We are so proud to report that Neighborhood House’s first Equity Summit was a success! 234 NH staff and guests came together to learn about topics related to equity, cycles of poverty, and what we can do to put our newfound knowledge to use for the communities we serve.
Attendees had a choice of 5 different breakout sessions to attend. We had amazing educators and presenters, and a delicious lunch provided by South Seattle College and Banana Grill. Our keynote speaker, Angela Garbes, gave a moving and powerful address. It was a beautiful day of coming together and learning in community.
Topics of inequity, lack of access, racism, and poverty are deep, multi-layered and hard. It can be so uncomfortable to speak about amongst peers, let alone to learn about these topics in public. To learn in public requires being vulnerable and trusting those that you are learning with. That’s what we did here at Neighborhood House.
Here are some of the comments we received from attendees:
“I felt… able to challenge and push along the work Neighborhood House is doing to become an equitable, antiracist organization.”
“I loved the summit! It taught me more about the difference of equal vs. equity.”
“I would have made the sessions longer!”
With all the enthusiasm that we had around this Summit we are looking to bringing it back in 2025!!
Rochelle Hazard, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access