The summer of 2020 transformed many of our personal and professional lives. We saw how the outcry of racial injustice in the United States motivated companies to make anti-racist commitments and buckle down on their DEI initiatives. One year later, and some of us are noticing a decrease in the sense of urgency for change. While progress has been made by several companies, we are also witnessing resistance and outright denial of the ways systems of oppression are harming our communities and workplaces. For other companies, DEI managers and leads are trying to figure out how to keep the momentum going and see their goals come to fruition.

If you find yourself wanting to push for equity and inclusion in a company where you feel stuck, resistance or lack of interest, we invite you to join us for our third virtual meetup of the year! We’ll have an opportunity to discuss:

• Trends and impact of DEI changes in the workplace
• Organizational change and reasons for resistance and standstills
• Tips on how to implement and celebrate both short-term and long-term wins
• Ways individual contributors and team leads can push for change

Speakers:

Amaia Arruabarrena, Senior Manager of DEI at ezCater

Jillian Harvey, Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Division at Town of Arlington

Moderator:

Fatima Dainkeh, Learning and Development Manager, She+ Geeks Out

Agenda:

5:00-5:30- Virtual doors open; mingling/networking

5:30-5:40- Welcome, SGO intro, housekeeping/announcements, intro to panelists

5:40-6:15- Moderated panel discussion

6:15-6:45- Audience Q&A

6:45-7:30- Closing and open networking

How is this going to work?

You'll be able to network in small groups of up to eight people per table prior to and after the discussion. You get to choose where you 'sit' and there will be lots of pre-created topics to assist in our virtual networking (don’t worry, we’ll leave some room for random on-the-fly conversations too, you can just consider these icebreakers!). You won’t need to download any software, but for the best experience we recommend having a computer with both camera and microphone capability.

You'll get all the info on how to access the Airmeet platform through Eventbrite.

About SGO DEI Meet-Ups:

If you’re leading efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at your company, are just starting to dive into the topic at your workplace, or want to learn more about DEI at work, this meetup is for you! Join others from a variety of industries, with various levels of experience and backgrounds who are also working toward creating equity in the workplace. Make connections, share experiences and learn from each other in a casual setting.