Summit Agenda
The Social Justice Summit featured webinars, sessions, question-and-answer periods and other opportunities to engage in dialogue with colleagues and peers from around the system.
Author, scholar and educator Bettina L. Love delivers summit keynote
The University of Colorado community welcomed noted author, scholar and educator Bettina L. Love as the keynote speaker of the 2023 systemwide Social Justice Summit. Love, the William F. Russell professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, gave a talk titled, “We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom.”
A recognized dynamic, engaging speaker, Love’s presentations center on abolitionist teaching, education reform, anti-racism, hip hop education and feminism, Black girlhood, queer youth, art-based education to foster youth civic engagement, and issues of diversity and inclusion.
During its 50th anniversary celebration last year, the Kennedy Center named her one of its making the world a more inspired, inclusive and compassionate place.
Love is the author of “We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom” and “Hip Hop’s Li’l Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip Hop Identities and Politics in the New South.” Her talk for ’s four campuses and the system administration will center on the struggles – and the possibilities – of committing to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom.
“Abolitionist teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving,” Love says.
Love co-founded the to support teachers and parents confronting injustice in their schools and communities, created the, and is a founding member of the Atlanta City Council’s.
In 2014, she was invited to the first, and in a separate that year, she gave what organizers called “an impassioned talk” on “Hip Hop, Grit and Academic Success.” Love became the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University in 2016.
In 2017, Love participated in a lecture on liberatory education alongside the late celebrated writer, social activist and scholar bell hooks, and in 2018, Georgia’s House of Representatives presented her with a resolution for her impact on the field of education.
Born in Rochester, New York, Love earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a master’s degree in elementary education at the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in educational policy studies at Georgia State University.
Opening Session
8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
University of Colorado President Todd Saliman – Welcome
University of Colorado President welcomed summit participants. A lifelong Coloradan, Saliman leads 's four campuses and system administration. With 30 years of experience in higher education and public policy – including serving in the state legislature, working for two Colorado governors and overseeing ’s budget operations for more than a decade – Saliman has devoted his career to advancing and the state. He believes deeply in the value of higher education and the power of a four-year degree to unlock opportunity. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Boulder. As president, Saliman has made it a priority to engage with Colorado communities to better understand the state’s evolving higher education needs.
Boulder Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Sonia DeLuca Fernández, PhD – Land Acknowledgment
Land acknowledgments honor the contributions, histories and place-based knowledge of Indigenous peoples with historic and contemporary ties to lands across what is today known as the United States. They also recognize the devastating, lasting impacts of the forced assimilation and forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their traditional territories and ancestral homelands, including the lands that are now part of Colorado and the University of Colorado Boulder. While it is not a requirement, students, faculty and staff may read Boulder's land acknowledgment during campus meetings and use it in email signatures and on campus websites to show their support for the success and well-being of Indigenous students, faculty and staff at Boulder, for Native American communities in Colorado and nationwide, and for First Peoples worldwide.
Keynote Address
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Bettina L. Love, PhD
Author, scholar and educator Bettina L. Love, PhD, delivered a keynote talk titled, “We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom.” Love, the William F. Russell professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, is nationally recognized as a dynamic, engaging speaker, and her presentations center on abolitionist teaching, education reform, anti-racism, hip hop education and feminism, Black girlhood, queer youth, art-based education to foster youth civic engagement, and issues of diversity and inclusion.
Session One
10 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Session 1A
Anti-racist and Trauma-informed Pedagogy and Policy: Brainstorming with UCCS Social Work
The University of Colorado-Colorado Springs recently launched a Social Work Department, and faculty will present on the ways anti-racist and trauma-informed pedagogy can take shape at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. Participants will engage in small group work and in discussions about anti-racist and trauma-informed work.
Stephanie Gangemi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the UCCS College of Public Service and a licensed clinical social worker in Colorado. She holds a doctorate from Smith College, a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Wagner College. Gangemi worked for more than a decade in correctional mental health care at Rikers Island and was the director of mental health at the El Paso County Jail. Her clinical practice has included work with incarcerated people, and her research is on the training and experience of staff members in jail and prison.
