Conference Schedule

Check our 2022 Latinx Leads Virtual Conference Schedule sessions to learn more about the content we offer.

Day 1 – Friday, March 25, 2022 (12:00pm – 4:30pm EST)

Welcome & Keynote Session
12:00pm – 1:15pm EST
11:00am – 12:15pm CST
10:00am – 11:15am MST
9:00am – 10:15am PST

Facilitator: Jose L. Posos
Description: Stories are powerful. Sharing stories is foundational to the building of community. In this workshop, participants will experience an illuminating approach to communicating with each other about the multiple aspects of identity, while being listened to with compassion and respect. Not only will the participants learn about each other’s diverse backgrounds and experiences, but they will also have the opportunity to build relationships based on universal feelings and their common humanity. This activity will be the foundation for the conference experience, which focuses on the many identities that we all may or may not have in common. 

Session Block I
1:30pm – 2:45pm EST
12:30pm – 1:45pm CST
11:30am – 12:45pm MST
10:30am – 11:45am PST

Session A
Workshop Title: Is It A Man’s World?”: Machismo & Gender Roles within the Hispanic/Latine Community
Presenter: Coral Rewasiewicz
Description: Since the start of the #MeToo movement, more awareness of toxic masculinity has been brought to the forefront of discussions in all communities. Machismo within the Hispanic/Latine community has been prevalent for endless generations, pigeonholing people into strict gender roles within their cultural and familial constructs. These roles continue to have a negative cognitive-emotional impact, yet little of it has been academically studied. In this roundtable discussion, we will talk about the prevalence of toxic masculinity then and now, how it affects men, women, and LGBTQ+ youth, and how we move forward in redefining traditional gender norms.

Session B
Workshop Title: Hablemos about Mental Health
Presenter: Juliana Londono
Description: While mental health awareness has been on the rise, so has the demand and need for resources and access. However, the stigma continues to interfere with those who need help. During this workshop, we will discuss what salud mental means within our communities. Attendees will learn about self-care from a latinx lens and how to listen and refer to appropriate services.

Session C
Workshop Title: Bad Boys: Toxic Masculinity and its Effects on Everyone 
Presenter: Christopher Irving
Description: In this highly engaging session, the presenters will examine the history, pathology, and practical impact of the levels of toxicity in male identity development. Participants will explore the early messages those who identify as men receive and the potential impact on how males treat women and other men. After this workshop, all participants will walk away with strategies that both men and women can implement on their campus to hold men more accountable for their actions and support environments the counteract the stereotypical messages that exist in our communities around what it is to “be a man.

Break
2:45pm – 3:15pm EST
1:45pm – 2:15pm CST
12:45pm – 1:15pm MST
11:45am – 12:15pm PST

Session Block II
3:15pm – 4:30PM EST 
2:15pm – 3:30pm CST
1:15pm – 2:30pm MST
12:15pm – 1:30pm PST

Session A
Workshop Title: No More Drama: Using Restorative Practices in Social Justice Work
Presenter: Christopher Irving
Description: Conflict is an inevitable consequence when diverse and charismatic leaders are brought together for a common goal. However, how these leaders deal with those conflicts can determine how effectively the group will operate. This workshop is geared towards empowering participants with effective restorative practice skills that they can use to help facilitate difficult conversations, meetings, or events. Furthermore, attendees of this workshop will leave the session having explored their own comfort level with various dimensions of diversity that might be landmines for conflict.

Session B
Workshop Title: Creating an Inclusive Community for Your Students
Presenter: A. Tamika Quick
Description: Building Inclusive Communities is an initiative to promote inclusion, respect, and accountability to be different together. As higher education professionals we have to assess what inclusion efforts currently exist to support a sense of belonging for our students. After assessing what is being done well and what has opportunities for improvement we have to create action plans to cultivate cultural changes. Lastly, we must discuss ways to execute the initiatives while ensuring buy-in from students, faculty, and staff members. This workshop is geared towards reviewing various higher education assessments that are available to evaluate DEI efforts and discuss various initiatives and programs that can be implemented to move the needle forward towards inclusivity on college campuses.

Session C
Workshop Title: Autenticamente Tu – The Importance of Authenticity in Your Leadership Practic
Presenter: Rosana Reyes
Description: Authenticity is the alignment of your values and experience with your external contributions. This exploratory presentation will focus on helping you ignite the authentic leader in you as we explore the personal and professional benefits of leading from your true self. The presentation will address the mutually beneficial relationship between successful organizations and their genuine engagement with the community they serve. It will showcase how successful organizations or individuals start from a point of an authentic mission and vision. Their success is intrinsically connected to leading authentically and with a genuine focus on the unique needs of those they seek to serve.

Day 2 – Saturday, March 26, 2022 (10:00am-4:00pm EST)

Session Block III
10:00am – 11:15am EST
9:00am – 10:15am CST
8:00am – 9:15am MST
7:00am – 8:15am PST 

Session A
Workshop Title: No Apology Needed: Exploring apologist behavior in LBGTQ Communities
Presenter: Ayannah Johnson
Description: We often say some variation of “sorry” for trivial and unnecessary reasons. This can undermine our efficacy as leaders, advocates, and activists. The overuse and misuse of “sorry” can also result in minimizing others’ confidence in our ideas and abilities. Often, those in positions of privilege are less likely to apologize, even when it is appropriate. In this session, we will explore the appropriate use of the words and how to evaluate when to truly apologize. It is not about changing who you are rather it is about being intentional in how you show up.

