The Racial Equity and Society Leadership Seminars provide opportunities for leaders from a variety of sectors to immerse themselves in readings, dialogue and collective work around issues of race, ethnicity and equity. These are customized, one to five-day, readings-based, nonpartisan seminars led by expert moderators. They are conducted with diverse groups in a safe environment.

The seminars are designed to create a critical mass of “new voices” for racial equity and inclusion that have an analytical framework and skills to tackle the next generation of equity and inclusion challenges that are being created by several 21st century trends.

UPCOMING SEMINAR OPPORTUNITIES:

The next Racial Equity Leadership Seminar will be held May 28-June 1, 2013. Participants who have been selected for this Seminar will be notified no later than April 1st, 2013.

SEMINAR GOALS:

• To provide participants with a framework for understanding how and why racial inequities endure, including insights into racial dynamics in 21^st century America.
• To enable participants to reexamine the historical foundations, underlying assumptions, and current political and social dynamics that shape contemporary public debate about race and equity.
• To help participants apply these insights to the social, economic, and political challenges in their own companies, organizations or communities by creating a detailed racial equity plan.

BEYOND THE SEMINARS: Thought to Action

Staff of the Aspen Roundtable on Community Change provide follow-up support to Seminar alumni as they work to implement and refine their racial equity plans. Some alumni work with Roundtable staff to turn their plans into on the ground initiatives. There is considerable evidence showing the impact on individuals, organizations, and even entire cities. For example:

• Eighty civic leaders from Jacksonville FL – including the Mayor, sheriff, school board, media professionals, and corporate and community leaders – have participated in the seminars and developed an initiative, Project Breakthrough: Changing the Story of Race in Jacksonville, to promote racial equity and fairness in their city.
• An Aspen Seminar alumnus introduced a bill to the New Mexico State Legislature to encourage "every agency and entity that receives state funding to adopt a policy to address institutional racism."

BASIC SEMINAR DATA:

• 19 Seminars held since 2003
• 475 participants attended
• 15 cities represented
• 100 organizations represented

For more information about the Racial Equity & Society Seminars, please contact us at RCCinfo@aspeninstitute.org .