDoH, these patients are less likely to receive epidurals during labor and are less likely to receive regional anesthesia. Additionally, these same patients are less likely to receive medical treatment from subspecialty specific anesthesiologists. Wollner et al (2020) quote former World Bank President Jim Kim in stating that these inequities, “represent a grave injustice and jeopardize peoples’ human right to healthcare and their ability to live ‘healthier, more productive lives.’”

Healthcare professionals’ discrimination and stigmatization of marginalized populations suffering from chronic pain have resulted in a lack of trust in the healthcare system among patients and the delegitimization of pain experienced by these patients. One suggested solution is Equity Oriented Care. This includes educating health care providers on the topics of cultural safety, including institutional racism, personal biases, harm reduction, and the effects of trauma and violence on their patient population.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) initiatives aim to reduce HCD by ensuring that all individuals have equitable access to healthcare services and opportunities for health, regardless of their background. By addressing systemic biases and fostering inclusive environments, JEDI efforts help to mitigate the negative effects of SDoH on marginalized populations, ultimately promoting a more just and effective healthcare system.

As educators in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, our curriculum aims to introduce these concepts to the residents in a manner which encourages discussion and relates to real patients in an effort to change their practice.

These days, there’s a risk no human can avoid. It’s become so woven into the fabric of our global society that it appears in the most unlikely places. Monasteries worldwide can succumb to its seductive ways just as easily as corporations and legislatures. It’s crippling and sometimes contagious. It’s high conflict. The really nasty kind of dispute that becomes divisive and toxic, turning friends into foes, colleagues into caricatures.

But it doesn’t need to be this way. There is a way to use conflict to our advantage to strengthen our communities.

By incorporating the practices of conflict mediation, social psychology, and solutions storytelling, we help people surface the underlying hidden issues driving dysfunction to move beyond slogans and tweets to a place where people can connect–even amid profound disagreement. We call it Good Conflict.

This session will explain how community members can investigate the understory–the deeper issues driving any conflict. Oftentimes, the understory is one of the most surprising, interesting, unexplored elements of a conflict story.

This facilitated discussion complements Examining the Past: The Struggle for Racial Equity at URMC, the banner exhibit on display, and is a follow-up to 2023’s Boundless Together lecture presentation about this history. It’s not necessary, however, to have attended the 2023 lecture to participate in the 2024 discussion. All 2024 participants are encouraged, however, to study the exhibit before attending the session. Together, we’ll explore what to do with this detailed history: how might we increase public awareness of past injustices and what we can learn from the strategies and shortcomings of previous attempts at redress to guide us in the current moment.

In healthcare, equity means fair treatment for all, yet disparities persist, notably in hair care. Hair types can be classified into four categories, each requiring different care. Patients with tightly coiled or curly hair often may not receive proper hair care due to their hair type, risking hair damage. Care discrepancies stem from knowledge gaps in diverse hair textures and inadequate products, leading to gaps in providing equitable hair care.

Insufficient knowledge can lead to cultural impact. This results in varied care for patients with wavy or coily hair, impacting health outcomes and satisfaction. Hair health and maintenance is integral to overall well-being. Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) and the Nursing Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the university of Rochester addressed this by developing a comprehensive hair care program focusing on staff education, diverse supply products, resource development, and community collaboration to bridge these disparities. Recognizing the importance of proper hair care in patients’ well-being, it aims to ensure equitable treatment regardless of hair type.

In an increasingly polarized world, creating spaces for open and respectful dialogue around complex issues is crucial, especially for young people grappling with challenging global events. This session will explore how to facilitate such dialogues effectively, using the example of how West Irondequoit CSD partnered with Children’s Institute and the Irondequoit High School Mosaics Club to develop a student circle experience to process the escalating Israeli-Palestinian crisis in early 2024.

As students sought support in understanding this conflict, the circle provided a structured yet flexible format for them to share perspectives, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussion. This session will share insights from planning and implementing the circle, highlighting strategies for creating a safe and inclusive environment, encouraging active listening, and navigating diverse viewpoints with empathy and respect.

