Leadership Summit Series: Empowering Our Communities through Exploration, Learning, Humanity, Empathy, and Action

About

The Leadership Summit Series is designed for the campus community to come together in various ways to learn, collaborate, and teach about social justice issues that impact our campus, our local communities and beyond. This year’s interactive, hybrid series will provide spaces for students to engage in critical dialogue, expand consciousness of self and others, and create liberating and equitable practices, all of which increases student leadership development. The series will allow for participants to enhance and build upon their personal leadership skills and presence. Participants will have an opportunity to engage with one another in thought-provoking and interactive programming that will challenge students to think critically about ethical leadership, one's own personal narrative and values, civic engagement and activism, and democracy. Participants will have a chance to engage in learning that will focus specifically on areas of ethical leadership, understanding one’s own personal narrative and values, student advocacy, engagement, as well as systematic structures and policies that exist that impact the way we make decisions and the way we choose to lead. This year’s Leadership Summit Series is hosted by the Center for Culture, Equity and Empowerment and the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD).

This year’s Leadership Summit Series will take place March 18-27, 2024 and is open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni to participate in.  Participants who attend 3 or more programs held during the week, will receive official summit swag, certificate, and digital badge. 

As a result of participating in the 2024 Leadership Summit Series, attendees will: 

  • Explore their identities and culture and deconstruct its impact on how they make meaning and behave.
  • Identify the ways our collective socialization processes inform our identities and recognize that within all of our excellence, we share a rich, diverse history of our thoughts, voices, contributions, and lived experiences that strengthen our community and the world
  • Build emotional intelligence and capacity to engage in cross-cultural with empathy and vulnerability, around various global issues that impact our campus, local communities, and beyond
  • Describe at least one specific action they can take to promote positive social change at the individual, relationship, community or societal level
  • Challenge the boundaries of your comfortability when interacting within and across communities and generate steps to develop meaningful and authentic relationships

Registration

We anticipate spaces to fill up quickly, so please sure to RSVP as soon as possible. Attendees who participate in three (3) or more of the events will receive official summit swag, a certificate of completion, and a digital badge  

Leadership Across Difference: Tips from A-Z

Bridging Differences: Increasing Understanding

Women’s History Month Panel

LGBTQ+ Literacies for Our Futures

Take Steps to End Campus Hunger

Pride Outside: LGBTQ+ Student Leaders

Leadership and the Disabled-Neurodivergent Community

Leadership Summit Series: Debate About Free Speech and Hate Speech

Student Action Groups - Dinner and Post Debate Reflection

Schedule

Leadership Across Difference: Tips from A-Z

  • Date: Tuesday, March 19th
  • Location: Virtual (Zoom) - https://gmu.zoom.us/j/91632533766
  • Time: 5:30pm-6:30pm
  • Description: Conversations across difference have been found to be the most powerful factor in helping students to develop as leaders. During this workshop you will learn about a variety of tips (from A-Z) that can help you, and others, to collaborate across a wide variety of differences. Attend this interactive workshop to explore a variety of leadership tips and tricks across difference and reflect on how these tips are implemented through your personal experience. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their experiences and explore how to further develop as a leader who can work across difference.
  • Facilitators:
    • Andy Brown, Leadership Consultant (The LEAD Office)
    • Gracia Melendez, Leadership Consultant (The LEAD Office)
    • Grace Leitner, Graduate Professional Assistant (The LEAD Office)
  • Summit Focus Areas: Humanity and Learning  
  • RSVP: via Mason 360 at https://cglink.me/2d7/r2261362

Bridging Differences: Increasing Understanding

  • Date: Wednesday, March 20th
  • Location: Merten Hall, 1202
  • Time: 3:00pm-4:30pm
  • Description: Interested in learning from someone with a very different perspective? Tired of unnecessary polarization & animosity? Let’s do something about it! Leadership researchers have found that conversations across difference are one of the best ways for students to develop as leaders. This highly interactive workshop will help participants develop the conversational skills to better understand those with very different viewpoints. There will be opportunities to explore 4 qualities of good questions, as well as how & why we change our minds. Participants will craft a series of engaging questions that they can use in a wide variety of situations. There will also be the opportunity to practice essential conversational skills to increase our understand across difference.
  • Facilitator: Dr. Nick Lennon, The LEAD Office
  • Summit Focus Areas: Humanity, Learning, Empathy, and Action
  • RSVP: via Mason 360 at: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2264770