Session B
Workshop Title: Confidence in your Leadership Style
Presenter: Zoila Quezada
Description: What does it mean to lead authentically and confidently? In this session we will explore and practice confident leadership skills that are not taught through the leadership style tests.

Session C
Workshop Title: How Higher Education Professionals Can Support Their Immigrant and Undocumented Students
Presenter: Kevin Heuzo Funes and Judith Springer, PsyD.
Description: Higher education professionals are well-positioned to provide support to their immigrant and undocumented students.   This workshop will deliver vital information, concrete strategies and practical resources to help higher education professionals provide crucial help, support and advocacy for these students. Participants will also have the opportunity to listen to, and learn from, Kevin’s account of his journey through an American school system. Kevin arrived in the United States at the age of five, not speaking a word of English.  His story focuses on what helped him, what didn’t help and what would have helped as he navigated his educational journey.

Session Block IV
11:30am – 12:45PM EST
10:30am – 11:45am CST
9:30am – 10:45am MST
8:30am – 9:45am PST

Session A
Workshop Title: Arte como Activismo/Art as Activism
Presenter: Rev. Nannette Banks, Dr. Leslie Diaz-Perez, Priscilla Rodriquez, and Rev. Lis Valle-Ruiz
Description: Art is a fascinating expression of activism. Murals, dance, spoken word, music are just a few mediums used as powerful tools to bring visual awareness of racism, sexism, and other isms and other evils of society that communities of color face today. “Arte as Activismo” will help you discuss the link between arte, activismo y espiritualidad.” Arte can be adapted in and out of various settings. An interactive workshop in which en conjunto, we will explore how arte can be adapted into various setting, and create our own “mural de activismo.”

Session B
Workshop Title: Finding our Latino Identities through Mentorship, Service, and Research
Presenter: Humberto Baquerizo and Zain Khawaja
Description: Latinos in the United States have oftentimes faced numerous challenges in pursuing higher education due to personal and systemic barriers, such as legal status, financial hardship, and fluency in English. The impact of these circumstances is evident by the small fraction of Latino high school graduates who pursue higher education, of which only a handful do so successfully (Contreras, 2009). Join us to learn how we found our Latinidad, through mentorship, service, and research opportunities, by amplifying the voices of our Latinx communities. We will describe the framework that allowed us to find our voices and assist others with finding their own. We hope our personal stories and sample cases will enable this framework to be applied within your own community.

Session C
Workshop Title: Confronting and Combating Anti-Blackness in the Latinx Community
Presenter: Ayannah Johnson M.Ed. & Jose Luis Posos, M.Ed., LPC
Description: Anti-blackness is certainly alive and well in the Latinx community. From brushing off jokes that are racist to using questionable nicknames for people who are Black to interrogating Black Latinxs about their identity, there is a significant amount of work that needs to occur to effectively combat these bigoted behaviors. This workshop focuses on addressing how non-Black Latinxs perpetuated anti-blackness inside and outside the Latinx community through self-exploration of one’s conditioning and unconscious biases.

Break
12:45pm – 1:30pm EST
11:45am – 12:30pm CST
10:45am – 11:30am MST
9:45am – 10:30am PST

Session Block V
1:30pm – 2:45pm EST
12:30pm – 1:45pm CST
11:30am – 12:45pm MST
10:130am – 11:45am PST

Session A
Workshop Title: Honoring and Validating the Lived Experience of Undocumented Latinx Students
Presenter: Eileen Carrion
Description: New estimates, drawn from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS), indicate that undocumented students account for more than 427,000 or approximately 2 percent of all students in higher education in the United States. This workshop will introduce some of the challenges undocument Latinx undergraduate students experience  with emphasis on how undocumented students can honor and validate their lived experiences. Additionally, attention will be paid to the impact on undocmented students’ mental health. Resources will be provided to students who are undocumented themselves and how to support their emotional and mental wellbeing.

Session B
Workshop Title: Your Resume, Interview and Everything in Between
Presenter: Fredmier Melendez
Description: You are graduating soon and will begin your career path. For many of us, we enter the world of corporate America with little guidance on where and how to begin. This presentation shares best practices to improve your resume, prepare for the job interview, and what to do next. Freddy Melendez is a sales and marketing professional with over 10 years of experience in the Public Relations, Travel & Hospitality, and SaaS industries. He has worked for small-to-medium sized companies, international businesses, and Fortune 5000 businesses.

Session C
Workshop Title: The Power of Data in Advocacy
Presenter: Ariana Nuñez
Description: The Power of Data in Advocacy explores the importance and impact of utilizing data in advocacy to influence change in our communities. Participants will learn about different types of data, using technology and other skill sets for data analysis and representation, potential education and career paths, and various resources that can be used to explore publicly available data and learn the skills.

Closing Workshop
3:00pm – 4:00pm EST
2:00pm – 3:00pm CST
1:00pm – 2:00pm MST
12:00pm – 1:00pm PST

Workshop Title: Campus Action Plan
Presenter: Latinx Leads Conference Team
Description: In the culminating activity of Latinx Leads 2022, students and advisors will meet in breakout rooms with their respective campus groups, select the first campus issue they plan to address  and brainstorm action steps to begin to implement their plan. Campus groups will present their action plans to each other to permit sharing of ideas across campuses.