We are excited to announce NCSEA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion series! This is a three-part webinar series which will introduce attendees to diversity, equity, inclusion and speak to creating a multicultural organization via inclusive policies, programs, and practices. Following their Call to Action, NCSEA has been working to identify and eradicate behaviors that perpetuate racism and inequality within our profession. This program seeks to provide members with information and the necessary tools in order to create change.
To learn more, check out NCSEA's DEI Resources. Registration is now open!
Featured Speakers
Shani Barrax Moore (she/her/hers) will lead the first two sessions. Shani is a strategic diversity and inclusion practitioner with 20 years of experience in training and development, strategic planning and change leadership, and coalition building. Shani currently serves as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton where she leads a learning and development team, executes planning and delivery of the Equity and Diversity Conference, and develops strategic partnerships for the university.
Karl W. Reid, Ed.D., was named executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) on June 2, 2014. For the past 22 years, he’s been a leading advocate for increasing college access, opportunity and success for low-income and minority youth. He is the author of Working Smarter, Not Just Harder: Three Sensible Strategies for Succeeding in College…and Life. Dr. Reid is now supporting NSBE’s National Executive Board and the Society’s 25,000 active members in reaching the main goal of NSBE’s 10-year Strategic Plan: to end the under-representation of blacks in engineering in the U.S. by annually producing 10,000 black engineers in the country, by 2025.
Yiselle Santos Rivera, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, LSSYB, WELL AP, LEED AP, is a medical planner and the Firmwide Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at HKS, Inc. With national and international experience on a broad range of healthcare, sports, residential, institutional, and commercial/mixed-use projects, she thrives on building belonging in equitable practices, empowering the next generation of leaders, and creating inclusive platforms for engagement. Ms. Santos currently serves as the Associate Representative on the AIA National Board and as the AIA DC Chapter Board Secretary. She is a member of the AIA Equity Future of Architecture Board Committee, the AIA New Urban Agenda Taskforce, and servers on the DC NOMA Advisory Board. As a member of the AIA COVID-19 Health Impact Task Force #1, she led the creation of Additional consideration section of the AIA Alternative Care Site Preparedness Assessment Tool V2.0 providing measure in support of ethnically diverse and marginalized populations. She is also co-founder of the Latin American Interior Designers, Engineers, and Architects (LA.IDEA) DC Committee, acting past-Chair of the AIA DC Equity Committee, and founder of “Women Inspiring Emerging Leaders in Design” (WIELD), which received the 2019 AIA Diversity Program Recognition Award.
Cultural Humility & the "You" in Unity
Session 1: September 29th, 2020 | 12:00pm CST
This session will introduce participants to cultural humility and its role in creating intentionally inclusive environments. Through interactive activities, participants will identify their own dimensions of diversity and consider their role in the “platinum rule.” Through the exploration of individual perceptions, experiences, and interactions and the needed mindsets to practice cultural humility for an inclusive organization, participants will be primed for deeper dives into topics such as bias and equity.
Bias Awareness and Socialization
Session 2: October 13th, 2020 | 12:00pm CST
Using the Harvard Implicit Association Test, this session will introduce participants to biases, how they are developed through socialization, and the role of internalized oppression in authoring identities. Through an exploration of the Cycle of Liberation, participants will consider steps towards inter-group coalition building to address systemic inequity.
How Do We Progress Towards Racial Equity in the Structural Engineering Community?
Session 3: November 5th, 2020 | 12:15pm CST
The 2020 SE3 survey results demonstrate that the structural engineering profession does not fully reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the United States. In this session, the SE3 Committee will highlight common experiences that are reflected in the SE3 survey data as related to race and racial inequities. They will connect everyday experiences in the structural engineering workplace through conversation with experts on racial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the AEC industry. Active audience participation will be encouraged and supported through the use of anonymous polls throughout the session. Attendees will leave with ideas on clear, achievable actions to take as individuals and as firm leaders to help advance racial equity in our industry.
This session will be held in conjunction with the 2020 NCSEA Virtual Summit. Full description of this session and speakers are listed under SE3 Events.
For more information, check out NCSEA's DEI Resources.