Webinars: Growing Culturally Welcoming and Validating Programs

Posted by on September 8, 2008

Embracing cultural diversity helps youth-serving programs promote positive outcomes for the young people they tutor and mentor. To help you start and sustain program practices that honor and support youth from diverse backgrounds, LEARNS is pleased to offer a series of three online trainings on Growing Culturally Welcoming and Validating Programs presented by Ginlin Woo. Ginlin has over 40 years of experience as a community organizer, facilitator, resource developer, and teacher working in a variety of communities and cultures across the country and in Micronesia.

The three webinars will be:
– September 9, Laying the Foundation
– September 23, Assessing the Climate and the Soil
– September 30, Training Staff and Volunteers

Each Webinar will be one hour in length, and will begin at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time (2:00 p.m. Eastern). Detailed descriptions and connection instructions are provided below. Each session will be recorded for later viewing if you are unable to attend.

To participate, you will need both a reliable Internet connection and a phone to dial into a toll-free conference line. Space is limited, and pre-registration is required. Please register for the session(s) you are interested in by following the instructions provided with each session description. You must register for each Webinar you wish to attend.

Erich Stiefvater of the LEARNS team will be coordinating the sessions. If you have questions or concerns, you can contact Erich by email at stiefvae@nwrel.org.

We hope you can join us.

Yours in service,

The LEARNS Partners

LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of Education. We are funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide training and technical assistance to projects focused on tutoring, mentoring, literacy, and out-of-school time.

For additional tools, training, and information visit The Resource Center at http://www.nationalservice.gov/resources and the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse at http://www.servicelearning.org.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS AND CONNECTION INSTRUCTIONS

*Laying the Foundation, Tuesday, September 9, 11:00 a.m. Pacific (2:00 p.m. Eastern): In this Webinar you will learn the importance of creating culturally welcoming and validating programs, envision what such
programs look like, and explore guiding principles for creating them. To register for this session and receive connection instructions, click the following link (or copy and paste it into the address bar of your Web browser): http://snipurl.com/3n0pg.

*Assessing the Climate and the Soil, Tuesday, September 23, 11:00 a.m. Pacific (2:00 p.m. Eastern): This session builds on the first to provide strategies and tools for mapping the cultures represented in your program and community through cultural audits and climate assessments. To register for this session and receive connection instructions, click the following link (or copy and paste it into the address bar of your
Web browser): http://snipurl.com/3n0vv.

*Training Staff and Volunters, Tuesday, September 30, 11:00 a.m. Pacific (2:00 p.m. Eastern): This webinar will help you communicate priorities and goals around cultural inclusion to your staff and volunteers and train them to honor and promote a welcoming environment. To register for this session and receive connection instructions, click the following link (or copy and paste it into the address bar of your Web browser): http://snipurl.com/3n0zc.