Olajiwon K. McCadney (he/they) is the Chair for Diversity Studies & the Executive Director for Intercultural Student Success & Strategic Partnerships at HACC, Pennsylvania Community Colleges. Additionally, McCadney is a board member for the National Association for African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) as well as serves as a facilitator for the national team with the national team for the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego. Lastly, McCadney holds an MSEd in Organizational Leadership & Performance Technology from the College at Potsdam, State University of New York as well as certification in Professional Coaching and is a current doctoral candidate at Northeastern University.

Carolina Kroon (gender pronouns: she/her/hers) is a visual producer, educator and activist who collaborates with organizations and individuals working towards social justice. For more than two decades she has assisted in representing communities, conspiring with many of the countries’ most effective publications and non-profits. She has facilitated and taught visual literacy and production with many people ranging in age from 8-80 in both community and academic settings. Her organizing has been focused within the LGBTQ and Women’s communities. She is a fluent Spanish speaker.

Brooke A. Levandowski, PhD, MPA (she/her) is the director of the LGBTQ+ Health Initiative. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. An epidemiologist by training, Brooke’s research seeks to improve stigmatized health outcomes through understanding the influence of culture on health decision making, primarily in the field of reproductive and sexual health. The LGBTQ+ Health Initiative is an excellent opportunity to work within our queer community to improve our health!

Former Co-Creators and Co-Facilitators

Myra P. Henry, Ed.D. (gender pronouns: she/her/hers) is an Administrative Change Agent and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Practitioner who currently serves as the President and CEO of the YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County. Dr. Henry completed the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy in 2018. She served on the Monroe County Alliance for Transformation of Community and Police. On her own initiative and in response to colleagues’ requests, four years ago Dr. Henry created one of the first DEI committees at the University of Rochester which has actively engaged library staff in a variety of interactive DEI activities. Among this work, Dr. Henry has co-facilitated two White Fragility book clubs and diversity dialog sessions on various EDI related topics.

The LGBTQ+ Health Initiative put together this Series in response to a recent technical assistance survey of Network organizations in which 45% reported they are interested in additional anti-racism training. Additionally, the events of 2020 and 2021 have highlighted how urgent and crucial it is to understand the history of structural racism in the United States and to think about how structural racism impacts our lives and our work. We have made updates to the structure of this series based on feedback from the previous two Series in Summer 2020 and Winter 2021. Changes include having two BIPOC and two white facilitators, and  holding separate spaces for BIPOC and white participants to discuss the book and their learning and perspectives. Additionally, we increased the length of the sessions to 90 minutes to give us time to dive deeper into the conversations.

All meetings will be hosted on Zoom. The link will be sent after registration.

The Summer Series is planned for 2:35-3:55 pm on Fridays. Sessions will be held every other week, in order to give participants adequate time to read and process all of the material. The Summer series spans 10 weeks, from July 16th to September 10th. The meeting time has been chosen as it does not conflict with any of the Network committee meetings. Please see more information about the planned dates and times in the calendar above.

• The “1619” Podcast from New York Times
• Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
• Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary-Frances Winters
• We Do This Till We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transformative Justice by Mariame Kaba.

Emergent Strategy Group Agreements:

• Listen from the inside out, or listen from the bottom up (a feeling in your gut matters!);
• Engage Tension, Don’t Indulge Drama;
• W.A.I.T.—Why Am I Talking?
• Make Space, Take Space—a post-ableist adaptation of step up, step back – to help balance the verbose and the reticent
• Confidentiality—take the lessons, leave the details;
• Be open to learning;
• Be open to someone else speaking your truth;
• Building, not selling—when you speak, converse, don’t pitch;
• Yes/and, both/and;
• Value the process as much as, if not more than, you value the outcomes;
• Assume best intent; attend to impact;
• Self care and community care—pay attention to your bladder, pay attention to your neighbors;
• Trauma-Informed Care Guidelines.

* These agreements come from adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy, published in 2017.

Please see the agendas for each meeting in the calendar events above.

Using Gender Pronouns

Consider adding your pronouns in parenthesis after your name! This can be a helpful way to make sure you’re respecting everyone’s pronouns while making it easier for folks to declare theirs.

To add pronouns to your name:

1. Tap the Settings icon.
2. Choose Edit Profile.
3. After your last name, write in your pronouns (e.g. “(she/her)”). Using parenthesis helps separate your pronouns from your name.

Customizing Skin Tone for Reactions

Zoom offers two reaction icons that you can use during a call: a hands’ clap and finger up. You can adjust the skin color on these reactions to better match your own.

To change the reaction skin tone:

1. Tap the Settings icon in Zoom.
2. Choose Meetings.
3. Scroll down, tap Reactive Skin Tone.
4. Change the reactive skin tone.

In a meeting:

1. Click the ^ arrow next to Video (bottom left corner of screen).
2. Select Video Settings.
3. Select General.
4. Choose reactive skin tone.