DEI Updates: Week of 12.06.21
Girl Scouts of North East Ohio organized a training by Sean Miller who’s a Girl Scout herself and the presentation educates staff and volunteers on welcoming transgender youth into Girl Scouts. Please watch this incredible 20-minute training to learn how you can be a better ally to LGBTQ+ youth.
Check out the Language Justice Toolkit
The Language Justice Tool was developed based on requests from people on needing a resource for inclusive language. This toolkit is here as an educational resource to help people understand which groups are harmed when we use coded words or exclusionary terms in everyday communication and alternatives that do not target marginalized communities. This is a living and growing document so reach out with any feedback.
Upcoming: Monthly Equity Talks
This virtual series brings together Colorado community activists, thinkers, and disrupters to share what they are doing or what their organizations are doing to fight for equity and justice. The series is organized by the DEI Committee. Each session takes place in the format of 45-minute presentations or conversations that are open to volunteers, members, families and staff.
January Topic: Environmental Justice and Outdoor Education by Sam Gilmore (She/Her), Education Coordinator at Environmental Learning for Kids. Sign up here.
If you have speaker recommendations, please reach out.
Current: Belong & Inclusion Survey
The Belonging & Inclusion Survey for members and volunteers is still open until January 10th. The goal of this anonymous survey is to understand what members and volunteers want GSCO to implement to create a safe and welcoming experience for all Girl Scouts. You can support by circulating the survey or encouraging members/volunteers to complete it.
Call to Action
Disability 101
December 3rd was International Day for People with Disabilities. Learn how you can be a better ally by taking this free, virtual, and self-paced introductory course that focuses on disability inclusion. The modules discuss defining disability, the disability rights movement, stereotypes and societal barriers, identity language, and strategies for being an ally. It takes less than an hour to complete. Click here to start.
Upcoming Opportunities
Wednesday, December 8 from 5-6pm MT. Description: Understanding how concepts of race intersect with antisemitism is a critical task as we work to uproot white supremacy and racism from our schools. Participants will: Explore the history between ideas of “race” and anti-Judaic ideologies; Unpack the ways that antisemitism connects to contemporary discussions of race; Consider how educators can integrate discussions of antisemitism into their anti-racism work. The session recording will be sent out to registered participants.
Historically Speaking: Black Reconstruction
Wednesday, December 8 from 5pm-6pm MST. Join the National Museum of African American History & Culture for a virtual conversation with prominent historians: Eric Foner, Henry Louis Gates and Kevin Young. This webinar will focus on the impact of Reconstruction on America’s post-Civil War Black community. Sign up here.
Health Equity Learning Series: An Evening with Isabel Wilkerson
Tuesday, December 14 from 6pm-7pm MST. As part of its Health Equity Learning Series and in partnership with Tattered Cover Book Store, The Colorado Trust is pleased to invite you to attend a virtual discussion with Isabel Wilkerson, taking place Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021 from 6-7 p.m. MST. Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. “Wilkerson’s work,” in the words of The American Prospect magazine, “is the missing puzzle piece of our country’s history.” Sign up here to attend. Advance registration is required, and space is strictly limited. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be available. Please note that this event will not be recorded.
Inside Out Youth Services is offering a virtual LGBTQ 102 training. Click the link above to sign up (the registration fee is donation based).
PFLAG Connects: Black/African-American Community Meeting
Tuesday, December 14 at 7pm MST. This is a 90-minute meeting to provide and receive support, specifically for Black/African-American community members. Note that these meetings are geared towards parents and family members of LGBTQ+ people from the Black/African-American community, though members of the LGBTQ+ community who identify as Black/African-American are welcome to join. Sign up here.
16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
Hollaback is offering daily Stand Up Bystander intervention trainings as part of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (November 25 – December 10). This is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the importance of ending violence and harassment against women. Sign up for a training session here.
USA Girl Scouts Overseas: Holidays Around the World
Saturday, December 18 from 5am-6:30am MST. Join USAGSO for a global celebration of winter holidays! Girl Scouts from all across the world will gather around the virtual fireplace to share a cup of cocoa and festive snack, make a winter craft, and sing a few songs, all while learning about traditions from holidays such as Lunar New Year, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, and Ōmisoka. This event is open to all program grade levels (Girl Scout Daisies through Ambassadors) and adult volunteers. Sign up here.
RaceTalk among White Families Post-Floyd. Now What?
Thursday, December 16 at 6:30pm MST. Description: Join EmbraceRace for a conversation with two guests who discuss how to talk about race with young children after the murder of George Floyd. Click hereto reserve your spot. Once you register, you’ll receive a link to the recording, the transcript, and relevant resources in the days following the live event. Participants are encouraged to share this opportunity with their networks to spread the word.
Wednesday, December 15 at 10am MST. Join Anu Gupta, the founder of BE MORE with Anu, for a candid, lunch-and-learn-style conversation on how building skillful communication can help you play a more powerful role in advancing racial equity. We’ll share and model tools that support our development as speakers and listeners inside and outside of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) spaces. We’ll also examine and troubleshoot barriers that might be coming up for folks practicing empathetic speaking and listening. In this session, we will build a safe and shame-free discussion container to openly discuss:
Racial trauma and healing
Tools that allow for communication rooted in empathy
How skillful communication ladders up to support building and maintaining equitable communities