Johanna Creswell Báez, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of social work at UCCS. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University and a doctorate in clinical social work from Smith College. Creswell Baez’s research focuses on issues related to trauma, children and families, and immigration. She has a particular interest in mental health support for immigrant youth, school-based mental health services, culturally responsive interventions, and qualitative research methods.
Monica Furey, M.A., is a clinical assistant professor of social work at UCCS, a parent and school board member, and a past president of the Colorado Association of School Boards. Furey received a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas-Austin, master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Georgetown University, and is in the educational leadership doctoral program at UCCS. Before working in academia, she worked with children in the Department of Human Services in Washington, D.C. In addition, Furey was a social work fellow in the Yale Child Study Center and served in a faculty position in the center's HIV-Affected Children and Families Program.
Shannon Johnson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of social work at UCCS. Her social work experience includes several years as a substance use and mental health counselor, program director and prevention coordinator. Johnson worked as an assistant professor at the National Catholic School of Social Service for four years before joining the UCCS faculty. Her research focuses on traumatic loss, bereavement, spirituality and post-traumatic growth. She has a particular interest in the development of spiritually and culturally responsive interventions for survivors of trauma. Johnson is also a passionate social work educator.
Malikah Marrus, Ph.D., is a clinical assistant professor and director of field education for the social work master’s program at UCCS. She has taught social work courses on human rights, juvenile justice, forensic social work, and child abuse and neglect. Before teaching, she was a research fellow for the Southwest Juvenile Defender Center, a program of the Center for Children, Law and Policy at the University of Houston Law Center in Houston. Marrus earned a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University, a master’s degree in social work from the University of Houston, and a doctorate in social work from the University of Southern California.
Session 1B
Assessment as Social Justice
How do we ensure that our assessment work is as inclusive as our teaching or advising? Learn how to be mindful in our theories while activists in our practices. Together, participants will review inclusive assessment theory and apply its practices to a case study that reveals assessment as change work.
Corinna Rohse, Ph.D., is the director of the Student Academic Success Center at Boulder. Trained as a scholar in literature and philosophy, she earned a bachelor's degree with honors from the University of British Columbia and a doctorate from Harvard University, where she studied as a Mellon Fellow. With a 25-year record of teaching and administration, she oversees an educational opportunity center that is a national model for improving academic outcomes in higher education for learners from underserved or underrepresented backgrounds.
Session 1C
Holding Space for Our Community: Integrating Restorative Justice Practices to Create Intentional Spaces for Building Community, Truth-telling and Work Toward Collective Action/Change
This session will introduce restorative justice as a community-building tool. This practice, supported by personal and group development learning opportunities, can catalyze participants to engage in conversations that nurture, heal and inspire change.
Montez Butts, M.A., was born in Detroit and grew up in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. He is a proud first-generation college student who holds dual bachelor’s degrees in sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice and in speech communication with an emphasis in human communication. He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies with a concentration in higher education student affairs leadership. Butts identifies as a BIQTPOC (Black, Indigenous, queer and transgender person of color) relational leader who believes that people are the most incredible resource for any organization––period.
Ysatiz Pinero-Adorno, M.A., was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and raised in Miami and Cape Coral, Florida. She is a proud first-generation college student who holds dual bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and criminal forensic studies from Florida Gulf Coast University. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from Florida International University and is a doctoral student in Denver’s leadership for educational equity program, focusing on urban and diverse communities. Pinero-Adorno serves as the director for education and social change in Boulder’s Center for Inclusion and Social Change and abides by the words of Indian lawyer, anti-colonialist and nonviolent political ethicist Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” She aspires to inspire change every day.
Session 1D
Working with Oppressive Trauma While Caring for Ourselves
In this session, participants will learn more about how repeated discriminatory experiences and oppression can impact people’s stress responses and development. The presenters of this session will discuss the importance of addressing the impacts of working within social justice and how to care for oneself and one’s community. “Self-care,” they propose, “is more than baths; it is a way to assert in an oppressive culture that you matter.”
