Justice Works
The Institute of Nonprofit Leadership and Community Development at the University at Albany is committed to providing programming that addresses diversity, disparity, equity, inclusion, systemic oppression, and social transformation in nonprofits and the communities they serve. These programs are part of the ongoing JusticeWorks series.
upcoming workshops to CELeBRATE JUNTEENTH and PRide month 2022!
Radically Exploring Social Transformation
Co-sponsored by YWCA Greater Capital Region and YWCA Northeastern NY
Session #1 - The Trojan Horse in Social Movements: TRANSFORMing Power and Oppression in the Nonprofit Industrial Complex
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Live at the Blake Annex, 1 Steuben Place, Albany, NY
*(Attendance at all workshops not necessary.)
Nonprofits have been providing support systems and services for over a century, and yet we still struggle to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable in our society. Many people enter the nonprofit sector with dreams of transforming this inequity, only to find themselves feeling frustrated and obstructed in realizing these dreams. Nonprofit work carries the promise of creating livelihoods for people who want to change the world, so why haven’t we worked ourselves out of the job? Why do our social issues continue to feel so dire and entrenched when the nonprofit sector has been growing for decades?
This workshop explores the ways in which the 501c(3) nonprofit structure was designed to infiltrate and undermine social movements, much like a Trojan Horse. The status was created as a vehicle for protecting generational wealth and has led to a shift from community-based mutual aid to hierarchical institutions providing social services. In order to meet the needs of exploited and marginalized communities, nonprofits depend on the support of wealthy people and institutions whose wealth comes from the exploitation and marginalization of those same communities. Moreover, philanthropists, foundations, governments, and businesses too often wield their financial contributions to undermine nonprofits' efforts to disrupt and change the root causes of oppression.
During this workshop, we will unpack the systemic challenges facing nonprofits that seek to disrupt and transform the inequitable status quo in our society. We will explore the history and rise of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and how nonprofits are vulnerable to reproducing the same forms of oppression they strive to resist. We will examine how power, privilege and oppression manifest within nonprofits both through the micro-lens of our own intersectional experience as well as the macro-lens of capitalism and systemic racism. Drawing on the lived experiences of participants, we will explore Rested Root’s unique framework for how we can "TR.A.N.S.F.O.R.M." the nonprofit industrial complex. The session includes grounding practices, games, personal reflection, and breakout groups for brainstorming strategies.
This workshop is for folks at any level of the nonprofit sector who want to learn more about the nonprofit industrial complex, how it manifests in our organizations, and what we can do to transform its dynamics. People who have noticed challenges, contradictions, or “something off” in nonprofit work may find this session to be particularly illuminating and affirming. For example, this workshop will be helpful for anybody who wants to unpack the disconnect that can arise between nonprofits and grassroots social movements.
Session #2 -Why DEI Won't Free Us: Moving from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion towards Liberation
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Live at the Blake Annex, 1 Steuben Place, Albany, NY
*(Attendance at previous workshop not necessary.)
The concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) have become the calling card of professional social justice work. DEI is attractive for organizations, companies or projects that want to reflect the multiplicity of identities in our society and counteract the forces of systemic oppression so everyone involved feels equally supported and shares a sense of belonging.
However, the concepts alone do not provide a clear pathway toward attaining these goals, which can make it difficult to know where to start. In other words, DEI work doesn't begin with "diversity, equity, and inclusion." It begins with curiosity about how systemic oppression is manifesting in interpersonal and institutional dynamics and a willingness to get uncomfortable in the journey to transform those dynamics.
This workshop takes a three-fold approach to the process of transforming DEI into liberation. First, participants will identify their guiding values and map the space between their values and embodied and institutional practices. Second, we will unpack the difference between DEI and liberation and the ways in which the concepts of DEI can reinforce the power structures that create segregated, non-inclusive and inequitable spaces. Third, participants will re-root into our dreams of liberation and be guided in creating action plans for how to more fully realize their goals. This session will be highly participatory, including personal reflection, games and group sharing, creative expression, and action planning.
This workshop is designed for people at any level of the nonprofit sector who want to take their DEI understanding and practice to the next level. It will especially resonate with those who have felt frustrated by the performative (“check the box”) aspect of DEI work and want support in expanding and deepening their analysis. This session will also be illuminating and beneficial for anyone who cares about advancing social justice within nonprofits and communities and seeks liberatory change.
