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2024 Christobel Kotelawela Weerasinghe Lecture

Deepa Iyer, Author, Strategist, and Lawyer

What’s My Role? Social Change in Crisis and Beyond

Deepa Iyer, author of Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, will provide a roadmap for how we can engage in effective and sustainable social change efforts as individuals and organizations during times of crisis and beyond.

Deepa is a South Asian American writer, strategist, and lawyer. Her work is rooted in Asian American, South Asian, Muslim, and Arab communities where she spent fifteen years in policy advocacy and coalition building in the wake of the September 11th attacks and ensuing backlash. Currently, Deepa leads projects on solidarity and social movements at the Building Movement Project, where she conducts workshops and trainings, uplifts narratives through the Solidarity Is This podcast, and facilitates solidarity strategy for cohorts and networks.

Deepa’s first book, We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future (The New Press, 2015), chronicles community-based histories in the wake of 9/11 and received a 2016 American Book Award. Deepa’s most recent book (2022), a guide based on the social change ecosystem map that she created, is called Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection. Her debut children’s picture book, We Are The Builders, will be released in the fall of 2024.

Deepa serves on the advisory council of the Emergent Fund, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland in the Asian American Studies and Public Policy programs. An immigrant who moved to Kentucky from Kerala (India), Deepa graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School and Vanderbilt University.

Sustaining Our Purpose:
The “Why” Beyond Your DEI Commitment

Jessica Garcia, PhD, is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Manager for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan. She received her doctorate in Sociology from Michigan State University in 2008. Dr. Garcia collaborates with the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in leading the DEI 2.0 strategic plan for LSA to increase access, retention, and success for faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students. Additionally, Dr. Garcia reports to the LSA Chief People Officer and partners with the People Team, including LSA HR and the Faculty and Staff Disability Navigators, to ensure that HR policies for the college align with its DEI strategic objectives and values and to build the DEI competencies of its staff. She also designs and facilitates DEI-related professional development opportunities for administrative leadership, faculty, staff, and student employees in the college as well as provides consulting and crisis-management support for the LSA Dean’s Office and departments around emergent DEI-related issues. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Garcia held a joint position in the Department of Sociology and the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives at Michigan State University.

Dr. Keenan Colquitt, Jr. is the Program Manager for Diversity Scholar Engagement with the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan. Within this role, he facilitates initiatives, such as the Diversity Scholars Network, that are committed to advancing understandings of historical and contemporary social issues related to identity, difference, culture, representation, power, oppression, and inequality — as they occur and affect individuals, groups, communities, and institutions. Dr. Colquitt has a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies; each from Bowling Green State University. In addition, he has a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Stony Brook University. Prior to working at U of M, Dr. Colquitt held a joint faculty appointment in the Higher Education & Student Affairs and the Public Administration master’s program at Northern Michigan University, where he was also affiliated faculty in the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program.

He is the outgoing chair for the Coalition on Men and Masculinities; an entity group operating within ACPA (College Student Educators International), and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Men’s Studies. He has published on gender socialization in college men, men’s violence, toxic and productive masculinity, whiteness, and developing critical consciousness in leadership. 

Mateen Zafer serves as the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Manager at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. In his current role, a large portion of Mateen’s portfolio is focused on student engagement and development, including leading the DEI Office’s student intern program and the School’s DEI professional development suite for students. In addition to his academic and professional expertise, Mateen regularly seeks to expand his knowledge base with critical training in anti-racism frameworks, restorative justice, and disability justice. Mateen holds a Master of Social Work from New York University (NYU) and a BA from Western Illinois University. He brings fourteen years of experience in higher education and a deep commitment to social change, equity, and empowerment to the University of Michigan community. Mateen has extensive experience working with student leaders in a range of higher education settings, including large private and public research institutions and small private institutions. In addition to diverse institutional knowledge, he understands student engagement from a variety of different institutional roles including as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at NYU, Coordinator of Mentorship & Diversity Initiatives, and Senior Assistant Director of Admission at Colorado College. In each institution and role in which he has worked, Mateen has further expanded and sharpened his expertise in student engagement and development.