Jessica Ladd-Webert, M.A., L.P.C. has worked in Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance since 2007. In 2014, Ladd-Webert was a negotiator for the U.S. Department of Education's Rulemaking Committee, informing regulations based on the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. She holds a master’s degree in counseling and has presented nationally on a variety of trauma-informed practices. Her career focuses on trauma support with a strong commitment to social justice. Threaded through her work are the words of author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Elizabeth Wilmer, M.A., L.P.C., joined Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance in 2018 as the assistant director and became associate director in 2021. She holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and English and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. Before joining OVA, Wilmer was a psychotherapist at the Trauma Disorders Program at Sheppard Pratt, a top-ranked behavioral health hospital, where she provided individual and group counseling to trauma survivors. In addition, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, where she served as the president of the Gender and Development Council. Wilmer is passionate about providing trauma-informed, culturally relevant counseling and advocacy services to diverse populations.
Session Two
11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Session 2A
The Shifting Phenomenon Among Black Women and Other Women of Color
“Shifting” is a fundamental skill Black women and other women of color have adopted to navigate spaces of racism, discrimination, sexism and prejudice in professional settings. In this session, participants will learn more about shifting as a helpful tool to assist women of color in understanding the complexity of their intersecting identities, ultimately reducing poor mental health outcomes.
Carla Eugene, M.A., serves as a Boulder employee assistance program therapist with a multicultural focus. She recently moved to Colorado from Ohio where she worked at The Ohio State University Counseling and Consultation Service. Eugene has provided counseling services to children and adolescents in K-12 schools and to college students and adults. Her professional interests include reducing mental health stigma among marginalized groups, women’s issues, empowerment, managing life transitions, anxiety and grief. She holds a master’s degree in community counseling from Ohio’s Wright State University. Her aim is to assist individuals on a journey of deeper self-discovery and healing.
Session 2B
Inequities in Health Care Access for Undocumented Immigrants with Chronic Disease
Undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving any federal insurance, which leads to inadequate access to health care in most states and poor outcomes for those with chronic disease. In this session, participants will hear from a medical doctor who––with an eye toward creating equitable care for all––hopes to develop an advocacy toolkit for policy change for undocumented immigrants.
Katherine Rizzolo, M.D., is a nephrology fellow at the Anschutz Medical Campus. She has worked to improve access to dialysis and kidney transplants for Colorado community members, including immigrants, who identify as Latine, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Latin or Hispanic. Rizzolo notes that patients with kidney disease from these communities are less likely to receive a living donor kidney transplant or to use home dialysis modalities, which have been associated with improved quality of life. Her work focuses on elucidating the challenges facing these communities with the goal of shaping patient-centered interventions and policy. Rizzolo recently advocated successfully for subregulatory policy change allowing for inclusion of home dialysis covered under Colorado Emergency Medicaid for undocumented immigrants.
Session 2C
Liberation Through Museum Practice: Natural History Museums Working Toward Social Justice
In this session, participants will learn more about how natural history museums have been part of the cycle of oppression since their inception, how museums can perpetuate systems of oppression through narratives and displays, and how the Museum of Natural History is committed to breaking these cycles through reflexive practices.
Diana Quintero-Bisono is a student in the museum and field studies master's degree program. As a graduate student, Quintero-Bisono studies the public and administrative aspects of a museum. With a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, her research interests compound heavily with making museums inclusive spaces in society.
Samantha Eads has worked in the museum field since 2008. She is the visitor services manager at the Boulder Museum of Natural History, where she has worked since 2013, and holds bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and religious studies from the University of Missouri. Eads is a graduate of Boulder’s museum and field studies program, through which she earned a graduate professional certificate in museum studies in 2017. Eads is grateful for the opportunity to work with her museum colleagues to address diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion issues more directly.
