GASSW hosts Gandhi Symposium | WBILS hosts Promoting the General Welfare Conference

Omaha – The Grace Abbott School of Social Work will present its 16th Gandhi Symposium on March 8, 2019.

This year’s symposium will be very special because the School has invited Deborah Ortega, Ph.D., as the keynote speaker.

Ortega is founding director of University of Denver Latino Center for Community Engagement and Scholarship, a consortium of interdisciplinary faculty dedicated to creating and advancing knowledge that gives voice to the history, politics, culture, and legacies of Latino communities. Her research and scholarship focuses on improving services to families involved in the child welfare system, structural inequities across a variety of client systems, immigration, health disparities, and the effects of everyday racism on the Latino community.

In her keynote address, Seeking Liberation in the Heartland, Ortega will challenge participants to consider the systemic nature of oppression and modern-day processes perpetuating systems of power and privilege.

Following this presentation will be a luncheon and small group dialogue guided by current GASSW students, offering attendees the opportunity to critically explore these challenges while networking with other community advocates of social justice. The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion exploring local opportunities to unify community and find commonality in our collective mission to advance justice and liberation in the heartland.

Ortega will also lead an intimate dialogue on envisioning a liberated society at an informal gathering of students and faculty on March 7.

The conference is March 8, 2019, 8 A.M. - 3:30 P.M., at the Thompson Alumni Center in Omaha. The cost is $75 without CEUs and $90 with 3 CEUs. Registration includes parking and lunch.

View the flier. | Register Now!

Promoting the General Welfare Conference

The William Brennan Institute for Labor Studies will present its 20th Annual Promoting the General Welfare Conference on March 23, 2019.

For two decades, the conference has helped attendees understand that the goals of the labor movement overlap to a significant degree with the nation’s founding values of equality, fairness, justice, and advancing the common good. Unions help change that workplace imbalance by introducing meaningful democracy to the nation’s workplaces. In fact, unions were the nation’s first successful anti-poverty programs. This year’s conference will focus on changes that are needed to insure that everyone who works for a living has a fair shot at the American Dream.

Lonnie Stephenson, International President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, will speak about how unions level playing fields so that more and more wage earners get that shot at the American Dream.

In addition to International President Stephenson, there will be three repeating workshops a taught by people with a first-hand knowledge of labor.

• Kooper Caraway, president of the Sioux Falls Central Labor Council, will focus on the importance of mobilizing and activating young people to effectively advance the common good.
• Alicia Flores, program coordinator at the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, will address the importance of improving human dignity by eliminating harassment in the workplace.
• Jeff Johnson, former president of the Washington State Labor Council, will examine the relationship between income inequality and the American Dream.

The conference in March 23, 2019, 9 A.M. - 5 P.M., at the UNO Community Engagement Center in Omaha. Cost is $45 for general admission and $35 for students. Lunch is included. CEUs are available.

Visit the conference webpage. | View flier. | Register Now!

For more information regarding any of these events, please contact Michelle Nelsen.