- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Last month, UC ANR approved the creation of a new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Program Team. The aim of this program team is to provide a forum for networking and cross-program/cross-disciplinary dialogue on DEIJ issues that promotes learning, collaboration, and improvement in UC ANR's capacity to engage and serve diverse (in terms of race, ethnicity, ability, gender, and sexual orientation) clientele across the state, and engage all clientele in embracing the benefits diversity brings to the state as a whole. California is a multicultural state rich with a population of diverse ancestry, and as a publicly funded institution, UC ANR has the responsibility to ensure we are effectively reaching all our California communities equitably.
“We envision that the program team will serve as a formal venue for individuals and workgroups committed to integrating DEIJ into their programmatic work to connect and learn from each others' experience,” said Clare Gupta, UCCE specialist, who is leading the effort with Sonja Brodt, Academic Coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. “It will also provide a means for colleagues new to this work to increase DEIJ capacity across ANR.”
“We anticipate that the DEIJ Program Team will complement rather than supplant participation in other program teams, given that the topic of DEIJ cuts across disciplines,” she said. “Beyond convening an annual meeting, we intend for this Program Team to serve as a vehicle for a number of other DEIJ engagement activities, training, and ‘network-smart extension' opportunities. The DEIJ Program Team will follow a collaborative leadership model, led by a rotating steering committee, with mutually agreed upon roles and responsibilities.”
If you would like to join the DEIJ Program Team, please contact Gupta at cgupta@ucdavis.edu.
Bringing DEIJ considerations to bear across the wide range of research and extension activities that take place within ANR will require a sustained, multidisciplinary, statewide effort that connects and builds on the work of those across the larger UC system who are already integrating DEIJ into their programmatic work.
The DEIJ Program Team will work together with the DEI Alliance, DEI Advisory Council, and newly formed Employment Resources Groups (ERGs) to provide a comprehensive framework for learning, collaboration, and organizational and programmatic change to improve ANR's impact in traditionally underserved communities around the state.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Everyone in the UC ANR community is invited to join virtual events to learn, share, support and celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month every Tuesday in May from 3 to 4 p.m.
- May 4 - The Asian Pacific Identity: Experiences and Stories
- May 11 - Asian Pacific Farmers in California: Past and Present
- May 18 - Violence in Asian Pacific Communities: Exclusion, Internment and Hate Crimes
- May 25 - Supporting Our Friends and Colleagues: Bystander Intervention Training
The weekly events will begin May 4 with a discussion of who is included and what is meant by the terms Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander. Surendra Dara will describe his immigration experience and Soo-Young Chin, a cultural consultant and ethnographer from Ethnoworks will present.
On May 11, we'll hear perspectives from Asian Americans involved in agriculture, starting with a video about Koda Farms and how this Japanese-American family continues to farm since starting to grow rice in 1928. Kellee Matsushita-Tseng will talk about her work with Second Generation Seeds, representation in Extension, and the current acts of hate. UC ANR's very own Sua Vang, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) community health specialist, will talk about her experience farming and continuing connections with Southeast Asian farmers in Fresno County.
On May 18, we will review some history of violence and discrimination against Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S., then May Lin, postdoctoral fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality at the University of Denver, will encourage participants to think beyond the framing of individual hate crimes and more towards community approaches – such as the Black-Asian solidarity efforts in Oakland – to dismantle systemic violence.
On May 25, Advancing Justice Chicago, in partnership with Hollaback! and CAIR-Chicago, will give us a crash course in how to de-escalate harassment and support people who are targets of harassment and violence.
All of the sessions are scheduled for an hour, but speakers will remain online beyond 4 p.m. if needed to answer questions and allow for extended discussion.
Register at http://ucanr.edu/aphm2021.
The image for UC ANR's Asian Pacific Heritage Month was designed by Surendra Dara, UC Cooperative Extension entomology and biologicals advisor in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The font and colors are representative of Asian Pacific heritage. The cherry blossoms represent spring, new life and vibrancy. The lanterns symbolize light, and light represents knowledge, wisdom and education. Lanterns representing the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand are included. The shapes and colors of the lanterns are different, but the lanterns all serve the same purpose: to shine light. For UC ANR, the cherry branch represents our role in food production and natural resources while the lanterns represent our role in outreach.
