Member Benefit
Navigating identity and career as a BIPOC professional
CAREER DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS 2023
The UW Alumni Association presents a three-session event focused on empowering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) alumni in their career journeys. Each session features a different member of a BIPOC community who is an expert in their field. They will touch on topics affecting people of color as they navigate the realities of the modern workforce. Real people, real issues, real talk.
Join us from Tues. March 28 to Thurs. March 30, 2023 for these interactive online workshops. These workshops will not be recorded, in order to encourage candid discussions.
$15 series pass for general public.
Free for UWAA members. (Not a member? Join today!)
Choose individual sessions, or join us for all three; a flat fee of $15 applies.
Practices of Self-Care & Community Care When Advocating for Institutional Transformation
Tues. March 28, 2023 | 5:30 p.m. PDT
Speaker: Yejin Lee
The push for racial equity within organizations often comes from the advocacy and labor of people of color. There is often a tension between the urgency of this work, specifically for folks of marginalized identities, and the hurt, harm, exhaustion and isolation that comes as a result of this labor. During this 90-minute workshop, equity & justice facilitator Yejin Lee (she/her) will share her insights on finding strategies to push for institutional change while also centering self-care and community-care as people with marginalized/minoritized identities. She will share her framework on best ways to surface responsive strategies of advocacy that center those who have experienced harm and talk through tips and tools that will help to preserve energy and labor.
Meet Yejin Lee
Yejin Lee (she/her) is founder of Jeong Coaching & Consulting LLC, and is a Korean-American equity & justice coach and consultant with over a decade of experience in the NYC nonprofit sector as an organizer, fundraiser, staff advocate, and organizational design aficionado. Her primary purpose as a coach is to support the liberation of people of color by guiding them in finding values-driven pathways for their careers and lives, and by building their capacity to strategize around and survive inequitable experiences within institutions. Her secondary mission is to reduce the harm experienced by people of color within institutions, and she does this through her leadership coaching services & organizational consulting practice. She received her BA from Boston College in History, American Studies, and African Diaspora Studies, has been trained by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond in Undoing Racism, and has completed an equity-informed mediation basics training from Resolutions Northwest.
Lee joined the UWAA to discuss work/life boundaries in our Career Conversations episode “Emotional Divestment in the Workplace.”
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram
Leveling Up: How to Advocate for Yourself as a Person of Color in the Workplace
Wed. March 29, 2023 | 5:30 p.m. PDT
Speaker: Ciera Graham
BIPOC professionals continue to face barriers to entry, retention, and promotion in the workplace, across all fields and levels. People of color report experiencing daily microaggressions, segregation, exclusion and silencing. This can lead to feelings of marginalization, self-doubt and burnout. While our organizations have a lot of work to do to create more inclusive spaces for people of color, we must also learn the politics of the game and how to assert ourselves. This interactive workshop will affirm the narratives and experiences of people of color in the workplace and offer concrete and tangible strategies to advocate for yourself in your place of work to improve your confidence, leadership skills and job satisfaction. Participants will build community with other like-minded BIPOC professionals and walk away with a self-advocacy tool kit. Participants will also have the opportunity to practice and work through common scenarios in groups. While this workshop is geared to employees at all levels, it will be most relevant to those who are recent college graduates and entry- to mid-level professionals.
Meet Ciera Graham
Dr. Ciera Graham-Graves is an experienced higher education professional, business owner, and an accomplished career coach. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s in Community Counseling from Washington State University, and a PhD in Sociology in August 2015 at the University of Cincinnati. She is a Washington native, and was born in Renton, WA. Her dissertation research focused on the experiences of minority students at predominately white urban and rural campuses, and she has a professional interest in exploring issues impacting BIPOC professionals in education and in the workplace.
Dr. Graham has been described as tenacious, innovative, forward thinking, a leader who leads with gratitude, and someone empowered to create a win-win situation for everyone she meets. In 2016, she received the inaugural University of Cincinnati young alumni award, an award given to young alumni who demonstrate exemplary academic performance and community engagement. In Feb 2019, Dr. Graham was named the Top 4 Emerging Leaders of Snohomish County, an award given by the Herald Business Journal, Economic Alliance Snohomish County and the Leadership Snohomish County program. She was named one of the top four emerging leaders due to her racial equity work in the community, and helping advance educational and professional opportunities for minority leaders in the community.
She owns her own business, Dr. C. Graham Consulting, in which she provides career consulting services to entry- and mid-level professionals. She also was invited by the CEO of Career Contessa to join their exclusive coaching network, a title only given to the top career coaches in the country. She is a past career columnist for The Seattle Times and the Everett Herald, and is a current editorial contributor to Career Contessa, Best Colleges, CollegeXpress, and the University of Washington Professional & Continuing Education department. Dr. Graham is truly a multi-talented and multi-passionate professional with impeccable execution. Check out her infamous pieces, Megan Thee Stallion and the Politics of Respecting Black Women , Navigating white workplaces as a Black Woman, Preventing Burnout as a Millennial Women, and Millennials and the Great Resignation. She enjoys writing on topics focused on career development for women, navigating the workforce as a millennial, as well as social and political issues impacting people of color.
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Not Just Another DEI Course: Navigating Workplace DEI for BIPOC
Thurs. March 30, 2023 | 5:30 p.m. PDT
Speaker: Andrea Ramirez
When it comes to the workplace, BIPOC communities have historically experienced significant barriers. In the current evolving workplace, that lack of diversity remains. This workshop explores strategies for BIPOC professionals to navigate supporting and doing DEI work in organizations. It will share ideas, advice, and tools to create boundaries, take action, rest, and determine your needs in your work life.
Meet Andrea Ramirez
Dr. Andrea Ramirez is devoted to creating systemic social change and addressing injustice and oppression. She has over 15 years of experience in strategy, coaching, organizational development, leadership, learning & talent development, people operations, diversity, equity and inclusion. Andrea utilizes a multidisciplinary approach of data, storytelling, creativity and research as tools to help people understand the experience of difference.
Dr. Ramirez is a coach, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) strategist, consultant, educator, and leadership development subject matter expert. Her desire to improve how the world impacts the lives of others has inspired her career and life journey. She approaches her work from an antiracist philosophy, centering the voices of those most impacted by oppression as the driving force of her work, and utilizes human-centered practices. Connect with Andrea to learn more.
Website | LinkedIn