Session 2D
De-emphasizing Grades, Re-emphasizing Learning, Centering Care: Social Justice Praxis in the Classroom
Professors, teaching assistants and students talk about being in classrooms that use contract grading and emphasize learning by de-emphasizing grades and centering care. The session will advocate for transforming teaching and changing the institution of the university by stimulating students to invest in intellectual curiosity and social justice.
Jennifer Ho, Ph.D., is the daughter of a refugee father from China and an immigrant mother from Jamaica whose own parents were, themselves, immigrants from Hong Kong. Ho directs Boulder’s Center for Humanities and the Arts and teaches ethnic studies. She has written three books, edited two essay collections, and authored several articles for both specialized and general audiences. In addition to her academic work, Ho is active in community engagement around issues of race and intersectionality, leading workshops on anti-racism and how to talk about race in our current social climate.
Tia Devereaux is a Boulder sophomore majoring in political science. She has taken three ethnic studies courses with Professor Ho and worked on in one of her classes addressing campuswide social justice.
Eswari Duggirala is a Boulder senior majoring in psychology and ethnic studies. Duggirala has taken two courses with Professor Ho and worked on a final project advocating for campuswide social justice. Duggirala founded a campus organization, Students Against Campus Sexual Assault, which meets weekly to educate students about sexual assault and how to advocate for resources and policies to end sexual assault.
Julia Shizuyo Popham, M.A., a first-year doctoral student in ethnic studies at Boulder, is working on a dissertation about a Japanese American artist incarcerated in in southern Colorado during World War II. Now a National Historic Site, Amache was one of 10 concentration camps that housed more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were unconstitutionally racially targeted by the U.S. government. Popham, from Golden, Colorado, holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Chancellors Discussion
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Social Justice in a Diverse Democracy
Join the community as we welcome Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano, Ph.D., Denver Chancellor , Anschutz Medical Campus Chancellor , and UCCS Chancellor , as they engage in a discussion and Q&A about the university’s efforts to create and sustain more inclusive, accessible and just campuses for students, staff and faculty.
Session Three
2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Session 3A
Coalition Building for Anti-Racist Collective Action
Participants in this interactive workshop on community building for anti-racist collective action will learn about building understanding of how racism is interwoven into the university’s systems and processes, affecting different stakeholders, and how anti-racist collective action can be achieved through coalition building to achieve systemic change.
Laura MacDonald, Ph.D., sits on the steering committee of the United Campus Workers of Colorado and is a member of the UCWC anti-racism committee. She has worked at Boulder for four years as the managing director of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience. Her background is in human geography and environmental engineering.
Emily Bedellwas the committee lead for the anti-racism committee of United Campus Workers of Colorado from 2020-2022 and worked to build UCWC through an anti-racist lens. She is a researcher at Boulder’s Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience.
Session 3B
Combating Ableism for a More Inclusive and Accessible Campus
Ableism has a long history of denying individuals with disabilities the opportunity to succeed in higher education. During this session, participants will build a foundation to identify ableist practices and take action toward a more inclusive and accessible campus for all.
Ida Dilwood is the director of Disability Services and the University Testing Center at UCCS. She has served on numerous campus and systemwide committees. Dilwood served as secretary on the James Irwin Charter Academy School Board from 2013-15. Currently appointed to Colorado’s Disability Services in Higher Education Advisory Committee, she advises higher education leaders and policymakers on best practices aimed at improving access and outcomes for students with disabilities in higher education.
Joe Andenmatten joined Boulder’s Disability Services Office in 2014 and has served as the office’s director since 2020. He also serves as the director of the new Student Testing Center and on a variety of campus committees.
Session 3C
Building Power and Raising Voices: Elevating Communities of Color in Institutional Decision-making
In this session, participants will learn more about community connectors-in-residence in the city of Boulder who are addressing barriers to institutional decision-making by sharing feedback through an equity lens on policies and programs. The connectors also facilitate “building power and raising voices” sessions to strengthen democracy, design community-initiated programming, and elevate community issues and bright spots to the Boulder City Council.