Your APHM planning team:
Apurba Barman
Sibani Bose
Surendra Dara
Charles Go
Greg Ira
Pam Kan-Rice
Janice Kao
Dohee Kim
Vikram Koundinya
Elaine Lander
Tunyalee Martin
Yu Meng
Stephanie Parreira
Devii Rao
Marisa Tsai
Sua Vang
Laura Vollmer
- Author: Jodi Azulai
Three opportunities are being offered to improve our diversity, equity and inclusion skills – an understanding unconscious bias workshop, intercultural competence program and a 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge.
Vice President Glenda Humiston encourages participating in activities such as these to support the ANR Strategic Plan 2020-2025 goal to develop a more inclusive and equitable workplace.
Understanding Unconscious Bias: Awareness, knowledge and competency development
Bias, in its most simplistic definition, is having a preference for one thing over another. Also, biases come into play in our impressions and judgment of people, especially those whose identities and experiences are different from our own.
Mikael Villalobos, associate chief diversity officer in the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UC Davis, and Eric Sanchez, diversity and inclusion educator at UC Davis, will lead the workshop.
Objectives:
- We will explore how we make snap judgments about people by understanding how socialization informs our biases.
- Participants will be introduced to theory and language in understanding implicit and explicit bias.
- Using personal reflection, experiential exercises and case studies, participants will gain greater awareness when they engage in bias and gain essential knowledge and skills (tools) in how they recognize and mitigate biases in both personal and professional domains.
Who should attend:
- Employees who work with clientele, volunteers or provide support to others in ANR.
- Priority will be given to people who have not had previous access to this learning topic.
- There will be a waiting list for those who are interested, but regularly engage with bias-related topics.
Each of the two-hour workshops will be tailored to job roles, but you are welcome to sign up for the session that fits your schedule. Each session will be limited to 35 participants.
Academic coordinators, UCCE advisors, UCCE specialists, community educators, UCCE field workers, REC and staff research associates and other employees who deliver programs to clientele
- Thursday, March 3, 10 a.m.-noon
- Wednesday, April 7, 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
- Tuesday, June 1, 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
- Monday, June 7, 10 a.m.-noon
Volunteer coordinators, managers and other employees who work with volunteers
- Thursday, March 4, 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
- Monday, May 10, 10 a.m.-noon
Administrative and support staff who provide support to others in ANR
- Monday, March 15, 10 a.m.-noon
- Thursday, May 20, 10 a.m.-noon
To register for Understanding Unconscious Bias, visit https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=32980.
Take the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge
UC ANR employees are invited to participate in the Food Solutions New England 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge. The challenge timeframe is April 5-25, 2021, so sign up before March 29.
The challenge:
- will raise your awareness, change your understanding, and potentially shift the way you behave,
- goes beyond individual or interpersonal racism by helping to demystify structural and institutional racism and white supremacist patterns that are sometimes invisible to people, and
- inspires you to act, on your own or with others in your organization, business or group, to dismantle these systems.
Why you should participate:
- The 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge led by Food Solutions New England is designed to increase personal awareness and address cultural competency, implicit bias, and other relevant topics that are critical to deliver programs and to address needs of the people California.
How this works and your commitment:
- Each morning of the Challenge, you'll receive an email "prompt" from Food Solutions New England with a short reading, video or audio file. You are encouraged to spend 10 to 15 minutes each day with the material in the prompt.
- You are encouraged to participate in weekly discussion groups for this challenge. You can be placed in a group based on your registration responses or form your own group. These conversations require vulnerability and a safe environment. Guidelines will be available to help your group preserve both.
To participate, please complete both online forms as outlined below before 8 a.m. Monday, March 29.
- Register here to participate to receive email prompts from Food Solutions New England.
- Complete this form to share with ANR that you will participate and to receive assistance with discussion group placement.
Increase your intercultural competence
UC ANR's Intercultural Development Inventory Qualified Administrators team invites you to participate in a professional development opportunity to increase your intercultural competence and demonstrate our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and growth as professionals.
An ANR-wide cohort of 10 to 12 individuals will participate in an intercultural competence professional development activity that uses the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).
As a member of the cohort, you will:
- Take the Intercultural Development Inventory,
- Receive individualized coaching by an IDI Qualified Administrator, who will review your confidential results and help guide you to increase your intercultural competence, including your personalized intercultural competence plan.
