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Inclusive Excellence Summit

Inclusive Excellence Summit wording

The Summit is an annual event for staff and faculty to learn and develop practical skills for cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and fostering a culture of belonging.

As a Summit attendee, you will walk away with:

  • Clarity on how you, in your individual capacity, can contribute to an inclusive work environment
  • Tangible tools, strategies and actions you can take immediately to be more inclusive
  • New connections with colleagues from across the university who are interested in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Cornell

Sponsored by: The Department of Inclusion and Belonging

Banner with Inclusive Excellence Summit logo and text "Empowering Ourselves and our Communities"

2025 Inclusive Excellence Summit: Tuesday, April 22

Empowering Ourselves and our Communities

The Statler Hotel Ballroom, Ithaca Campus (In-Person Only)

8:45 AM - 4:30 PM

Resistance to "DEI" offers an opportunity to reflect on what diversity, equity, and inclusion each truly mean for us and our communities. This year's Inclusive Excellence Summit invites us to explore our history, examine present challenges, and embrace how these experiences shape and empower us to identify our individual and collective paths forward in the pursuit of true equity, inclusion, and belonging for all.

Join us for a day of self-reflection and collective empowerment. Come prepared to actively engage with your colleagues throughout the day as we:

  • Reflect on past responses to resistance;
  • Identify current challenges and barriers;
  • Learn and practice ways to engage in difficult conversations and conflicts;
  • Generate ideas and strategies for continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence;
  • Reclaim personal and professional empowerment; and
  • Establish intentions and actions to sustain our motivation and commitment to individual and Cornell values while maintaining care for ourselves and our communities.

The Department of Inclusion & Belonging remains committed to offering the Inclusive Excellence Summit free of charge in the most inclusive and accessible format possible while supporting the current need for fiscal responsibility and stewardship. To help us in this effort, and in recognition of our room capacity allowing for only 200 attendees, we respectfully request that registrants who intend to come to this year's IE Summit commit to full-day participation and attend all sessions. Thank you for your partnership on this!

Summit Schedule

8:00-8:45am:  Check in and continental breakfast, Statler Hotel Ballroom Foyer 

8:45am-9:15am: Welcome and Opening Remarks 

9:15-10:10am:   From Protest to Policy: A History of DEI at Cornell and Beyond 

Dr. Michell Chresfield, Assistant Professor, Africana Studies and Research Center  

In this talk, Dr. Chresfield offers a historical perspective on the development of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work, tracing its origins through the struggles, resistance, and hard-won victories that have shaped institutional work overtime. Focusing especially on higher education and Cornell’s own DEI journey, the talk explores why and how DEI offices, policies, and programs came into being. This talk provides an immersive and timely opportunity to engage the past and invites us to reflect on how the lessons of history can inform, challenge, and strengthen our current approaches to promoting equity and inclusion within the university.  

10:10-10:20am:  Break 

10:20-11:45am:  Healing, Reframing, Reclaiming 

Dr. Dana Crawford, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Leading Expert in Trauma-Informed Care and Bias Reduction

Move toward empowerment with trauma-informed practices and new narratives!  In this session, you’ll explore how to shift from disempowerment to empowerment. We’ll look at strategies for healing, discuss fears and challenges in today’s DEI work, and practice reclaiming the narrative—regardless of the language we use.  You’ll reflect on your own experiences, engage in table conversations, and share insights with the group. Together, we’ll build tools to stay grounded, hopeful, and effective in this work! 

11:45am-1:00pm:  Lunch  Break – Statler Buffet  

12:30-12:50pm:  Optional:  Move Your Body with Wellness - Meet outside Statler Hotel main entrance at circular drive area (weather dependent) 

Dress for outdoors and join Cornell Wellness staff for this guided outdoor movement session. You’ll be invited to participate in a brief walk/roll warm-up followed by guided stretching and movement activities in the beautiful Statler courtyard area. No previous exercise experience needed to participate. Email Tina Hunt, th684@cornell.edu if any questions.  

1:00-3:00pm:  Managing Difficult Interactions and Conflict 

Katrina Nobles, Director of Conflict Programs, Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, ILR School, Cornell University 

Liz Davis-Frost, Mediation and Training Extension Associate, Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, ILR School, Cornell University 

Difficult interactions and conflict can be emotionally charged, and people tend to react badly to them or avoid them at all costs. Engaging in difficult interactions is about facing your discomfort and dedicating yourself to the reflection and preparation that needs to happen to engage thoughtfully.  In this session, you'll learn to understand your own hot buttons, provide thoughtful and reflective feedback, draw respectful boundaries, turn difficult interactions into opportunities for growth, and how to empower ourselves and others.  

3:00-3:15pm:  Break and Raffle Drawing 

3:15-4:20pm:  Beyond the Summit: Building Lasting Impact 

Dr. Dana E. Crawford 

After a day of deep reflection, this session helps you turn insights into action. Together, we’ll explore how to stay flexible in your strategies while holding firm to your values. You’ll build tools for resilience, practice radical empathy, and design a personal empowerment plan to keep momentum strong. Through small group discussions, you’ll leave with concrete steps to continue your diversity, equity, and inclusion work with purpose and impact—both at Cornell and beyond. 

4:20-4:30pm:  Closing Remarks

4:30-5:00pm:  Informal Mingling and Networking (snacks and non-alcoholic beverages provided) 

Register here

Registration closes at 11:59 pm on Monday, April 14.

Dr. Dana Crawford casual portrait smiling

 

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Dana E. Crawford

Dr. Dana E. Crawford is a clinical psychologist, speaker, and consultant dedicated to helping individuals and organizations heal, grow, and thrive. 

She brings a unique blend of evidence-based strategies, cultural awareness, and deep compassion to her work, guiding people toward meaningful transformation in their personal and professional lives.

This event is entirely in person. None of the sessions will be live streamed or recorded. 

If at any point you're no longer planning to attend the Summit, please email inclusion@cornell.edu so we can cancel your registration and offer the spot to someone else.

people attending summit