Ryan Hanschen works for the people of Boulder, Colorado, strengthening democracy by co-designing meaningful and inclusive community engagement. He has served as a faculty and staff member at the University of Denver, as a Boulder County Leadership Fellow, and as a . Hanschen was appointed by Colorado Governors to serve on the Census 2020 State Complete Count Campaign and the . He holds a master’s degree in strategic innovation and organizational change from DU.
Adela Aguirre has served as a community connector in the city of Boulder since June 2020. She served as a student assistant in Boulder’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement and as a research assistant in the campus’s Institute of Behavioral Science. Adela holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and ethnic studies from Boulder.
Adriana Paola Palacios Luna serves as a community connector in the city of Boulder. She is passionate about culture, art and science and working in support of socio-environmental and reproductive justice. Her areas of expertise are sociology of culture; communication for social change; class, power and culture; economic, social, cultural and environmental rights; and education and strategies for the eradication of gender-based violence. She enjoys being proactively involved with her community and contributing in a conscious and resilient way with actions for the dignity of life. Palacios Luna, an artist, social justice educator, storyteller and mother of three, believes in the power of collective action toward social change.
Ana Silvia Avendaño-Curiel, equity policy adviser for the city of Boulder, immigrated to the United States from Mexico City with her family when she was 13 years old. As a Daniels Fund Scholar, she earned bachelor's degrees in international studies and gender studies, with minors in Spanish and French, from Colorado State University. In 2009, she served as an advocate for domestic violence survivors and immigrants and as a school-based family and services coordinator for families of all backgrounds. She has facilitated many racial equity trainings and has participated in panels focusing on race, gender and immigration. Avendaño-Curiel participates in multiple community leadership groups and is a principal dancer for ArtistiCO Dance Company in Denver.
Lenora Cooper serves as a community connector in the city of Boulder. She has lived in Boulder for more than 30 years, and her experience as an economically disadvantaged individual with an invisible disability has driven her to be deeply involved in community work, especially focusing on food access. Cooper is keenly aware of barriers faced by community members with disabilities––both visible and invisible––when engaging with all levels of government. She is determined to reduce barriers for community members who are economically disadvantaged so they can participate in civic engagement. She holds bachelors degrees in communications and psychology from Taylor University.
Session 3D
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Rounds in Medical Education: DEI at the Bedside
Bias occurs frequently in the clinical setting, and there is a need for diversity, equity and inclusion knowledge and skills in clinical training. During this session, participants will learn more about the experience of health care providers who created a novel curriculum aimed at developing DEI recognition and communication tools during an inpatient clinical rotation.
Nicole Gonzales, M.D., is a professor of neurology and the co-director for diversity, equity and inclusion in the Neurology Department at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She obtained her medical degree from the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas (UT) Health. Gonzales completed her neurology residency at and completed a neurovascular fellowship at McGovern Medical School. She is involved actively in fellow, resident and student training, is committed to providing opportunities for exposure to medicine in historically excluded communities, and developing mentorship programs for neurologists.
4-5 p.m.
Final Session
’s Diversity Officers discussion: Building More Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Campuses
Join the community as we welcome the senior university leaders who are working to create and sustain more inclusive, accessible and just campus communities around the sphere, including Senior Diversity Officer , from the system office; Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Sonia DeLuca Fernández, Ph.D., from Boulder; Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from Denver; Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Engagement , from the Anschutz Medical Campus; and Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Closing Remarks
Judi A. Díaz Bonacquisti, Ph.D., senior diversity officer for the system of four campuses, will provide closing remarks for the 2023 Social Justice Summit. Díaz Bonacquisti is a member of the leadeship team for President Todd Saliman. For more than 25 years, she has developed programs and policies to expand college access and to advance students toward college-degree completion. Díaz Bonacquisti has served as a senior student affairs officer and a senior enrollment officer and is experienced in recruitment, retention and graduation strategies, especially for students from historically excluded communities, including first-generation, low-income, undocumented and students of color. Díaz Bonacquisti has served at public and private colleges and universities with a range of academic offerings, admissions selectivity and populations from 4,000 to 24,000 students.