- This process is confidential
In addition, to support your intercultural competence professional development, you will have the opportunity to participate in several structured learning opportunities with other UC ANR professionals and video trainings. In these interactive and participatory sessions, you will engage in open dialogue and deep reflection on issues related to your work.
The commitment begins March 2021 and extends through August 2021, with an IDI Conference in February 2022. The $150 registration is paid for by ANR Learning & Development. Priority will be given to people who have no or little experience with the work of diversity, equity and inclusion.
By participating in this intercultural competence program, you will:
- Increase understanding of how the development of our individual and collective intercultural competence is connected to the UC ANR mission and core values
- Increase understanding of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to strengthen your intercultural competence; understand how people perceive cultural similarities and differences and learn strategies to begin to bridge these differences.
- Understand how people perceive cultural similarities and differences and learn strategies to begin to bridge these differences.
If you would like to participate in this professional development opportunity, please fill out the IDI Interest Survey by March 12, 2021.
For more information, contact the Intercultural Development Inventory Qualified Administrators Team:
Dorina Espinosa, dmespinoza@ucanr.edu
Maria de la Fuente, medelafuente@ucanr.edu
Russell Hill, rdhill@ucanr.edu
Car Mun Kok, cmkok@ucanr.edu
Keith Nathaniel, kcnathaniel@ucanr.edu
Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, lschmittmcquitty@ucanr.edu
Liliana Vega, live@ucanr.edu
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- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
VP Glenda Humiston has appointed 11 ANR people to an initial two-year term as founding members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Council for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. This appointment is effective retroactively from Nov. 1, 2020, through Oct. 31, 2022.
In a Jan. 29 ANR Update, Humiston wrote:
I am convening this advisory council to support DEI efforts that UC ANR staff and academics have undertaken to improve working environments within UC ANR, as well as to improve quality of life for marginalized populations living in the state of California. Diversity is one of our core values and developing an equitable and inclusive society is one of our public values. This Council is a commitment by UC ANR leadership to take division-wide action on the existence and impact of longstanding discrimination within our Division, as well as in our efforts throughout the state.
I am asking the founding members to recommend a formal charter to document the objectives, organization and functions of the council. While the initial appointment for all founding members is two years, the intent is for members to have staggered appointments to allow for turnover and continuity. I ask that the Council work to develop the Charter and an agenda for an initial meeting with myself, AVP Powers and AVP Tran by June 30, 2021.
Council members include
- Elaine Lander
- Esther Mosase
- Fadzayi Mashiri
- Gail Feenstra
- Katherine Soule
- Keith Nathaniel
- Laura Snell
- LeChé McGill
- Mohammed Yagmour
- Ricardo Vela
- Ron Walker
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The Native American Community Partnerships Workgroup is requesting everyone affiliated with ANR – including staff, academics and administrators – to please complete their needs assessment/research survey by Feb. 6. The goal of this survey is to assess ANR's current and potential engagement with Native American communities in California.
Even if you do not work with Tribes, everyone in UC ANR is strongly encouraged to complete the survey at https://ucanr.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_39Q44yj08MeQNsF.
Did you know that California is home to more than 100 federally recognized tribes and has the highest Native American population of any state, with 720,000 tribal members, comprising 12% of the total U.S. Native population? Did you also know that the entire land grant system, including UC, was founded upon expropriated Native lands? Because ANR is the part of the university that connects the power of the UC to local communities, it is important for us to better understand our efforts to improve the livelihood of all Californians, including Native communities.
Your input will help the workgroup identify the challenges and successes of ANR conducting research and outreach with Native communities and opportunities for shared learning. Your input will help ANR move forward with uniquely tailored trainings and professional development opportunities. The survey results will also help add to the small and growing body of research nationwide on extension activities with Native American communities. We seek to compare California data with data for other land-grant colleges across the U.S. to assess how effectively we are serving Native American audiences and how we can do better.
For more information, please contact Native American Community Partnership co-chairs Chris McDonald at cjmcdonald@ucanr.edu and Jennifer Sowerwine at jsowerwi@berkeley.edu.
Thank you for completing the survey https://ucanr.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_39Q44yj08MeQNsF by Feb. 6.