Dr. Whitney Peoples serves as the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the U-M School of Public Health. She brings over 20 years of experience in feminist and critical race research, activism, and teaching to her work at the School of Public Health. She earned a PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University. She has spoken and written on the intersections of race, gender, health, and popular culture, taught broadly in the areas of Women’s and Gender Studies and African American Studies, and published critical essays on topics including Black autobiography, advertising for oral contraceptives, and anti-racist teaching. She is a co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective and co-editor of the book Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations|Theory|Practice|Critique.

Dr. Yusef Bunchy Shakur is rooted in the profound legacy of his mama Ava Jo; her love, humor, sacrifices, and dedication have profoundly shaped him to become the man he is. He is well versed in the language and syntax of the Black experience and that of Black Detroit as a father, scholar, filmmaker, and organizer.

Dr. Shakur epitomizes redemption and Black Transformation from what he identifies as a street-holic to a Black Organic Intellectual and unorthodox leader. He demonstrates his commitment to the revolutionary principles of racial and social justice to enhance the lives of Black people, other oppressed people and to systematic racism, eradicate sexism and economic inequality through his works of community-neighborhood building as the Director of the Mama Akua Community House and as a member of Community Movement Builders.

He has been featured in numerous newspaper articles, as well as local and national television and radio interviews, and has received numerous awards such as the University of Michigan School of Social Work Carol Goss Leadership Award 2019, Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Award 2019, and Michigan Coalition for Human Rights Community Activist Award 2022 and The Moth Grand SLAM Detroit Champion 2022 and the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award 2023. He currently serves as the Co-Executive Director at the Michigan Roundtable for Just Communities and successfully defended his dissertation, Unveiling My Soul: A Dialect Memoir Using Scholarly Personal Narrative and Autoethnography to Examine Controlling Images Between My Mama and Me in November of 2023. This accomplishment led to the completion of his PhD from Union Institute & University, specializing in Public Policy & Social Change in 2024.

Financial Empowerment: Your Money Story

Gabriella Boufford, LMSW, Counselor at CEW+
Hussey Room, Michigan League

In today’s social media-driven world, we are bombarded with financial advice and conflicting messages, promising quick wealth, retirement security, or debt relief. This flood of information can be more overwhelming than helpful, often leading to anxiety rather than clarity. What these messages frequently overlook is the emotional and psychological aspects of money as well as the societal systems that impact our financial behaviors.

In collaboration with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, LMSW, Licensed Financial Therapist, Author and Speaker, CEW+ has created an engaging series designed to empower individuals to take control of their finances. In this workshop, presented by Gabriella Boufford, LMSW, a certified Financial Social Worker, participants will delve into the origins of their unique money stories through self-reflective and interactive exercises.

Participants will: 

• Explore their personal money beliefs and gain the tools to make financial decisions that align with their values 
• Gain valuable insights from their peers’ diverse perspectives
• Reduce anxiety around finances, improve control over their financial future, and begin a journey towards a more balanced and empowered relationship with money.

Gabriella Boufford: After receiving her Master’s degree in Social Work from U-M in 2017, Gabriella applied survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and advocacy-based interventions in a community-based setting. In her current role as CEW+ Counselor, she utilizes a holistic approach, empowering individuals to reach their career and educational goals. Gabriella aims to create a safe space for individuals to recognize their strengths, overcome barriers, and achieve their fullest potential.

 

Personal Storytelling and the Arts as Advocacy

Liz DeBetta, Ph.D., Advocacy Program Manager at CEW+
Vandenberg Room, Michigan League

This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the ways that personal storytelling and the arts can be used to advance advocacy. Attendees will learn how reflective writing can help give voice and value to lived experience and be used to reshape public discourse by making the invisible visible. Using a trauma-informed approach participants will be guided through a series of writing/sharing exercises to begin to write a self-narrative that honors individual lived experience. Grounded in principles of writing as a healing practice participants will leave with tools to begin to think about writing as a generative process that can be used to find clarity, understand the effects of trauma, promote personal growth, and become the seed of storytelling work as advocacy and activism.