Importantly, the lessons learned extend beyond this specific context. Participants will gain a framework for facilitating difficult conversations on any sensitive topic, applicable to various age groups and settings. In addition, facilitators will share elements included in but not limited to circle structures such as norm setting, active listening, modelling vulnerability and perspective taking. Whether addressing social justice issues, political events, or personal challenges, these element highlight the importance of civil discourse as a tool to foster dialogue and build understanding.

As campuses, workplaces, and communities increasingly grapple with polarizing issues, the ability to guide constructive conversations is invaluable. This session equips participants with a replicable model for facilitating difficult dialogues, promoting mutual understanding, and empowering individuals to engage with complex topics respectfully and meaningfully.

Humans are social creatures; we thrive on connection and appreciation. And when we decide, on our own, to develop those ties and take the leap of faith to trust that those around us will help us bear life’s inevitable burdens—and to help them in return—we become capable of collective action that can transform the world. The key to unlocking a new, more equitable, and just reality is through strengthening our capacity for empathy and reciprocal cooperation.

“Obligation: Finding Empowerment in Shared Burdens” is a lecture style presentation arranged in three, approximately 25-minute parts that dissect and highlight the ways in which empathy is inherent to the enterprise of transformative justice. Drawing from research literature, formal interviews, and pop culture, “Obligation” examines three ideas: 1) the meaning of bearing witness to the pain of others, 2) the question of the worth of empathy, and 3) the rekindling of hope and optimism for the future through the promotion of community and civic engagement.

Abortion is a well-established healthcare within the spectrum of reproductive care. Despite this, the political landscape continues to stigmatize abortion. This subject has been brought to the forefront of the national discourse since the landmark Dobbs v Jackson decision. More provider and patient stories are being told in the media, forcing our communities to face these challenging questions on a national scale.

Multiple social justice movements have used storytelling as a way of conveying their truth and lived experiences to other communities. Examples of this include the fight against AIDS in the 80’s and 90’s, queer liberation, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Notable abortion storytelling groups such as “We Testify” and “Shout Your Abortion” attempt to use similar methods to destigmatize and normalize abortion care.

The topic of abortion fits well within the context of this conference as it has been labeled as a ‘divisive’ issue since well before Dobbs, but now stands at an 80% national approval rate (this number reflects people that do not think abortion should be criminalized). Having a panel led by firsthand accounts, and accurate medical information, will lead these discussions to normalize abortion care.

This panel aims to bring together folx who have had abortions as well as providers to discuss the realities of abortion care. Discussions will be held using the lens of reproductive justice and centered on the perspective of patients.

Community Schools is a strategy for organizing the resources, and voices, of the school and community around student success. Four school districts in Monroe County, NY are utilizing this framework to support children and families in their schools: Rochester City School District, Greece Central School District, Gates-Chili Central School District, and Hilton Central School District. The strategy allows the 33 current community schools create purposeful systems to limit implicit bias and encourage the principle of meeting families where they are at.

The purpose of this presentation is not simply knowledge sharing, but an opportunity for participants to connect the community schools principles being used in these four districts, and in surrounding counties, with the operation of their places of business and/or their lived experience. Based on the Community Schools Forward work done by several organizations and organized by the National Center for Community Schools, this session will offer some foundational knowledge of the strategy and then provide practical examples of how it has been used regionally in urban, suburban, and rural schools.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) initiatives are fundamental to institutional practices and progress. DEIJ is essential for addressing societal issues and driving change, especially with the growing youth population. Youth, aged 15-24, make up 16 percent of the global population (World Youth Report, 2020) and are instrumental in driving societal transformation. This demographic is not only large but also incredibly diverse, bringing a wide array of perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

In our higher education institutions, we engage many of these youth from various backgrounds, which enriches our perspectives and enables a comprehensive approach to our work and practices. This engagement fosters an environment where all voices are heard and valued, promoting a culture of inclusivity and mutual respect. By incorporating DEIJ principles with a youth-centered approach, we can better address the unique challenges of diverse communities, leading to more effective and equitable solutions.
This workshop is designed to be interactive, encouraging participants to reflect on how youth are shaping the narrative around a more holistic DEIJ conversation within our institutions, programs, and society. Through the reflection of tangible examples, such as recent university encampments across the globe, youth mobilization to drive climate actions, and their volunteering efforts through programs like AmeriCorps, we seek to have a meaningful and impactful discussion.

