We will not achieve the goal of dismantling white supremacy without white people working together to understand how white supremacy and racial bias are defining characteristics of our whiteness. In this work, white people must engage with BIPOC and white individuals and communities. However, white people learning about and discussing whiteness can elicit fear, anger, confusion, denial, shame, blame, and the “good white/bad white” dynamic. This presentation will explore how white people can engage from within – within ourselves and within our own white communities.
Presented by: Sky Jarvi (they/them) is currently the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Manager at Dakota County, in Hastings MN. Before this role Sky spent eight years working in the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota as the Director of Education and the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life.
Sky has worked over 20 years in the field of higher education providing education, advocacy and support around equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. Sky has worked at five different universities across the country. They have a Master of Education degree from Kent State University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio.
In their twenty years of experience, they have provided over 1,000 workshops and classes related to equity, diversity, and social justice. They have developed programs, advocated for organizational policy changes, and led campus-wide initiatives.
They grew up in the south in Atlanta and Nashville and now currently live in Minneapolis with their partner, their teenage son, godson and two dogs.
About the Justice in Public Health Speaker Series
The SPH Justice in Public Health series is hosted by the SPH Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and will welcome local and national experts to lead discussion around a wide variety of topics that impact public health and advance health equity.
Who should attend? This series is free and open to the public.
Accessibility. SPH is committed to making its virtual events accessible to everyone, allowing all participants to be fully engaged. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, email sphevent@umn.edu. Please make requests with as much advance notice as possible so that the necessary services can be arranged.
Zoom experience. For the best user experience:
- Make sure your Zoom desktop app is updated to the most recent version.
- Log into UMN Zoom to authenticate your Zoom account.
Recording. The Justice in Public Health series will be recorded and shared publicly after the event.
