Inclusive Excellence Summit

9:00-10:00am: Welcome Remarks and Opening Activity 

Facilitated by the Department of Belonging staff and Jeannie O’Neill, Founding Executive Director and Lead Educator at Yoga Farm Ithaca. 

10:00-10:15am: Break

10:15-11:15am: Why DEI Still Matters in Organizations: Evidence, Misconceptions, and What Works in Practice

DEI efforts are facing skepticism even as many organizations continue to struggle with bias, unequal opportunity, and uneven belonging. In this session, Dr. Devon Proudfoot will moderate a conversation with fellow Cornell ILR Workplace Inclusion and Diversity Education researchers and professors, Dr. James Carter and Dr. Sean Fath that draws on the research and practices of all three. The panel will: 

• Surface common misconceptions about what DEI is and is not; 
• Explore why diversity initiatives have come under attack; and 
• Highlight practical, research-informed approaches that organizations can use across the employee life cycle. 

Attendees will leave with clearer evidence for why this work still matters, along with ideas they can apply in their own organizational processes and practices. 

Panelists: 

• James T. Carter, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School
• Sean Fath, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School
• Devon Proudfoot, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School

11:15-11:30am: Break

11:30am-12:30pm: Disagreeing Better. 

We live and work in highly polarized times and have seen a rise in disrespectful arguments and “cancel culture” in face-to-face and online interactions, while civil discourse and comfort with conflict have both declined.  This session is inspired by the new seven-week government course at Cornell, “Disagreement”, that was fueled in part by Dean Loewen’s belief that, “The ability to confront and move through disagreement is a skill that effective scholars and effective citizens need to cultivate…It’s at the heart of a healthy university, a healthy democracy and any healthy relationship." The goal for this IE Summit session is to help participants better understand:

• Why disagreement is important to universities, to our politics, to our workplaces, and to our personal lives; and 
• How we can disagree with one another better. 

The presenter will share practical strategies that participants can apply in day-to-day lives, workplaces, and relationships. 

Presenter: 

• Peter John Loewen, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University

12:30-1:30pm: Break

1:30-2:15pm: Engaged Partnerships for Improving Access to Employment: A Panel Discussion

Through a brief presentation and panel discussion, this session will highlight how some Cornell and community organizations are collaborating on the Bridge to Employment Program. The panelists will explore why a program like this is necessary to improve employment outcomes while discussing:

• Challenges marginalized communities sometimes face in accessing employment processes and opportunities;
• The mutually beneficial purpose Bridge to Employment serves to the employer, individual, and community; and 
• Examples of cross-sector partnerships that have been critical in reducing barriers and enhancing access to campus and local employment.

Grounded in real-world collaboration, participants will gain a clearer understanding of how access to employment is shaped and practical ideas for how we can strengthen the pathways to work for everyone.

Moderator:

• Jacquelyn Mouillesseaux, Bridge to Employment, Cornell University

Panelists:

• Jodi Anderson, Jr, Director of Technological Innovation, Center for Applied Research on Work, Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative, Cornell University ILR School 
• Leigh Bacher, Programs Coordinator, Ithaca Welcomes Refugees
• David M Sanders, Jr, Executive Director, OAR of Tompkins County (https://www.oar-tompkins.org )

2:15-2:30pm: Break

2:30-3:15pm: Engaged Partnerships for Healthier, Equitable Communities: A Panel Discussion

In this session, leaders from Cornell, Weill Cornell Medical, and community organizations will share how they are working together to expand innovative programming to improve community health and wellbeing. Through real-world examples, panelists will discuss how they worked together to:

• Build strong cross-sector partnerships; and 
• Explored ways to understand and address gaps in access to information, services, and key resources that support health.  

Whether you work in higher education, healthcare, a nonprofit, or are simply invested in your community, you’ll leave with ideas and inspiration for building partnerships that create equitable, meaningful, and lasting impact.