Session #3 - Moving towards Thriving: Assessing and Nurturing Work-Life Balance
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Virtual via Zoom
*(Attendance at previous workshop not necessary.)
Working in the nonprofit sector often relies on our passionate commitment to the issues we work on and the people we work with. This commitment can create meaningful work experiences in an energizing environment. However, our passion for the work can also make us vulnerable to overworking and burning out. It can be extremely difficult to establish healthy work-life boundaries that protect our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy from being chronically drained, often at the cost of our personal health and wellbeing. Moreover, the nonprofit industrial complex encourages leveraging our passion to justify our exploitation, which can make it difficult to advocate for and institute support systems and healthy organizational cultures. Despite all the energy many of us pour into helping others access support and services, we may find that we ourselves are caught up in cycles of struggle and survival.
The central question of this workshop is “How can we shift from surviving to thriving?” During this participatory session, we will bring participants through a number of exercises and activities that are designed to assess the status of their work-life balance and explore what changes, interventions, and/or practices would bring them closer to thriving. Participants will be guided through mapping out their current well-being, their work-life boundaries and goals, and the problems they are facing and needs they have in achieving those goals. We will then explore how we can show up more fully for ourselves and our work through strategies and practices that hold us accountable to our personal and collective thriving. This session will include grounding practices, a game, reflection activities, group discussion, and action planning.
This workshop is for folks at all levels of nonprofit work who are feeling an imbalance between their work and well-being, as well as leaders who want to create a more healing and restorative work environment. It will be especially supportive for people who feel like they are struggling with self-care and desire to shift their habits and boundaries to be more supportive. The session will align with participants who are interested in exploring the role of rest in their lives and are looking for tools and strategies to avoid burnout.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Live at the Blake Annex, 1 Steuben Place, Albany, NY
*(Attendance at all workshops not necessary.)
Nonprofits have been providing support systems and services for over a century, and yet we still struggle to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable in our society. Many people enter the nonprofit sector with dreams of transforming this inequity, only to find themselves feeling frustrated and obstructed in realizing these dreams. Nonprofit work carries the promise of creating livelihoods for people who want to change the world, so why haven’t we worked ourselves out of the job? Why do our social issues continue to feel so dire and entrenched when the nonprofit sector has been growing for decades?
This workshop explores the ways in which the 501c(3) nonprofit structure was designed to infiltrate and undermine social movements, much like a Trojan Horse. The status was created as a vehicle for protecting generational wealth and has led to a shift from community-based mutual aid to hierarchical institutions providing social services. In order to meet the needs of exploited and marginalized communities, nonprofits depend on the support of wealthy people and institutions whose wealth comes from the exploitation and marginalization of those same communities. Moreover, philanthropists, foundations, governments, and businesses too often wield their financial contributions to undermine nonprofits' efforts to disrupt and change the root causes of oppression.
During this workshop, we will unpack the systemic challenges facing nonprofits that seek to disrupt and transform the inequitable status quo in our society. We will explore the history and rise of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and how nonprofits are vulnerable to reproducing the same forms of oppression they strive to resist. We will examine how power, privilege and oppression manifest within nonprofits both through the micro-lens of our own intersectional experience as well as the macro-lens of capitalism and systemic racism. Drawing on the lived experiences of participants, we will explore Rested Root’s unique framework for how we can "TR.A.N.S.F.O.R.M." the nonprofit industrial complex. The session includes grounding practices, games, personal reflection, and breakout groups for brainstorming strategies.
This workshop is for folks at any level of the nonprofit sector who want to learn more about the nonprofit industrial complex, how it manifests in our organizations, and what we can do to transform its dynamics. People who have noticed challenges, contradictions, or “something off” in nonprofit work may find this session to be particularly illuminating and affirming. For example, this workshop will be helpful for anybody who wants to unpack the disconnect that can arise between nonprofits and grassroots social movements.
Session #2 -Why DEI Won't Free Us: Moving from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion towards Liberation
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Live at the Blake Annex, 1 Steuben Place, Albany, NY
*(Attendance at previous workshop not necessary.)
The concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) have become the calling card of professional social justice work. DEI is attractive for organizations, companies or projects that want to reflect the multiplicity of identities in our society and counteract the forces of systemic oppression so everyone involved feels equally supported and shares a sense of belonging.
However, the concepts alone do not provide a clear pathway toward attaining these goals, which can make it difficult to know where to start. In other words, DEI work doesn't begin with "diversity, equity, and inclusion." It begins with curiosity about how systemic oppression is manifesting in interpersonal and institutional dynamics and a willingness to get uncomfortable in the journey to transform those dynamics.
This workshop takes a three-fold approach to the process of transforming DEI into liberation. First, participants will identify their guiding values and map the space between their values and embodied and institutional practices. Second, we will unpack the difference between DEI and liberation and the ways in which the concepts of DEI can reinforce the power structures that create segregated, non-inclusive and inequitable spaces. Third, participants will re-root into our dreams of liberation and be guided in creating action plans for how to more fully realize their goals. This session will be highly participatory, including personal reflection, games and group sharing, creative expression, and action planning.
This workshop is designed for people at any level of the nonprofit sector who want to take their DEI understanding and practice to the next level. It will especially resonate with those who have felt frustrated by the performative (“check the box”) aspect of DEI work and want support in expanding and deepening their analysis. This session will also be illuminating and beneficial for anyone who cares about advancing social justice within nonprofits and communities and seeks liberatory change.
Session #3 - Moving towards Thriving: Assessing and Nurturing Work-Life Balance
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
1:00pm - 3:00pm - Virtual via Zoom
*(Attendance at previous workshop not necessary.)
Working in the nonprofit sector often relies on our passionate commitment to the issues we work on and the people we work with. This commitment can create meaningful work experiences in an energizing environment. However, our passion for the work can also make us vulnerable to overworking and burning out. It can be extremely difficult to establish healthy work-life boundaries that protect our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy from being chronically drained, often at the cost of our personal health and wellbeing. Moreover, the nonprofit industrial complex encourages leveraging our passion to justify our exploitation, which can make it difficult to advocate for and institute support systems and healthy organizational cultures. Despite all the energy many of us pour into helping others access support and services, we may find that we ourselves are caught up in cycles of struggle and survival.
The central question of this workshop is “How can we shift from surviving to thriving?” During this participatory session, we will bring participants through a number of exercises and activities that are designed to assess the status of their work-life balance and explore what changes, interventions, and/or practices would bring them closer to thriving. Participants will be guided through mapping out their current well-being, their work-life boundaries and goals, and the problems they are facing and needs they have in achieving those goals. We will then explore how we can show up more fully for ourselves and our work through strategies and practices that hold us accountable to our personal and collective thriving. This session will include grounding practices, a game, reflection activities, group discussion, and action planning.
This workshop is for folks at all levels of nonprofit work who are feeling an imbalance between their work and well-being, as well as leaders who want to create a more healing and restorative work environment. It will be especially supportive for people who feel like they are struggling with self-care and desire to shift their habits and boundaries to be more supportive. The session will align with participants who are interested in exploring the role of rest in their lives and are looking for tools and strategies to avoid burnout.
(Attendance at all three workshop is not required.)
About Our Presenters
amani Olugbala (Stardust/they) is a raptivist, storyteller, and abolitionist with over 15 years of experience in youth education, performance arts and community outreach. Award-winning poet and rapper, amani combines artistic expression and project-based learning to facilitate healing dialogue and liberation workshops with individuals, groups and organizations. amani is driven to uplift love, creativity and service as necessary expressions of rebellion against a sense of disconnection and hopelessness that threatens our collective peace and wellness. Stardust aims to inspire all those they come into contact with to remember their magic, trust their vision and share their unique gifts with the world.
damaris miller (they / them) is an educator, organizer, storyteller, and farmer committed to Black, Queer & Trans liberation. Prior to co-founding Rested Root, damaris spent 8 years working in the nonprofit sector on issues of racial, environmental, and food justice. They have been organizing in the Capital Region’s Movement for Black Lives since 2019 and in 2021 launched the Younger Two Productions, an animation production studio that tells stories about Black resistance and freedom. Their passion is to create spaces of rest, radical exploration, and connection for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color, Queer & Trans folks, and activists. Over the past 10 years, damaris has organized and/or hosted over 50 healing gatherings and retreats for BIPOC organizers and activists, centered in breath, Buddhist meditation, Ancestral Wisdom and Earth reverence. They have a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Princeton University.
