Denise Donnell
The University of Central Arkansas will host its inaugural Centering Equity Conference on Thursday, May 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. via Zoom. This conference is free and open to the public.
UCA President Houston Davis will welcome participants to the conference. Victoria Groves-Scott, dean of the College of Education, will provide opening remarks.
“I believe that diversity is a necessary condition for excellence. This is why it’s so important to center equity in attitudes, policies and practice. Only through equity will everyone achieve their full potential and create spaces of excellence for us all,” said Groves-Scott.
The “Centering Equity Conference” will influence thinking and engage participants in individual and collective action for social change. Denise Donnell will be the keynote speaker. Donnell’s life experiences have positioned her to be one who can engage people from all walks of life in ways that are meaningful, significant and memorable.
“This conference is designed to ultimately take issues of equity from conversation to correction. We can dialogue about inequities all day. The test for each of us is to engage in building a coalition to advance equity through correction actions within ourselves and our professional and social spaces,” said Candice Barnes, Distinguished Education Equity Fellow and professor, UCA College of Education.
Featured speakers include Ayodele Harrison, Jimmy Warren and Cory Anderson and speakers from across the nation through afternoon breakout sessions.
Harrison, an engineer turned educator, is a fearless and compassionate champion for racial equity, Black Male Educators and equity-centered school improvement.
Warren served as the chair for Training, Policy and Procedures for positive interactions of Race and Community Relations on Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s Law Advancement Task Force. He is also president of the Arkansas Teen Court Association, which focuses on restoring youth through positive intervention.
In his role as chief innovation officer at the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Anderson is a relentless collaborator. He builds and maintains local and national partnerships, launches initiatives, and leads the foundation’s future-focused work to ensure equity for all Arkansans.
To register for the conference, visit uca.edu/outreach/equity.