Moderator: 

• Gen Meredith, DrPH, MPH, Co-Director, Cornell Center for Health Equity and Associate Director, Master of Public Health, Program Professor of Practice with Cornell University Department of Public and Ecosystem Health 

Panelists:

• Ariel Barasch, Executive Director, MedExplain
• Lara Parrilla, MPH, RD, Director, Health Equity Cayuga Health Partners; Co-Director, Cornell Center for Health Equity; Visiting Lecturer, Cornell Master of Public Health Program
• Monika M. Safford, MD, Founder and Co-Director and John J. Kuiper Professor of Medicine, Cornell Center for Health Equity and Director of Research, Division of General Internal Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical
• Grace Parker Zielinski, Childhood Nutrition Collaborative Coordinator, Cornell Cooperative Extension- Tompkins County

3:15-4:00pm: Closing Remarks and Activity 

Facilitated by the Department of Inclusion and Belonging and Jeannie O’Neill, Founding Executive Director and Lead Educator at Yoga Farm Ithaca. 

Jeannie O’Neill, Founding Executive Director and Lead Educator at Yoga Farm Ithaca. 

As a seasoned interdisciplinary educator, and a doctoral student in Transformational Leadership and Coaching, Jeannie O’Neill’s work centers on designing non-hierarchical, collaborative education spaces that empower students to become agents of their own growth. Her doctoral research focuses on Leadership Consciousness in adult education, examining how shared leadership, relational trust, and contemplative practice cultivate participatory and transformative learning environments.  With an M.Ed. specializing in contemplative pedagogy and transformative curriculum design, Jeannie has developed and facilitated numerous innovative programs across diverse educational settings. She created the Radiant Warrior Yoga Teacher Training, Kundalini Warrior, and Spiritual Warrior Yoga Teacher trainings, and countless continuing education programs. Jeannie is a 500E-RYT Vinyasa and Kundalini Yoga teacher, Mindfulness Meditation instructor and Ayurvedic health practitioner. She serves on the advisory committee for the American Yoga Council. 

James T. Carter, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School

James T. Carter is an Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior at Cornell University. His research broadly examines the psychological and contextual factors that pose barriers and offer pathways to improving diversity and inclusion in organizations. His work has been published in outlets such as Psychological Science, American Sociological Review, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and the Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia Business School and a BA in Psychology (with honors) and English from Rice University. Prior to academia, he held various positions in consulting, education, and human resources.

Sean Fath, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School

Sean Fath is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the ILR School at Cornell University. Sean's research focuses on managerial decision making, bias reduction in social evaluations, and perceptions of social and organizational hierarchy. His academic work has been published in various leading outlets in management and psychology, and his practitioner-focused writing has been published in Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. Before coming to Cornell, Sean received his Ph.D. in business administration from Duke University. 

Devon Proudfoot, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior Cornell University’s ILR School

Devon Proudfoot is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University’s ILR School. She studies topics related to inequality and creativity in organizations. She is particularly interested in bias in social evaluations and how individuals navigate their social identities at work. Her research has been featured by media outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and Psychology Today.

Peter John Loewen, Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University

Peter is a professor of government and the Dean of Cornell’s largest college. His research examines how citizens can make better choices, politicians can make better decisions, and how we can harness technological change to improve democracy and the economy. He has published in leading journals in political science and general science, and several other fields. He lives in Ithaca with a young family. 

Leigh F. Bacher, Programs Coordinator at Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR)

Leigh helps connect IWR refugee and immigrant partners to a wide range of community resources, including employment opportunities. IWR is a small, non-profit in Ithaca, NY, that partners with refugees and immigrants as they rebuild their lives in Tompkins County. Cornell’s Bridge to Employment Program is helping IWR partners to overcome common barriers to employment.  After retiring from a faculty position at SUNY Oswego, Leigh sought humanitarian work upon returning to Ithaca where she had lived and studied (Cornell University, PhD, 1998).