amani Olugbala (Stardust/they) is a raptivist, storyteller, and abolitionist with over 15 years of experience in youth education, performance arts and community outreach. Award-winning poet and rapper, amani combines artistic expression and project-based learning to facilitate healing dialogue and liberation workshops with individuals, groups and organizations. amani is driven to uplift love, creativity and service as necessary expressions of rebellion against a sense of disconnection and hopelessness that threatens our collective peace and wellness. Stardust aims to inspire all those they come into contact with to remember their magic, trust their vision and share their unique gifts with the world.
damaris miller (they / them) is an educator, organizer, storyteller, and farmer committed to Black, Queer & Trans liberation. Prior to co-founding Rested Root, damaris spent 8 years working in the nonprofit sector on issues of racial, environmental, and food justice. They have been organizing in the Capital Region’s Movement for Black Lives since 2019 and in 2021 launched the Younger Two Productions, an animation production studio that tells stories about Black resistance and freedom. Their passion is to create spaces of rest, radical exploration, and connection for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color, Queer & Trans folks, and activists. Over the past 10 years, damaris has organized and/or hosted over 50 healing gatherings and retreats for BIPOC organizers and activists, centered in breath, Buddhist meditation, Ancestral Wisdom and Earth reverence. They have a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Princeton University.
(Attendance at all three workshop is not required.)
Thank you to the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region and the YWCA of Northeastern NY
for their kind co-sponsorship of this series!
for their kind co-sponsorship of this series!
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PREVIOUS PROGRAMS in this Series:
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Embodying Healing Justice in Non-Profit Organizations
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 12:30pm - 1:30pm Healing justice, a core dimension of transformative justice, is a practice of healing disconnection that may be a result of trauma, oppression, and/or the stressors of the larger socio-economic environment. Structural arrangements can sabotage organizations’ best efforts towards stress reduction and worker well-being. Drawing from the research on organizational structures and culture and trauma-informed systems of care, the workshop emphasizes how to cultivate conditions for worker well-being and empowerment. Participants explore self-compassion and self-care as a social justice issue. The workshop draws from the evidence base that points to the power of holistic self-care and mindfulness for stress reduction and resilience, using experiential learning to facilitate re-connecting to body/heart/mind. The workshop seeks to help practitioners find more focus, meaning, and joy in their work and balance in their lives, both personally and collectively, at the same time it strives to bring a critical eye toward existing approaches to self-care that individualize the problem of stress and commodifies solutions. Presented by: Loretta Pyles, Professor, School of Social Welfare Licensed Social Worker CEs available - $10 additional fee |
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White Professionalism in the Workplace
Thursday, February 25, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm “Professionalism” has become coded language for white favoritism in workplace practices that are not inclusive for people of color. In this webinar, UAlbany alumna Kathleen McLean, M.A. '92, will explore how white dominant culture manifests in our businesses and organizations and will examine the following concepts:
Sponsored by the University at Albany Alumni Association |
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White Supremacy:
Psychological and Social Impacts in the U.S Sponsored by the Dr. Katherine Briar-Lawson lecture series Friday, March 19, 2021 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. Presented by Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy: Dr. DeGruy is a nationally and internationally renowned researcher and educator. Her pioneering publication, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS): America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, addresses the residual impacts of trauma on African descendants in the Americas. |
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The Path of Transformative Organizing: Intersectional Anti-Racism, Emergent Strategy, and Healing Justice
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 12:30pm - 1:30pm Drawing on insights from the 2021 edition of her text Progressive Community Organizing: Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World (Routledge Press), Dr. Pyles will discuss the past, current and future directions of transformative organizing. Transformative organizing, rooted in feminist, civil rights, and other global social movements, seeks to attend not only to the external goals of change work, but to the internal realities of structural oppression. Intersectional anti-racism work lies at the heart of transformative approaches which seek to un-ravel what bell hooks calls, “imperialist-capitalist-white supremacist patriarchy.” Social movements, community organizers and the grassroots and non-profit structures that support them are working to decolonize their structures, cultures, interpersonal, and internal landscapes that continue to hinder lasting change. Pointing to specific case studies as well as key ideas in transformative organizing, this presentation will highlight ways forward for transformative movement building. Presented by: Loretta Pyles, Professor of Social Welfare Licensed Social Worker CEs available - $10 additional fee |
