Conference Agenda - American Association for Access Equity and Diversity

October 7 – 8, 2021 and
October 11 – 15, 2021

REFLECT, RESET AND MOVE TOWARDS JUSTICE, EQUITY AND INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

PLEASE NOTE: Many of the conference workshops will be presented using Zoom. Once you register for the Conference Package or the Self-Development sessions, you will receive a notice from Zoom along with the link for login to each workshop. If you do not receive a notice about an upcoming session, please contact AAAED at: execdir@aaaed.org or aaaaexecdir@gmail.com. The Main October Conference, October 13 – 15, 2021, will be produced by Matchbox Virtual Media and you will receive separate login information from Matchbox.

See the Conference Agenda Grid below. Please contact us at Program2021@aaaed.org or execdir@aaaed.org if you have questions. Tel: 202-349-9855. Please note that there may be changes to the program.

The year 2021 marks the 47th Anniversary of the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), formerly the American Association for Affirmative Action. It is also the 60th Anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925 – the first Order to require equal opportunity and affirmative action in the workplaces of federal contractors. The theme of the AAAED National Conference this year is “Reflect, Reset and Move Towards Justice, Equity and Inclusive Excellence.” In view of the challenges the world faces, with an unprecedented pandemic and health crisis, and the outcry for racial justice, the AAAED conference theme could not be more appropriate. We have chosen to turn these challenges to an online opportunity. Moreover, we are learning to embrace the technology of today and promote our mission of access, equity and diversity in a virtual environment.

On October 7 – 8, 2021, we will host for the first time, two days dedicated to the self-care and professional development of our members and attendees. As an association, AAAED’s motto is: “Advocate. Educate. Activate.” The two-day Self-Development Program is dedicated to the “Activate” portion of our motto, where we place emphasis on the personal development of our members. This is particularly important given the fact that during the past two years the nation has been ravaged by COVID-19. The program will address such questions as: “How do we cope with the adjustments we had to make to protect ourselves and our families from this pandemic? How do we successfully perform our jobs when most of the work we do is virtual?” As equal opportunity professionals (EOPs), what is our career trajectory and where does it lead?

On October 11 – 15, we will host Pre-Conference Workshops (October 11 – 12) and the Main Conference (October 13 – 15) The virtual conference will include keynoters who have recently taken the lead at federal EEO agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education. The meeting will culminate in the Annual Awards Ceremony.

On November 4, 2021, AAAED is pleased to hold its first Accessible Career Fair with ABILITY Corps | ABILITY Job Fair | SCORE, an organization that specializes in promoting Job Fairs that are accessible to everyone. True to our tagline, “Advocate. Educate. Activate,” the AAAED Career Fair and its 47th National Conference are intended to promote access, equity, diversity and inclusion in colleges and universities, private industry and government.

Thank you for your support of AAAED! We look forward to “seeing” you at the Conference!

Date	Event
Thursday, October 7 10:00 am – 5:00 pm ET	AAAED Day for Self-Care and Wellness Programs Opening: Wanda Malden, PDTI Mindfulness: Dr. Missy Johnson, Mindfulness: An Effective Tool for Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Cooking Demonstration: Pastry Chef Natalie D. Sims, Wanda Malden Practitioner Self-Care: Compassion Fatigue: What does this mean for Practitioners? Nakisha Pugh, ODEP Panel Discussion: Self-Care Strategies: A Call to Action to Maintain Resilience Financial Wellness: How to Maintain Financial Fitness, Jay Young, MBA
Friday, October 8 10:00 am – 5:00 pm ET	AAAED Day for Professional Development Programs Opening: Dr. Richard Anthony Baker, AAAED President Keynote Speaker: Lawanda Holliman “Are We There Yet?” Panel One: The State of the Equal Opportunity Professional: Fighting the Fight, Challenges and Opportunities Panel Two: Pathways to the next job for Mid-Career professionals, Lessons learned from fellow EOPs. Panel Three: New Professionals and Career Changers: How to Enter the Profession, Resume Building and the job Search. Presenter: Vondaleir Wright, “Tapping into your True Power: How to Recognize & Build upon Your Unique Capabilities”
Pre-Conference Day One
Monday, October 11 10:00 am – 10:45 am	Opening & Express Talk-Supporting Success for Working Adult Students with Learning Disabilities-Gabrielle Miller, Ed. D & Sheldon Horowitz, Ed. D, Alex Cannon, Manager, Kevin Rockmael
11:00 am – 1:30 pm	Masterclass #1 * Dr. Myron Anderson and Dr. Percy Morehouse
2:00 pm – 4:30 pm	Masterclass #2 Evaluating Equity & Inclusion: Using Audits & Assessments to Understand & Strengthen Campus Climate & Racial Equity-Pamela Coukos, Working Ideal, Ellen Eardley, Doris Quintanilla, and Ahmmad Brown
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm	AAAED Board Meeting

Pre-Conference Day Two
Tuesday, October 12 10:00 am – 11:15 am	OFCCP Regional Directors Panel
11:15 am – 1:45 pm	Deeper Dive #1-More than a Feeling Leveraging the Power of Regression Analysis to Evaluate & Explain Hiring Decisions-Michelle Duncan & Krystal Welland
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm	Pre-Conference Workshop #3-Reflecting & Resetting: What Covid-19 taught us about Discrimination & Reasonable Accommodation-Marilynn Schuyler
3:45 pm – 5:00 pm	Pre-Conference Workshop #4-ODEP Employees Panel
5:15-6:15 pm	Federal Employees Panel
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm	LEAD Fund Board Meeting**
Main Conference Day One
Wednesday, October 13 10:00 am – 11:00 am	Welcome-Dr. Richard Baker, ODEP Assistant Secretary Tamryn Williams, OCR Acting Asst. Sec. Suzanne Goldberg
11:00 am - 11:45 am	Keynote: Jenny R. Yang, Director OFCCP
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm	Keynote : EEOC Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels
1:00 pm – 2:15 pm	Workshop #1-Is Empathy the Link? Mitigating Bias in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Initiatives-Dr. Carla Thomas
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm	Workshop #2 Express Talk-Utilizing the OFCCP Ombuds Service-Marcus Stergio Workshop #3-Legal & Compliance Panel
Main Conference Day Two
Thursday, October 14 10:00 am – 11:00 am	AAAED, HERC, & NADOHE Panel
11:00 am – 11:45 am	Express Talk- A Decentralized Approach to Advancing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in Academia- Dr. Debra Blair and Naima Hall
12:15 pm – 1:30 pm	Workshop #4-Employee Engagement through the Lens of Disability-Rosemary Cox, Marcelle Clauette, DCI Consulting Group
1:45 pm – 3:15pm	Workshop #5-Enhancing DE&I through Pay Equity-H. Juanita Beecher, Yolanda Hunter, Consuela A. Pinto, & Joanna Colosimo
3:15 pm – 4:30 pm	Workshop #6-The “E” in DEI: Equity Should Not be treated as Equal-Thomas Carnahan (Berkshire Assoc.) Cheryl Boyer
Main Conference Day Three
Friday, October 15 10:00 am – 11:00 am	Critical Race Theory Panel, Sponsored by the Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity (LEAD Fund)
11:00 am – 12:15 pm	Workshop #7-Unconscious Bias in Interviewing-Katie Magoon
12:30 pm – 1:45 pm	Workshop #8-Unique Challenges of Conducting a Faculty Pay Equity Analysis in an Academic Institution-Joshua S. Roffman, Alissa A. Horvitz, Roffman Horvitz, PLC
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm	Awards Ceremony
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm	Closing Remarks-Dr. Baker & Adjourn