YWCA Rock County Announces Keynote Speakers for 7th Annual Racial Justice Conference

Janesville, Wisconsin – YWCA Rock County is excited to announce the speakers for the 7th Annual Racial Justice Conference that will be held virtually on November 4th 2021. “BE THE BRIDGE TO ELIMINATE RACISM: Small steps create big changes!” is the theme for the conference this year. YWCA Rock County invites participants to join virtually from their home, school or office, as presenters offer insight into supporting diverse populations here in our community and beyond.Reasons to attend: Learn how to foster diversity, inclusion, creativity, and growth within your business, school, organization and community from experts in the field. Build a network of peers and resources and learn how to take action.YWCA Rock County is pleased to announce the morning Keynote Speaker will be Simon Balto. Simon Balto is a scholar, writer, and teacher of History and African American Studies. He is the author of the multi-award-winning Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power (University of North Carolina Press, 2019). He is a regular contributor for The Guardian, and has written for multiple scholarly and popular publications, including TIME, The Washington Post, The Baffler, The Progressive, The Journal of African American History, Journal of Urban History, and Labor, among others. His media appearances include live interviews on the BBC World News, CNBC, and Al-Jazeera, as well as dozens of interviews for print pieces published around the world. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after previously working at the University of Iowa and Ball State University. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.YWCA is also excited to announce that Pardeep Kaleka will be the afternoon Keynote Speaker. Co-Founder of Serve2Unite, Published Author of “The Gifts of Our Wounds,” Award-winning Community Relations Journalist and Trauma Therapist. A native of Punjab, India, Pardeep Singh Kaleka grew up in Milwaukee, WI. Formerly a Police Officer and Educator, and currently as a Peace Activist/Consultant, Pardeep collaborates with government and non-government stakeholders to create policy and procedures to combat the rise of hate in the US.Both in his practice and out, Pardeep's passion remains one of healing and transformation.An example of this is Serve2Unite, an organization he co-founded in response to tragedy which engages communities in building healthy social fabric and communal identity to address conflict from a trauma-informed mental health approach. Over the past 7 years, the work of Serve2Unite has been locally and internationally recognized as the recipient of The Search for Common Ground Award, Citizen Diplomat Award, The Guru Nanak Award, and The Parliament of World Religions for the work of building safe, inclusive communities and schools. Contributions can be found @serve2unite.org or @giftofourwounds.com.Registration is $100.00 per person if registering between September 15th – October 15th and $125.00 per person if registering between October 16th – November 4th. Students are $50 per person. Registration for the conference on November 4th will open mid-September. Once registration opens in mid-September, you will be able register and pay for the conference online with a credit/debit card. You can also contact Georgean Hunt at (608) 752-5445, ext. 200 she is able to help with credit/debit card or check payments as well as invoice submissions.YWCA Rock County is also accepting nominations for the Dorothy Height Diversity in the Workplace Award. This award is celebrated and presented annually at the Racial Justice Conference. This award recognizes a business within Rock County that has demonstrated a sustained commitment in the pursuit of cultural diversity, inclusion and retention in the workplace. Nomination forms are due by September 27th 2021. The full application can be downloaded directly here: https://www.ywcarockcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/71/2021-Dorothy-Height-Award-Nomination-Form-1.pdfFor additional questions about the YWCA Rock County Racial Justice Conference, please contact Amiee Leavy, YWCA Rock County’s Racial Justice Director at aleavy@ywcarockco.com.