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Enhancing Nonprofit Services for Transgender Communities
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 9:00am - 11:00 AM This interactive session introduces staff and leadership to supporting the needs of transgender clients and community members. Attendees will be equipped with a foundation in communicating with and about trans individuals, and will identify simple systems-level changes for organizations. Presented by: Lyndon Cudlitz, Consulting, Education & Training Licensed Social Worker CEs available - $10 additional fee |
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The Albany Birth Justice Storytelling Project:
Addressing Racial Inequities in Birth and Maternal Health Outcomes Friday April 16, 2021 12:30pm - 1:30pm The Albany Birth Justice Storytelling Project (ABJS) Project is excited to join the Institute of Nonprofit Leadership and Community Development to present our unique university-community collaborative project as part of the Institute’s anti-racism seminar series and in observance of 2021’s Black Maternal Health Week/National Minority Health Month. The ABJS project is community-based, participatory action research that combines photo-voice narrative and transformative storytelling to co-create qualitative data on the experience of Black birthing people from Albany who are impacted by racial inequities in birth and maternal health outcomes. The methodology promotes self-reflective, trauma informed education and care among co-researchers, including UAlbany students and storytellers from Albany County. In this panel members of the project will discuss the historical context of medical racism that has led to an ongoing Black maternal health crisis and the feminist, anti-racist conceptual grounding that guided our advocacy goals, research questions, research process and experiences. Finally, we will showcase some of our stories and our findings. Panelists: Destiny A. Bender is a full-time mother, employee and student. Destiny served as a storyteller in the ABJS project which centers around her experience having her son James in 2017 in SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. Rajani Bhatia is associate professor in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at University at Albany. Her research has focused on reproductive justice and health equity. Rajani served as faculty sponsor and co-coordinator of the ABJS project. Chloe Blaise is a 2019 graduate of the University at Albany. Chloe is currently pursuing a master's at the NYU School of Global Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Science and Practice as well as a full spectrum doula certification. Chloe served as a listener in the ABJS project. Jessica Ramsawak is an honors graduate of the University at Albany where she earned a BA in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy. Jessica will be starting law school in the fall. She served as a listener in the ABJS project, presented the research at academic conferences, and designed the ABJS website. Nakia Tillman is a Family Support Specialist for Trinity Alliance with a primary focus on early childhood education and literacy. Nakia co-chairs BirthNet, a birth education and advocacy organization in Albany, which has coordinated a local coalition to eliminate racism and other forms of oppression in maternity care. Nakia served as community partner representative and co-coordinator of the ABJS project. Licensed Social Worker CEs available - $10 additional fee |
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Hunger Crisis: Feeding Our Community
Thursday April 22, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm Sponsored by Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy Join local leaders as they discuss their roles to combat food insecurity in the communities they serve. Moderator: Joe Bonilla ’11 Managing Partner, Senior Media Director, and Co-Founder, Relentless Awareness Panelists: Natasha Pernicka ’08 Executive Director, Food Pantries for the Capital District, Inc. Peggy O’Shea ’94, ’97 Acting Superintendent, Cohoes City School District Luke Rumsey ’07 Assistant Dean of Students, University at Albany |
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Getting the Governance Right:
Diversity & Inclusion in the Nonprofit Boardroom Thursday, May 20, 2021 11:00am - 1:00 pm Sponsored by Stakeholders Institute Inclusiveness is the involvement of diverse individuals and the incorporation of diverse perspectives, needs, contributions and viewpoints. Nonprofit boards need these qualities in order to understand and address critical community issues, set policy and make decisions. When recruiting and engaging diverse board members, nonprofit boards must ask the right questions. For example: Are diverse individuals comfortable serving on this board? What can our board do to be more inclusive and welcoming? Join us for a discussion about creating a culture of inclusion. Presented by: Sujata Chaudhry, Founder & CEO Tangible Development Anthony Gaddy, UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce Catherine M. Hedgeman, Esq., Hedgeman Law Firm |