Workshop Goals: 

• To introduce the concept of reflective writing as a tool for giving voice to internal experiences
• To develop a process for using writing as an ongoing practice of self-discovery and deeper connection
• To begin to write a self-narrative that might form the foundation of a longer piece of public storytelling
• To concretize how the arts can be used as advocacy and activism

Dr. Liz DeBetta is ​committed to changing systems and helping people navigate trauma through creative processes. She believes that stories are powerful change agents and when we write them and share them we connect and heal. Affiliate Faculty at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and part of the Diversity Scholars Network at the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan, she has published articles on autoethnography and adoptee narratives, has an award-winning one woman show called Un-M-Othered, facilitates trauma informed healing workshops for adoptees and women, and is the author of Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal: Migrating Toward Wholeness.

Tuning In & Speaking Up: Connecting Mindful Self-Compassion & Self-Advocacy

Erin Lane, B.S., Scholarship Program Manager at CEW+
Kalamazoo Room, Michigan League

Self-advocacy starts with self-awareness. Mindfulness meditation and self-compassion can offer powerful tools to clarify expectations, goals, and emotions around seeking support to meet your needs. This workshop introduces key concepts of self-compassion and uses guided mindfulness exercises to explore individual needs. Participants will practice mindfulness meditation to clarify the change or support they seek and identify what step of self-advocacy fits their current situation –  whether they are still defining the issue, preparing to speak up, taking action, or navigating the outcome.  

Workshop Goals: 

• Explore the connections between mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-compassion
• Define the steps in self-advocacy
• Practice mindfulness meditation techniques
• Review resources for information gathering, support, and assertive communication

Erin Lane, BA manages the CEW+ scholarship and fellowship funding programs, including work with applicants, review committees, campus partners, and the development team to oversee the process from start to finish. Erin also provides programmatic support for the CEW+ Scholar Community and consults on signature events hosted by the Center. In addition, she facilitates CEW+ Midweek Mindfulness, currently held virtually on Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45 pm. Erin has over 10 years of experience in student services at U-M and is currently earning her MSW at the U-M School of Social Work.

Empowering Workplace Communication

Hope Kennedy, CEW+ Counseling Intern
Courtney Reid, MSW, LMSW-Clinical, Counseling Program Manager
Vandenberg Room, Michigan League

Join the CEW+ Counseling Team as we discuss common communication concerns in the workplace and offer strategies for engaging from a place of empowerment. Throughout this interactive session, participants will explore various communication styles, learn strategies to effectively communicate their needs and boundaries, and gain insight to navigate challenging career situations.

Participants will: 

• Understand the significance of effective communication in the workplace and how it impacts professional relationships and productivity.
• Learn about different communication styles that exist in a professional setting, enabling them to adapt their communication approach to interact more effectively in the workplace.
• Learn how to communicate boundaries assertively, and gain an understanding of maintaining a balance between work and personal responsibilities.

Hope Kennedy is a current Masters of Social Work student at U-M. Aftering earning her BA in History and Spanish from U-M, she became interested in Social Work as a tool to empower individuals and communities on both a local and global scale. Her background includes working with international students and Spanish-speaking populations more broadly. At CEW+, Hope takes a holistic approach, meeting participants where they are and recognizing them as experts of their own experiences to support their career and educational goals.

Courtney Reid, MSW, LMSW-Clinical provides academic and career counseling services to those seeking to further and refine their educational and professional pursuits. By utilizing a holistic framework, she aims to help others define their concept of well-being, identify meaningful goals and accomplish them while honoring their inner resiliency. In addition to her direct counseling work, she provides administrative oversight to the Counseling Program and Social Work Internship Program at CEW+. Courtney is an alum of the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Supporting Nontraditional Student Success: Pathways to Positive Change

Grace Christiansen, Ed.M, Student Program Manager at CEW+
Vandenberg Room, Michigan League

This workshop is for faculty, staff, and program administrators to learn about common identities that may make students feel marginalized on the Ann Arbor campus. Working through real-life examples, we will explore common challenges many nontraditional students face and discuss strategies that staff can easily implement to best support students and create a more welcoming, supportive, and inclusive campus climate. 