Women’s History Month Panel

  • Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024
  • Location: The Hub, Ballroom
  • Time: 6:30pm-8:00pm
  • Description: Womanhood is a complex and interpersonal experience and we as a community have created a space to speak about the unique perspectives it brings. The panel's focus is on the history of the month, experiences in our society, and other relevant topics with guiding questions for our amazing panelists who are comprised of undergraduate and alumnus. Afterwards, we encourage attendees to join us in a networking session with Mason students, staff, and alumnus where we will provide refreshments and snacks from woman-owned businesses in the Mason community. Please join us as this event is in collaboration with LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Center for Well-Being, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Center for Culture, Equity, & Empowerment, Women & Gender Studies, Leadership Education and Development, and Student Government
  • RSVP: via Mason 360 at: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2265700

LGBTQ+ Literacies for Our Futures

  • Date: Friday, March 22nd
  • Location: Virtual (Zoom) at https://gmu.zoom.us/j/95598301456
  • Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm
  • Description: When we work with LGBTQ+ identities and activism, there is often a myth that there is a point where a person can have the most advanced level of knowledge that they can have on these issues. While these identities and activism are always shifting as we learn more, we have to recognize that our approach to education is in flux simultaneously. Each of us who engages in this work and/or has personal experiences in the community has an “LGBTQ+ literacy” that is always changing and shifts based on the professional or personal context we are taking part which involves differing vocabularies, educational tools, contexts, forms of dialogue, etc. This workshop will focus on how LGBTQ literacies change based on context and will provide a beginning dialogue on how we can be continually introspective about this work as we advocate for change.
  • Facilitator: Dr. David Powers-Corwin, School of Integrative Studies and Keziah Sanders, BIS Student in the School of Integrative Studies
  • Summit Focus Areas: Learning and Action
  • RSVP: via Mason 360 at https://cglink.me/2d7/r2264772

Take Steps to End Campus Hunger

  • Date: Friday, March 22nd
  • Location: SUB I
  • Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm
  • Description: Please join the Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning in our "Take Steps To End Campus Hunger" Educational Walk. You will learn about food insecurity on campus and ways you can take action to help. The walk will take place on Friday, March 22nd from 1-2:30pm and will kick off in SUB 1. We will be taking donation for the Patriot Pantry, so please bring some donation. You can see what the pantry needs by checking out their website: https://ssac.gmu.edu/patriot-pantry/donations/ We suggest participants wear comfortable shoes, as we will be walking across various parts of campus. We will conclude the walk at Merten Hall to learn about taking action.
  • Summit Focus Areas: Learning, Empathy, and Action
  • RSVP: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VXKFnlffR0ygwAVGRgOAywK9p7VFgdtOhZsEyWavCWtUNkVCNjg5VFpQVDRCTVJYSkUxMjJVMEFESS4u

Pride Outside: LGBTQ+ Student Leaders

  • Date: Sunday, March 24th
  • Location: The EDGE at the Sci Tech Campus
  • Time: 12:00pm-4:30pm
  • Description: There will be 20 reservable spots for LGBTQ+ Student Leaders at Mason to attend and a boxed lunch is provided
  • Summit Focus Areas: Learning and Action
  • RSVP: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2265048

Leadership and the Disabled-Neurodivergent Community

  • Date: Tuesday, March 26th
  • Location: Merten Hall, 1202
  • Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm
  • Description: This presentation will cover how to work with leaders and members of the disabled-neurodivergent community.
  • Facilitators: Adam Rizzoli, President of UBU and Zoe Winter, Vice President of UBU
  • Summit Focus Areas: Humanity, Learning, Empathy, and Action
  • RSVP: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2265225

Free Speech and Hate Speech Debate in Partnership with Braver Angels

  • Topic: Should colleges and universities disallow controversial speech that could be construed as hate speech?
  • Date: Wednesday, March 27th
  • Location: Merten Hall, 1201
  • Time: 5:00pm-6:30pm (forum)
  • What to expect...
    • A Braver Angels debate is designed to be non-competitive, highly immersive and experiential for all participants. It is not performative or spectator-oriented — very different in tone and approach from televised debates that politicians engage in. Everyone in the room is invited to participate – whether they are students, faculty, staff, etc. The debate is moderated by an expertly trained Chair in a light parliamentary style that guides conversation and encourages deep listening and respect. The debate is highly participatory (everyone who attends can have a chance to share their view), is highly structured (no cross talk, no shout downs), is not a competition, etc. Participants address their comments to the chair (a moderator from the national non-profit, Braver Angels).
  • Summit Focus Areas: Humanity, LearningEmpathy, and Action
  • RSVP: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2264887

Student Action Groups - Dinner and Post Debate Reflection

  • Date: Wednesday, March 27th
  • Location: Merten Hall, 1201
  • Time: 6:45pm-8:30pm
  • Description: This will be a space for students to co-create plans and actions that build upon what they have learned throughout the series, debate, and/or an activism/research interest they have been exploring. 
  • Summit Focus Areas: Humanity, LearningEmpathy, and Action
  • RSVP: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2265051

Partners