Thursday, July 29 at 10:45 AM-12:00 PM

Our objective is for participants to recognize their whiteness and to learn how to reflect on the learned behaviors, privileges and challenges that whiteness presents, and for our participants to be able to engage with others to facilitate conversations around dismantling systematic oppression by:

Engaging theories of racial/social identity as rooted in the book White Fragility
Exploring power dynamics and interrupting conscious and unconscious practices of racism
Building skills for facilitating space for ongoing dialogue and practices focused on antiracist work in micro, mezzo and macro environments.

Presenters

Amy A. DeGurian

Amy DeGurian Amy A. DeGurian, LSW is a Field Education Coordinator and Faculty Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work. She comes to the department with 25+ years of clinical and program coordination experience in the areas of Health Care, Hospice and Gerontology. She has been a full time member of the field education department since 2013. Ms. DeGurian is a lecturer and currently teaches both Generalist Social Work Practice and Grief and Loss in the MSW program. She holds an undergraduate degree, B.A. Sociology from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park and she received her MSW from the University of Pittsburgh, in 1994. She also holds the gerontology certificate. Recently Ms. DeGurian has been featured in local, regional and national news mediums for her work and expertise in the area of grief and loss. The pandemic has given rise to abrupt changes in the ways we are able to attend to one another's grief. The need to better understand the impact of grief and how we tend to those in mourning during this time has expanded. As a result, Amy was recently a notable contributor to articles addressing this issue in the Pitt News, The Tribune Review, US News and World Report, and the Huffington Post. She was also interviewed on WSAE and KDKA and provided insight and information on how to better attend to others' grief and emotional needs during the pandemic. Ms. DeGurian also facilitates corporate trainings in the health care sector specifically in the areas of communication and leadership. She co-facilitates community based diversity and anti-racist trainings and was featured recently in a pod cast addressing bereavement after suicide specific to the needs of veteran families.

David Smith

David Smith has a philosophy degree from Elon University and a Masters of Divinity from Moravian Theological Seminary. He has served in three Moravian Churches as well as the Director of Youth Ministry for the Ohio Moravian Church. His passion is in advancing grassroots advocacy work in building community and equality. He was the Central Pennsylvania Regional Manager for Good Schools Pennsylvania for twelve years, Senior Outreach Coordinator for Southwest PA with the Clean Air Council for three years and the Director of Camping for South Mountain YMCA-Camp Conrad Weiser for three years. He has served on boards and committees addressing issues on youth empowerment, hunger, improving education for all children, mass incarceration via the PA Council of Churches and environmental justice. In 2002, he received the Champion of Diversity Award from the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and the Lancaster Urban League. He is currently implementing models and studies addressing racism and building community.

La-Verna Fountain

La-Verna Fountain is the founder of Meaningful Communications Matter LLC, a consulting firm focusing on bridging the divide of misunderstandings in the home, community, and workplace. She is the creator of the I.D.E.A.L. toolkit for organizations seeking to establish a diverse and equitable work environment. In 2018, she retired from Columbia University where she served as Vice President for Strategic Communications and Construction Business Initiatives. In this role, she developed and led a variety of award-winning programs to train, mentor and employ Minority, Women and Locally owned businesses and a highly diverse workforce. She continues to serve as an Instructor with Columbia’s School of Professional Studies. For more than 30 years, La-Verna has provided training in conflict resolution, cultural diversity/human awareness, nonviolence as a way of life, working with teenagers, spirituality in the workplace, staff development and organizational development. She facilitates retreats and critical meetings and serves as a keynote speaker for large conferences. Prior to her dozen years at Columbia, La-Verna was a Senior Advisor for the international child relief organization Save the Children serving low income rural and urban communities throughout the United States. She served in both Democratic and Republican administrations in Pennsylvania where she began her government career. La-Verna served under Gov. Dick Thornburgh in the Departments of Transportation and Economic Development, as a deputy communications director for Gov. Robert P. Casey, state office director for U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, Press Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education and as the first Black and first female Press Secretary/Public Information Officer for the Pennsylvania State Police. La-Verna has been happily married for nearly 40 years to James Fountain III who she lovingly calls her boyfriend. They would be empty nesters except they have a large, spoiled German shepherd. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008 and having survived a 1999 diagnosis of Lyme Disease, La-Verna continues to turn negative impacts into opportunities for improved understanding. A U.S. Army veteran, La-Verna has an associate degree in police administration from Harrisburg Area Community College, a bachelor degree in public policy from Penn State University and master of science degree in negotiations and conflict resolution from Columbia University. La-Verna enjoys writing and has authored two books, The Alphabets of Life: A Simple Guide to Simply Living and The Gold Coins: A Supernatural Adventure Inspired by True Events (published under her pen name Sa’lia Friend) and written numerous articles for a variety of magazines and newspapers including the Harlem Community News. She has received numerous local, state, and national awards for her community service and currently serves on the HACC Foundation and Dauphin County Libraries boards. For more information on La-Verna, visit http://IAmLJFountain.com.