[c.a.r.e.] harmonize our voices, transform our world

Featured Keynote Speakers

Joaquín Zihuatanejo is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. Sometimes brutal, but always honest his work depicts the essence of barrio life, writing about a youth that existed somewhere between the streets of the barrio and the dream wanderings of a boy who found refuge in a world of stories and poems. Joaquín has been called by critics, “one of the most dynamic and passionate performance poets in the country, melding equal parts comedy, poetry, and dramatic monologue into a crowd-pleasing display of verbal fireworks…always thrilling, Joaquín’s hilariously manic presentation is full of compassion and nuance, never sacrificing substance for style, leading many to call him poetry slam’s answer to John Leguizamo.” Joaquín won the 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam Championship besting 77 poets representing cities all over North America, France and Australia. Because of this victory Joaquín was the poet chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2009 World Cup of Poetry Slam in Paris, France, a competition that he won besting 15 poets from 15 different nations making him the number one ranked slam poet in the world on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dr. Maura Cullen has been referred to as being the best there is at simplifying the complex issues of diversity in an entertaining and educational manner. Since 1987, Dr. Cullen has been capturing the hearts and minds of people, with her dynamic seminars and speaking engagements throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Maura is considered one of the foremost authorities on issues of diversity and leadership having worked with over 500 organizations.Participants continually remark that Maura is “down to earth” and genuine. As one participant noted, “I was required to go to Maura’s session and without question I will never see things the same way again. It is a defining moment in my life.” She offers participants concrete ideas to make immediate and significant changes in their lives.Maura is the founder of the Diversity Student Summit, a founding faculty member of the Social Justice Training Institute and author of 35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say. When not at home in Maryland, you will most likely find Maura in the Green Mountain state of Vermont, hiking or snowshoeing with her family and dog. Maura’s adventures have included skydiving, ice climbing, swimming with dolphins and fire-walking!You can visit Maura at TheDiversitySpeaker.com, on Facebook or follow her @DrMauraCullen on Twitter. Be sure to get Dr. Cullen’s free diversity training videosat DiversityQuickFlicks.com

CBS Sunday Morning contributor, comedian and actress Nancy Giles delights TV audiences with her social commentaries and theater fans with her solo pieces. She is a funny, perceptive and provocative observer of today’s world.A self-described “six-foot, one-inch black woman who’s not model-thin,” Giles has made her mark dismantling misconceptions about race, feminism and sexism. Her one-woman New York stage show, Black Comedy: The Wacky Side of Racism, was called “smart and unforgiving” by the Village Voice. Her acclaimed work on CBS Sunday Morning has provided the largest audience yet for her unique blend of laugh-out-loud humor and common sense wisdom. In 2010 she was nominated as a 2010 SAG New York Division Board Election Candidate.A veteran of Chicago’s esteemed Second City improv troupe and winner of the Theater World Award for the off-Broadway musical Mayor, Giles also appeared for three seasons on the TV drama China Beach, and played a secretary in the movie Working Girl. She can often be heard on television and radio advertisements selling, as she refers to it, “everything from plus-size fashions to True Value Hardware.” She also offered her social and political perspectives to viewers of The Today Show and Hardball with Chris Matthews. In September 2010 Glies is performed in the Off-Broadway production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore written by Nora and Delia Ephron. On topics ranging from popular culture to creativity and stereotype, Giles says, “I want to make people laugh and I want to entertain them, but I also want to provoke thought and discussion.” A commanding presence, she’s someone with something witty and compassionate to say to all of us.

Helen Zia a is writer, journalist and former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine. Her award-winning articles, essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including Ms., New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Essence, The Advocate, and OUT. She is the author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People (2000) which was quoted by President Clinton in the Rose Garden on two separate occasions; and is co-author, with Wen Ho Lee, of My Country Versus Me (2002), the story of the Los Alamos scientist who was falsely accused in unsubstantiated front page stories of being a spy for China in the “worst case since the Rosenbergs.”Ms. Zia testified before the US Commission on Civil Rights in 1997 about inaccurate and biased news coverage of Asian Americans during the spotlight on campaign finance. She traveled to Beijing in 1995 to cover the United Nations Fourth World Congress on Women as part of a UNITY journalists of color delegation. Her work on the Asian American landmark civil rights case of anti-Asian violence is documented in the Academy Award nominated film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”A second generation Chinese American, Helen Zia is an Expert Fellow with University of Southern California’s Justice and Journalism program of the Annenberg School of Journalism, and was Writer/Scholar-in-Residence at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/Institute for 2004-2005. She received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the Law School of the City University of New York and was the first recipient of the Suzanne Ahn Journalism Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice. She is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where she was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar and a member of the university’s first graduating class of women. She quit medical school after completing two years, then went to work as a construction laborer, an autoworker, and a community organizer, after which she discovered her life’s work as a writer.

Program Booklet

The complete program booklet is available in print and electronic format, and additional accessible formats upon request.

• Program Booklet [pdf]

Program Sessions

The complete list of program sessions can be found below. To download and view the program schedule inside the program booklet, please click on the link below.

• Program Schedule [pdf]
• Workshop Program Descriptions [pdf]

It is in PDF format and requires Adobe Reader. The program booklet will be available for pick up in printed format during check-in. If you require the program booklet in a different format, please contact us at diversity.summit@oregonstate.edu.

Program Schedule

Check-in and registration will happen starting at 8 a.m. on November 2nd in the Alumni Center main reception. Please come in to the registration table and check-in with a volunteer to get your name tag and a program booklet outlining the sessions happening during the summit.

Day 1 | Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 2 | Thursday, November 3, 2011