Agenda:AlexandriaCommunity News

Public INVITED: Alexandria Panel to Discuss Racial Equity, Diversion and Inclusion, January 25

Citizens assembled at Charles Houston Recreation Center early June 2020. (Photo by Allison Priebe for The Zebra Press)

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Agenda:Alexandria, a non-partisan organization which has encouraged informed debate and discussion on a wide variety of local issues without taking a position for the last two decades, is kicking off their 2021 panel series with a program entitled, “Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Alexandria,” taking place live online Monday, January 25 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

The public is invited to join the conversation with local and national leaders and attend for free by signing up boa Eventbrite or Facebook.

“This discussion is in response to the murder of George Floyd, deep inequities in COVID-19 outcomes between people of color and their white counterparts, and the recent presidential election, Americans are engaging in a new conversation about race and structural racism,” says Agenda:Alexandria’s Executive Director Pat Miller in a recent press release.

According to Alyia Gaskins, moderator for Agenda Alexandria’s January 25 program and Agenda Alexandria Board Member “At a local level, Alexandria is not immune from these issues and therefore cannot escape these conversations. Yet sometimes it seems as though we are talking past each other instead of listening and engaging in a dialogue that will move our city forward. Community conversations that bring important stakeholders together to discuss race, equity, and inclusion can help Alexandria’s growth.”

The panelists intend to ask what Alexandria as a community needs to understand about diversity, equity, and inclusion to engage in better conversation? And from an educational perspective, what do important terms such as allyship, racial justice, and microagression mean?

Among the panelists are Bernadette Onyenaka and Sara VanderGoot.

Bernadette Onyenaka, MS, MPM, is principal & co-founder of O&G Racial Equity Collaborative.  Prior to starting O&G, Bernadette was a National Urban Fellow at the California Wellness Foundation, where she developed recommendations and best practice for strategies to advance racial equity and innovation.

Sara VanderGoot is a nationally certified massage therapist, Birth Doula, registered Yoga teacher (e-RYT 500), Yoga teacher trainer, and co-owner of Mind the Mat Pilates & Yoga.

To register on Eventbrite, click here. To register via Facebook, visit this event page.

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Mary Wadland

Mary Wadland is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Zebra Press, founded by her in 2010. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Mary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, VA and has lived and worked in the Alexandria publishing community since 1987.

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