Riverside County Office of Education
Home MenuThe 2021 Excellence Through Equity Conference will provide specific tools to support systems, structures, and practices that will strengthen our county, districts, and school sites to have shared directions and actions as we move towards equity.
When we take bold, deliberate, and courageous moves, the systems will adjust. By being intentional and focused in our team’s work, we will build authentic relationships as educators, that will in turn foster positive relationships with our scholars.
"We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own."
- Cesar Chavez, United Farm Workers
Target Audience
School, district, and county level administrators and teacher leaders.
District and school teams are encouraged to attend.
Dates & Time
October 5, 2021 12:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
October 6, 2021 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
October 7, 2021 12:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Location
Schedapp and Zoom
Registration
Individual Registration: $150
Note: No refunds after August 30, 2021. No refunds for no-show participants. All cancellations must be made in writing before August 31, 2021, to June Miller.
Spanish and ASL interpreters available upon request.
CLICK HERE FOR SESSION INFORMATION
SPEAKERS
Dr. Nicole Anderson
Founder and CEO, Nichole Anderson and Associates Consulting LLC
Session: Redefining Student Success with an Equity Lens
Dr. Anderson has served in education for over 20 years in the role of teacher, coach, as well as principal in Vallejo, Ca, where she started her career at Jesse M. Bethel High School (The namesake of her grandfather). She played the role of Equity Executive for the Association of California School Administrators to support equity leadership across school districts. Read Biography.
Dr. Robin Avelar La Salle
CEO and Founder, Orenda Education (formerly Principal’s Exchange)
Session:
Shattering Inequities: Pushing Our Thinking and Actions to Meet the Moment
Shattering Inequities: T3-Targets, Teaming and Trust
Dr. Robin Avelar La Salle has been a teacher, administrator and university professor, and her career as an “equity warrior” is captured in her books: Shattering Inequities: Real Life Wisdom for School and District Leaders (2018), and Data Strategies to Uncover and Eliminate Hidden Inequities: The Wallpaper Effect (2010). Read biography.
Kimberli Breen
Regional Facilitator Director with the University of Kansas SWIFT Center
Session:
Creating a Culturally Responsive Multi-Tiered System of Family Partnerships
All About Student Voice: Creating Equitable Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in Secondary Schools
Kimber;i supports school, district and state teams with system-wide implementation efforts. Prior to joining the SWIFT team, Kim supported state, district and school-wide improvement with lead roles within the IL PBIS and IL MTSS Networks. As the first NY Statewide PBIS Coordinator, Kimberli helped to build local implementation capacity within county, family and community-based organizations. Read Biography.
Wade Colwell
Session: “Partnership in Stewardship" - Artful Inter-Generational Equity Work
Wade Antonio Colwell gratefully serves to learning communities as an author, circle keeper, cultural advocate, education consultant, facilitator, lyricist (MC), media creator, music curator (DJ), performer, restorative practitioner, singer, speaker, and teacher. Read Biography.
Zaretta Hammond
Author, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain
Session: How Cultural Responsive Teaching Can Accelerate Academic Achievement?
Zaretta Hammond has done work as a curriculum designer and professional developer and is a trained facilitator in anti-bias processes helping groups focus on learning to talk about issues of racial politics and privilege. Read biography.
Benjie Howard
Executive Director, New Wilderness Project
Session: “Partnership in Stewardship" - Artful Inter-Generational Equity Work
Mr. Howard's project is an outdoor education program focused on developing youth leadership for equity and land justice. He is the co-founder of Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!), a program offering an inter-generational, experiential, arts-based approach to school change efforts in public education. Read Biography.
Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D.
Founding Director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation and Professor and Dean Emeritus of the College of Education at San Diego State University
Sessions:
Practical Steps for Engaging and Empowering Black and Brown Students at Your School
Empowering Black and Brown Students at Your School
Dr. Joseph Johnson's work at the National Center for Urban School Transformation at San Diego State University focuses on identifying schools that achieve outstanding academic results for every demographic group and helping other schools pursue similar courses of action. Read biography.
Dr. Jose Lalas
Session: True Equity as a Long-Lasting Advocacy for Educational Justice
Jose Lalas has been involved in teacher education for 32 years as a faculty in both public and private universities (14 years at CSU Dominguez Hills; currently, 18 years at University of Redlands). Prior to his teacher education experience, Jose has been a junior high school classroom teacher. Read biography.
Dr. Yvette LaTunde
Professor of Organizational Leadership and Co-Director of the LaFetra College of Education Center for Educational Equity and Intercultural Research (CEEIR) at the University of La Verne.
Session: Centering the Abundance within Black families and communities to support students
In her role with CEEIR, she assists the community in identifying, studying, and recognizing P-20 schools that engage in highly effective practices that result in equitable outcomes for all students. Read biography.
Dr. Abdul-Malik Muhammad
President and Founding Team Leader, Akoben LLC
Session: Activating Student Voice in Our Equity Work: Blueprint for a Student Equity Panel
Dr. Abdul-Malik Muhammad has over 25 years serving both youth and adults as an educator, transformational leader, entrepreneur and author. Read biography.
Dr. Kathy Obear
President, Center for Transformation and Change
Session: Analyzing and Revising Policies, Practices, Programs, Norms, and Services with an EDI Lens
Dr. Kathy Obear is nationally recognized as an expert in helping leaders, change agents, and facilitators develop the capacity to create equitable, inclusive, and racially/socially just organizations. Read biography.
Dr. Vincent Pompei
Session: Creating Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments for LGBTQ+ Students: A specialized training for K-12 Educators
Dr. Vincent Pompei is an education consultant focused on equitable school practices and creating safe and welcoming schools for LGBTQ+ students. Previously, he was the Project Director for the Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership at San Diego State University and spent over ten years as a middle school teacher and high school counselor. Read biography.
Douglas Reeves, Ph.D.
Founder, Creative Leadership Solutions
Sessions:
Equity and Excellence NOW
Dr. Reeves is the author of more than 40 books and more than 100 articles on leadership and education. He has twice been named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series and was named the Brock International Laureate for his contributions to education. Read biography.
Dr. Heidi Luv Strikwerda
Session: True Equity as a Long-Lasting Advocacy for Educational Justice
Heidi Luv Strikwerda has been involved in education for 15 years as a teacher, administrator, and adjunct professor at the University of Redlands. She is a research-based intellect and is a passionate advocate in making equitable changes for all students. Read biography.
Dr. Duane Thomas
Session: From Guessing to Knowing: Building Evidence for Equity Impact
Duane E. Thomas has over 20 years of experience providing direct mental health services to children, youth and families. As a licensed clinical psychologist, a training and technical assistance specialist for the Mid-Atlantic PBIS Network at Sheppard Pratt Health Systems and assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dr. Thomas specializes in working with marginalized and medically underserved groups and communities. Read biography.
Contact Information
Charles Brown, Ed.D.
Director
(951) 826-6521