The ultimate goal of this workshop is to foster an open-minded, civil, and inclusive dialogue on how we can all responsibly be actors for positive change, even when our perspectives diverge. By reflecting on how youth are shaping DEIJ narratives and actions within our institutions and society, we aim to center DEIJ principles for a cohesive and equitable coexistence.

In our roles as leaders, practitioners, educators, and social justice advocates, it is likely that many of us currently do or will find ourselves in the position of being a mentor. As we build relationships and connections with diverse individuals who place their trust in us, it is important to consider how our mentorship practices can remain trauma-informed to best serve the health and well-being of our mentees. In this presentation, we will collectively build a definition of trauma, and explore how trauma manifests in the day-to-day life. We will look at some frameworks of trauma-informed approach developed by SAMSHA (2014), including the Four Rs of Trauma and the Six Key Principles. We will explore these assumptions and principles as they were developed, and then situate them within the context of mentorship. In small groups, participants will process together what the framework of trauma-informed mentorship means in their current/future role(s), and share practical ways they can begin infusing a trauma-informed lens in their work and mentor relationships.

What is the difference between the emotions of shame and guilt, and why is one of them so much more painful? Shame – the sense of being “not good enough,” “wrong,” or “bad” – is so painful that most people avoid any situation that might evoke it. But refusing to engage with this feeling actually reinforces all-or-nothing thinking, which in turn increases the desperate need to be “right.” The path to effective engagement with challenging topics, such as those brought up in DEI work, requires processing shame to allow emotional and cognitive flexibility. In addition to exploring these topics in more depth, participants will learn tools for processing shame and other emotions.

Play-based learning is at the heart of human experience. We begin learning through play so early in life that we learn to play before we learn to talk or walk! And that ability to gain knowledge, skills, and insight through play is something we never outgrown. In this facilitated discussion, participants will engage in play-based learning to explore new insights in how groups interact and solve problems. As a group, we will reflect together on how these insights apply to our work as DEIJ champions, and how we can leverage those insights to motivate positive change for equity.

As a NYS community dispute resolution center (CDRC), the Center for Dispute Settlement is responding to many diversity/equity/inclusion/belonging (DEIB) concerns in our communities, including: facilitating conflicts regarding Israel/Palestine, mediating incidents of racial harm, increasing access to mediation for communities of color, serving as a fiduciary for grassroots violence prevention work, and dismantling white supremacy culture in institutions. Over the past two years, our Racial Equity Leadership Committee (RELC) has partnered with the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) to provide the KAIROS Blanket Exercise/Witness to Injustice for all staff and board members. This workshop takes participants on an experiential journey through the history of colonization of Turtle Island. Based on this transformative learning experience, a working group took on the project of creating an agency Land Acknowledgment that reflects a unique connection to our work. In this session, we will describe the process our staff went through in order to deeply connect with the Indigenous history of our region and envision future allyship projects together, as well as raise awareness about other Indigenous issues, including Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Orange Shirt Day, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Day. Participants will engage in a facilitated discussion about ways in which they can embark on their own journey.

Exploring our backgrounds and cultures is essential to understanding how we relate to the world around us. This self-examination provides insights into the unique perspectives and influences that shape our interactions and decisions. In the workshop “Mental Models and Worldviews,” participants will delve into the concept of mental models—internal frameworks that influence how we interpret information and make decisions. They will also explore worldviews, which are the comprehensive sets of beliefs and values that shape our understanding of the world.

Throughout the workshop, participants will engage in activities and discussions designed to uncover the underlying mental models and worldviews that guide their behaviors and attitudes. They will learn to recognize how these frameworks impact their decision-making processes, often in ways they are not consciously aware of. A significant focus will be placed on identifying and addressing implicit biases—those automatic, often subconscious judgments and stereotypes that affect how we perceive and interact with others.

By becoming aware of their own mental models and worldviews, participants will gain tools to critically evaluate and adjust their perspectives. This awareness is a crucial step in fostering more inclusive and equitable environments, both personally and professionally. The workshop will provide strategies for mitigating implicit biases, leading to more informed and empathetic decision-making. Ultimately, “Mental Models and Worldviews” aims to empower individuals to create positive change in their interactions and contribute to a more understanding and cohesive society.