Community Intercultural Relations Conference

To complete the mission of raising awareness of social and cultural similarities and building an inclusive community, the Community Intercultural Relations Committee hosts an annual conference on the shared campus of Ohio State Newark and Central Ohio Technical College addressing topics around a current theme.

15th Annual Community Intercultural Relations Conference

Friday, April 12, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Attend virtually or in person
Melissa Warner Bow Grand Hall
John Gilbert Reese Center
1209 University Drive, Newark, Ohio 

Cost
$40 per person

Empower, Engage, Belong: Fueling Change in Organizations and Communities

Innovation and advancement are here and are bringing new people, new ideas and new opportunities to the rich tapestry that is central Ohio. Now more than ever, with diversity and opportunity expanding in our community, there is an undeniable call for organizations and communities to be welcoming havens for all.

For the 15th Annual Community Intercultural Relations Conference (CIRC), we proudly present the theme: Empower, Engage, Belong: Fueling Change in Organizations and Communities. At this year’s conference, you will learn strategies to foster a sense of belonging, make meaningful connections with others in the community, and ultimately be empowered to make positive changes to increase inclusivity and sense of belonging. 

Join us for a transformative day of being inspired by renowned speakers, engaging in thoughtful dialogue, and learning cutting-edge evidence-based best practices for driving change in organizations and communities. Leave with actionable tools that will help you shape an organization and community that genuinely serves and embraces everyone. Your journey to making a difference begins here.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Participants will explore key organizational and community elements that help foster a sense of belonging for people of all backgrounds.
  2. Participants will uncover why a sense of belonging is necessary for building and sustaining effective organizations and communities.
  3. Participants will acquire practical skills and actionable strategies that can be implemented toward short-term and long-term outcomes to increase a sense of belonging for everyone in their organizations and communities.

Speakers

Daniel Juday portrait.

Daniel Juday (he/him/his)

Juday owns and operates a coaching business that supports organizations and their leaders in developing more inclusive and impactful spaces. His efforts are nestled at the intersection of employee thriving, organizational culture and leadership development. Juday has worked with a wide variety of groups, from Fortune 100 companies to scrappy entrepreneurial teams and everything in between, as well as conference planners, learning and development leaders, universities, school districts, and nonprofit boards in nearly every industry. He keynotes conferences, facilitates workshops, and coaches executive teams. His work has taken him from coast to coast, Canada and even a cruise ship in international waters. You can find him at spacecreator.com

Minda Harts portrait

Minda Harts (she/her/hers)

Harts is the bestselling and award-winning author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table as well as Right Within: How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace and You Are More Than Magic, her first YA book. She is a highly sought-after speaker and thought leader, frequently presenting on the topics of advancing women of color, leadership, diversity and management at companies like Nike, Google, JP Morgan, DraftKings and Dreamforce and events like Aspen Ideas Festival, The Atlantic Festival and Forbes Inclusion in The Workplace, to name a few.

Harts is an assistant professor of public service at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the founder of The Memo LLC, a career development company. In 2020, Minda was named by LinkedIn as the #1 Top Voice for Equity in the Workplace. In 2022, She was named by Business Insider as one the the top 100 People Transforming Business. She has a weekly career podcast for women of color, titled Secure the Seat.

W. Kamau Bell portrait.

W. Kamau Bell (he/him/his)

Bell is a stand-up comedian, director, producer, husband and dad. For seven seasons, he was the host and executive producer of the five-time Emmy Award-winning CNN docuseries United Shades of America. In 2023 he won an Emmy for his HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed. He also won a Peabody Award for his 2022 Showtime docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby. He is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book and the author of The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6′ 4″, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian.

His newest writing project is the substack newsletter, Who’s With Me? His comedy special, Private School Negro, is available on Netflix. Bell is on the board of directors for DonorsChoose, a nonprofit that helps teachers raise money for class projects, and Live Free, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gun violence, mass incarceration and mass criminalization. Kamau is also the ACLU’s Celebrity Ambassador for Racial Justice. In 2023, Bell and his wife Melissa Hudson Bell co-founded Who Knows Best Productions, a media production company in Oakland, CA. He cares too much and sleeps too little.

A graphic of many hands of varying colors and sizes around a heart.

Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award

Presented at CIRC, this award recognizes exceptional diversity and inclusion contributions in the community.

About the Community Intercultural Relations Conference and Committee

To complete the mission of raising awareness of social and cultural similarities and building an inclusive community, the Community Intercultural Relations Committee (CIRC) hosts an annual conference on the cost-shared campus of Ohio State Newark and COTC addressing topics around a current theme. The committee brings speakers to Licking County from Ohio and beyond with experience, knowledge, and skills in social, cultural and diverse subjects. The conference sessions include presentations, lectures, workshops and panels. Structured for discussion and personal story sharing and backed by research data, these sessions are designed to educate and enlighten conference attendees about mores, norms and challenges of community members and residents of diverse backgrounds in an engaging way.

Community Intercultural Relations Logo

Committee Membership

The committee consists of business leaders, educators, students and residents of Licking County. A minimum of seven community members, including at least one staff/faculty member and one student from Ohio State Newark and COTC. While serving on the committee, Ohio State Newark and COTC members give insight into the treatment of college students as they engage with the local community.

If you would like more information about the CIRC committee, please contact Brianna Davis Johnson, PhD, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, at johnson.9155@osu.edu or 614-247-7112.