Chair/President Programs
ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services (ODLOS) curated this list for conference attendees who may be interested in sessions targeting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). The sessions are grouped by session type with definitions to guide attendees through the selections. Please note that this information was curated by ODLOS specifically, there may be some flexibility in each session’s categorization and/or level of understanding.
Definitions of Levels of Understanding
Introductory Level: These sessions are geared toward attendees who have no prior or little experience with equity, diversity, or inclusion topics. Attendees who have limited knowledge of equity, diversity, and inclusion are encouraged to attend these sessions.
Intermediate Level: These sessions are appropriate for attendees who have attended a few webinars or workshops surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion and would like to learn more. These sessions start analyzing how the library profession can decenter power.
Advanced Level: These sessions are appropriate for those who are experienced with nuanced concepts of social justice, power and privilege, identity, equity, and inclusion. Attendees who are facilitators and leaders in areas of equity, diversity, and inclusion and those looking to deepen their knowledge are encouraged to attend.
Chair/President Programs: A session that is planned by a roundtable’s chair or division’s president.
Chair/President Programs
BCALA Skilled Up! How Black Librarians can Re-Skill and Re-Purpose their careers in the 21st Century
Link: https://www.eventscribe.com/2020/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=664731
Level of Understanding: Intermediate Level
January 25, 2020 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Jeff Henderson
Link: https://2020.alamidwinter.org/speaker/jeff-henderson
Level of Understanding: Introductory Level
January 26, 2020 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
"From humble beginnings in South Central Los Angeles to life as an imprisoned drug dealer, to an award-winning celebrity chef and best-selling author, Jeff Henderson is a role model for anyone in need of encouragement and looking to reinvent their life. Two decades after his release from federal prison, where he spent ten years for drug trafficking, Henderson offers hard knock life lessons and the secrets to rising above and realizing your potential to at-risk and vulnerable individuals.
Henderson discovered his passion for cooking while in prison. When told he would never get a job because he was a convicted felon, he studied his fellow prisoners (marketing experts and financial types). He discovered the library, “I read my first book in prison, I had never been to a library in my life before then,” he says. After prison, Henderson realized that, indeed very few people would give him a chance to prove his redemption. Having honed his talent for the culinary arts, he was eager to show his transformation to the world, but the doors of rejection slammed hard. Luckily, a few bold and visionary corporate leaders stepped up to give him a shot at his dream. He later became the first African-American Chef de Cuisine at Caesar’s Palace and the executive chef at Café Bellagio. Today, “Chef Jeff” has authored four books. His best-seller, Cooked: My Journey from the Streets to the Stove is available now and will be adapted to film by Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. He is the creator of the Food Network reality series The Chef Jeff Project; host of Family Style with Chef Jeff, and star of Flip My Food with Chef Jeff. Henderson has also appeared on The Oprah Show, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio (NPR).
His current work includes two initiatives: the first is to disrupt and eradicate workplace bias. Once considered the poster child for explicit and unconscious bias following his release from prison, he uses his experience to advocate for the marginalized segments of the population. He educates audiences on how to embrace workers from all backgrounds, alerting companies how “unchecked bias” can affect a company’s bottom-line, while “checked bias” can change the trajectory of a human life. The second initiative is to encourage those born on the fringes of society. He says, “no matter who you are or where you’re from, be it Main Street or the Mean Streets, you have the potential to live your American dream.” He longs to see a community of “hustlepreneurs,” creative problem-solvers who don’t flinch at rejection, who understand how to provide what people want and need, and who know how to turn it into a revenue stream.