The 2020 Together for Families Conference’s Advancing Equity track will convene conversations through workshops that promote racial awareness, diversity, equity, and inclusion in partnerships to strengthen families and enhance communities. Through interactive conference workshops, presenters will share experience, expertise, and lessons learned, as well as strategies and approaches that participants can use to disrupt systems of oppression and co-create a more just and equitable future. 

 

For the purposes of this track, “equity” refers to all people possessing what they need in order to reach their full potential. 

 

The intent of the track is to:
           •  Cultivate cultural humility (vs. the historical prioritizing of assimilation)
           • Model vulnerability when we do not have the answers
           •  Deepen knowledge and understanding of the dynamics/legacies that sustain systems of oppression (such                 as racism, patriarchy, colonization, religious superiority, enslavement and theft of native land as                                   an antecedent to poverty, and queerphobia)
          • Explore the impact of silence around white privilege as it relates to partnering with families
          • Share various perspectives on these topics (e.g. parents, caregivers, constituents, policymakers, youth,                          direct service staff, and administrators)

​

Participants will also learn how to promote equity in their everyday work, in their organization and in their community, including: 
          • Creating spaces and programming that are anti-racist, foster equity and share power with families
          • Developing policies, rules, and procedures that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion
          • Improving outcomes for families impacted by racism and other forms of discrimination​