Workshop Goals: 

• Participants will learn to recognize nontraditional student identities at U-M and the common barriers they face
• Participants will be able to identify current campus resources that help address the needs of nontraditional students. 
• Participants will learn practical methods to create positive change for nontraditional students.

Grace Christiansen, Ed.M manages the CEW+ student programs, which support nontraditional students at the University of Michigan and empower them to reach their full potential. Grace is committed to making the U-M experience accessible to all students. Before joining CEW+, Grace worked in education program management and education equity research. She holds an Ed.M in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in English and Political Science from Lawrence University.

 

Walking the Line: Black Youth Perspectives on Navigating the Law—Harnessing Community-Based Research for Advocacy

Camille R. Quinn, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Hussey Room, Michigan League

This workshop explores the lived experiences of Black young adults as they navigate the challenges of staying on the right side of the law. Perspectives on the systemic and structural barriers they face and what it truly takes to avoid entanglement with the criminal legal system will be explored. Also, we will discuss how participants will be engaged using community-based research methods that center on advocacy, empowering attendees to use research as a tool for social change. Learn how to amplify Black youth voices and develop actionable strategies for fostering justice and equity in your community.

Workshop Goals: 

• Understanding Systemic Barriers: Participants will learn about the systemic and structural barriers that Black young adults face in their efforts to stay on the right side of the law. They will leave the workshop with a deeper awareness of how these challenges impact youth and communities.
• Empowering through Research: Attendees will be equipped with community-based research methods that center on advocacy. They will leave the workshop with the skills to use research as a powerful tool for promoting social change and justice.
• Actionable Advocacy Strategies: Participants will develop actionable strategies for amplifying Black youth voices and advocating for justice and equity. They will leave the workshop with a concrete plan to implement these strategies within their own communities or organizations.

Dr. Camille R. Quinn, PhD, AM, LCSW, LISW-S is a health criminologist scholar who uses mixed methods to investigate the health and mental health equity of Black/African American girls and young women with legal system-involvement to culturally tailor effective interventions to reduce their mental health burden and promote crime desistance. Dr. Quinn is a Principal Investigator (PI) for two National Institute of Health funded studies (R21 and Loan Repayment Program Award) investigating legal system-involved Black girls’ and their caregivers’ stress and protective factors. She is also the PI of a MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge grant to increase criminal justice reform. She is a Society for Social Work Research Fellow, a 2023 Milestone Awardee from the University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice (AM ’98), and a 2024 Innovation in Research and Teaching Awardee from the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

 

VIRTUAL PANEL | Advocacy in Action: 2024 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award Winners

Braids, Twists, and Surgical Knots (BTSK) and Disabilities, Research, Education and Advocacy Movement (DREAM)

 

The Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist (TFVSA) Program brings to CEW+ a social justice activist whose work affects women and recognizes gender equity issues. One goal of the program is to build the capacity and effectiveness of social activists. This is accomplished by giving the TFVSA time, space, and support to work on a project that would not be possible under the activist’s usual working circumstances.

The TFVSA program gives the selected TFVSA time for reflection, research, planning, and writing related to the area of activism. Each TFVSA is required to work on a project that will advance the future work of the TFVSA and potentially benefit other activists.

Caroline Rucah
2024 Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist

Caroline Rucah Mwochi is a 36-year-old feminist and a human rights defender advocating for safe spaces and access for all persons including LGBTQ+ persons. As a pansexual, non-binary person, they center intersectional feminism at the core of all their advocacy actions. Caroline is currently a co-founder and Executive Director of LETS BE TESTED QUEENS also known as Western Kenya LBQT Feminist Forum – WKLFF.

Caroline has over 16 years of experience in working on human rights for all and has vast experience in movement building, mental health, sexual reproductive health and rights, policy advocacy, building public support, media engagement, working with national, regional, and international mechanisms, needs assessment, program and project management, financial management, project development, and resource mobilization.

She has engaged with regional and international instruments including the International Conference for Population Development (ICPD), the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the UN, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). She has also had several engagements with the Dutch, Belgian, Canadian, Danish, Swedish, and Finnish governments as well as the EU parliament.

