The Coalition’s ten-month Towards a Culture of Inclusion series comes to a close with our Third Conversation on Race: Where Do We Go From Here? We will review what we have learned and look to the future. What does everything we have been through in the last 10 months — which includes a lot more than just the Towards a Culture of Inclusion series — compel us to do next? Participants in our Ally-Ready Training Program will help guide the program, along with the Visions team who have been working with our ally trainees over the course of the series. The Ally-Ready trainees will be recognized and Executive Director Susan Yohe will say goodbye to the Coalition.

The search for the Coalition’s new Executive Director is being led by an eight-person search committee, chaired by the Honorable J. Nicholas Ranjan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The Coalition and the Search Committee will accept applications through May 25. 

Follow the links below to learn about these dynamic individuals and hear their thoughts on Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and how to observe it, along with advice on how to make your workplaces more inclusive for Asian American/Pacific Islander lawyers.

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s Diversity & Inclusion Council continues its webinar series on May 27 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. with a program entitled #STOPTHEHATE: Confronting the Violence and Prejudice Against Asian Americans. 

Komal Bhasin, mental health expert-in-residence, will speak at the next free webinar in bci’s series: BIPOC Professionals, We See You – Let’s Talk About the Impact of Racism on BIPOC Mental Health on May 26 from 4-5 p.m.This informal, candid dialogue will address how racism impacts BIPOC mental health and tools and strategies that can be leveraged to thrive in the face of racism.

ACBA members and the public at large are invited to this discussion on race relations in Pittsburgh. Moderated by Farooq Al-Said of 1Hood Media, the event will look back at the past year in the Black Lives Matter movement, examining how far the community has come and the work that remains. The discussion also will cover current events shaping the future of Pittsburgh. There is no cost to attend, but a $10 donation to the YLD Scholarship Fund is requested.

This multi-dimensional program will confront white privilege, white fragility, colorblindness, and microaggressions. Attendees will learn to employ more effective strategies to decrease objectifying, negative stereotypes, interracial anxiety and denial. Presenters will teach us how to notice bias as it happens in the moment, unhook from stereotypes, and – most importantly – learn to accept our natural interracial anxiety so that we are able to develop reciprocally genuine bonds with our non-white colleagues, employees, clients and community members.

Time to get out of our houses and downtown again? Restaurants! A new pop-up park along Fort Duquesne Boulevard! And a new exhibit at the August Wilson Center. Minding My Business (i said what i said) features five women of color exploring self-authorship as a means to liberated futures. The exhibit opens May 22 with a reception from 6-9 p.m.