Past Summits
2023 Summit
- Dr. Lesley Graybeal, Director of Experiential and Community-Engaged Learning at the University of Central Arkansas
- Mireya Reith, Executive Director of Arkansas United
- Demetria Tobias, Senior Policy Analyst at TNTP
- Stacey McAdoo, Arkansas Executive Director at Teach Plus
- Andy Smith, Policy Director at TNTP
- Latricia Hill-Chandler, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Southern Bancorp
Topics at the 2023 Summit included how to implement community engaged research, creating financial equity, the development of educator diversity, and ways to connect to, engage with, and advocate for our immigrant and migrant populations.
Click here to view the 2023 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit agenda.
Thank you to the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame for continued support and for providing UCA CCED with a grant to make this program possible (and free of charge for participants)!
2022 Summit
The 2022 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit was hosted on November 10th, 2022 in McCastlain Hall at the University of Central Arkansas.
Our 2022 speakers included:
- Dr. Candice Maxwell, Professor/Distinguished Equity Fellow at the University of Central Arkansas
- Williams M. Rogers III, Vice President and Director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Bank of St. Louis
- Tanya Odom, Equity and Inclusion Program Director at the Walton Family Foundation
- Ronnie Williams, Author of Markham Street: The Haunting Truth Behind the Murder of My Brother, Marvin Leonard Williams.
Our team at the University of Central Arkansas Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) is dedicated to finding ways to be more intentional in designing content and moving the needle on racial equity and justice in Arkansas. We recognize that creating equity is an extremely important part of community development and economic development.
You can find the 2023 Arkansas Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge by following this link
You can find Dr. Candice Maxwell’s “Equity is a Personal Journey” presentation linked here.
You can view the 2022 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit agenda by following this link.
You can learn more about the 2021 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit by following this link.
You can learn more about the 2020 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit by following this link.
Thank you to the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame for providing UCA CCED with a grant to make this program possible (and free of charge for participants)!
2021 Summit
In continuing our mission to be more intentional in designing content and moving the needle on equity and justice in Arkansas, we hosted the second annual 2021 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit on Tuesday, October 26! The Summit was held in the University of Central Arkansas McCastlain Ballroom.
The 2021 Summit’s content was curated from the evaluation data of the 2020 Summit, specifically thoughts shared on topics participants would be interested in learning more about in the future. Three topic areas stood out: history of race/justice in Arkansas, sharing Black stories, best practices for DEI in organizations and communities, and ways to create action at the local level. We were excited to host Andre Douglas Pond Cummings of the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, Adena White of Blackbelt Voices, Kara Wilkins of the Arkansas Black Philanthropy Collaborative, and Martie North Hamilton of System Critical LLC to share these topic areas with us through their unique lenses.
The Summit was sponsored in partnership with the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation, ARcare, and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.
Click here to view the agenda.
2020 Summit
Our team at the University of Central Arkansas Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) is dedicated to finding ways to be more intentional in designing content and moving the needle on racial equity and justice in Arkansas. We recognize that creating equity is an extremely important part of community development and economic development. Thus, we hosted the 2021 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit (the Summit) with support from our sponsors ARcare, the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, and Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas on October 8, 2020.
The Summit provided a space for participants to learn about the history of racial injustice in Arkansas, provided information on what inequities exist today (in health, education, wealth/income, and the criminal justice system), and hosted an interactive discussion on what citizens, community leaders, and elected officials can do to counteract those inequities to create a better future for Arkansas. We look forward to continuing the conversation with additional opportunities.
Click here to view the agenda.
Click here for notes and resources from the Summit.