She is the current chairperson for the Western Kenya LBQ Organizations Collective and is the chairperson emeritus of the Right Here Right Now One (RHRN 1) platform in Kenya. She has been involved in the development of the National AIDS and HIV Control Program (NASCOP), Standard Operating Procedures and Manual for Religious Leaders Engagement, and the development of a mental health manualized program (WEMA) for sexual and gender minorities. She was also part of a research by the William Institute School of Law – Sexual and Gender Minorities in Western Kenya. She is one of the publishers and brains behind the conception for ‘Herdithi’ a heart-wired publication for lived reality stories of LBQITGNC persons in western Kenya. Caroline is also one of the publishers of Mental Health Challenges and Needs among Sexual and Gender Minority People in Western Kenya: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1311/pdf.

This video highlights the impact of being named the 2024 CEW+ Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist. Listen and watch as Caroline Rucah shares highlights from her month-long visit to Ann Arbor. To learn more about the Western Kenya LBQT Feminist Forum, follow them on Instagram at @wklff.lbqt.

Click here to view:

• Position Paper: “Mental Health Needs And Policy Gaps For LBQT+ Persons In Western Kenya: An Intersectional Approach To Inclusive Health Care”
• How to Self-Care for Mental Health graphic
• The handout “LBQT+ Activist and Burnout: Building Rescilliance. How to Quiet Your Mind in the Midst of Chaos”

Holly Nicole Semma
2025 Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist

 

2024 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change Winners

Braids, Twists, and Surgical Knots (BTSK)

Using the concept of “community-centered intervention” The Braids, Twists, and Surgical Knots (BTSK) initiative encourages young Black girls to consider a career in surgery by connecting it to the culturally significant topic of Black hair. By partnering with a professional salon and connecting surgery to ethnically relevant hairstyling, the goal is to meet Black girls where they are and help them see the skills they may already possess as valuable and easily transferable to the surgical field. According to the BTSK team, “The historical narrative of Black hair has been plagued by imposter syndrome and feelings of inadequacy and shame. This has been especially true in academic and professional environments, where one is expected to conform to Eurocentric styling standards in order to succeed in these spaces of traditional hierarchy. Because Black hair is integral to cultural identity, it is apparent how this messaging can be detrimental to self-worth and future aspirations. BTSK, in its efforts to connect surgery with Black hair, attempts to rewrite the narrative into one that equips and empowers. We work to encourage Black adolescents to pursue and succeed in historically underrepresented medical careers not despite their hair, but because of it”. As a result of their creativity in devising strategic approaches to advocacy and problem-solving and demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion BTSK is awarded the 2024 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award.

• Read the bios of BTSK members
• View the BTSK recording

 

Disabilities, Research, Education and Advocacy Movement (DREAM)

Disabilities, Research, Education and Advocacy Movement (DREAM) was founded in 2019 to empower persons with disabilities (PWD) and their allies in the under-resourced and predominantly Arab-American population of Dearborn, MI. A hallmark of DREAM’s efforts focuses on amplifying the voices of those with disabilities in our community through our dedicated podcast platform, Discovering Disabilities in Dearborn. The podcast offers an inclusive space where guests with disabilities are invited to share their personal narratives and lived experiences. Through these conversations, DREAM  aims to educate, foster understanding, and nurture unity within the Arab-American community about varying disabilities. DREAM’s endeavors embody not just advocacy but a creative reimagining of accessibility landscapes, constantly challenging the status quo and envisioning a more inclusive society. As a result of their sustained effort and demonstrated outcomes in achieving greater equity in their community through effective coalition building they are awarded the 2024 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award.

• Read the bios of DREAM members
• View the DREAM presentation/slides
• View the DREAM recording

This symposium is supported by funding from the CEW+ Advocacy & Policy Fund and the Christobel Kotelawela Weerasinghe Fund of CEW+. CEW+ Leadership Council Member Emerita Menakka Bailey created the fund in honor of her mother, Christobel Kotelawela Weerasinghe, a lifelong advocate of cross-cultural dialogue and advancement for women.