The University of Washington Bothell is hosting its third annual Equity and Inclusion Conference on Feb. 24 in partnership with T-Mobile.
Students, diversity professionals, police officers and other community members will have the opportunity to network and take part in workshops. Save the Feb. 24 date and look for program information and registration on the diversity website.
Once again at this year’s conference, student groups will compete for a grant of up to $5,000 to support a project solving a diversity issue. Students make their pitch in a Shark Tank-like competition, and conference attendees choose the winner. T-Mobile executives will coach the winning team to implement the project, which will be featured on the mobile phone company’s diversity and inclusion webpage.
The competition is open to all Washington high school and college students. Students must work in groups of 3-8. Enter by posting a short video about the diversity idea to the UW Bothell Facebook page. The deadline to enter is Dec. 22. Read about the details here.
“We are extremely excited to review submissions!” said Kaycee Kiesz, diversity and inclusion senior program manager.
Issues related to equity and inclusion are now ground zero throughout America, says Terryl Ross, director of diversity.
“This conference serves as a foundation to bring the UW Bothell community together to proactively get grounded in these issues,” he said.
Data show diverse and inclusive teams outperform their competitors, says T-Mobile.
“Diversity is who’s on the team, and inclusion is who gets to play. At T-Mobile we play to win. So, we strive for a team that reflects the diverse customers we serve and leverages the unique talents of every team member,” said Kiesz.
A video about the progress of last year’s contest winner, called Abroaden, will be shown at this year’s conference. The four UW Bothell students in the Abroaden team conceived of an app that would expand social involvement with neighbors who share their culture. The app would connect them with ethnic restaurants and cultural events and resources.
Equity and inclusion are core values of UW Bothell, and it strives to create a respectful learning environment. To that end the University recently created an online bias incident form for anyone to report any threats to a safe and inclusive campus.
