Workshops & Breakout Rooms

The 2022 BP conference is focused on Building Power Towards Sustainable Community through five 90-minute breakout sessions centering issues related to housing disenfranchisement, land sovereignty, and sustainable living.


The Goals for the breakout sessions shall be to:

  1. Expand conference attendees' knowledge and understanding of conference and breakout session themes.

  2. Encourage collaborative discussion that can be utilized in the academia setting and abroad.

  3. Mobilize attendees to take action on community centered projects presented during the conference.

  4. Providing opportunity for attendees and community organizers to network and collaborate.

  5. Have fun.

Breakout Sessions Group A:

Centering Justice

    1. Water Justice [Led by Meeko Williams & Beulah Walker of Hydrate Detroit]

    2. Environmental Justice [Led by Ryan (Rei) Fielder & Jamie Simmons of Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition]

    3. Neighborhood Beautification [Led by Yusef Bunchy Shakur of Community Movement Builders]

Breakout Sessions Group B:

Centering Security

    1. Financial Security [Led by Kevin Warren & Dr. Trina Shanks

    2. Navigating Housing Policies [Led by Ashley Golden & Tony Gant of Nation Outside]

    3. Land Sovereignty and Governance [Led by Ikaje Amensua]

Session descriptions:

Financial Security / Financial Freedom (Group B)

In this session, we will be discussing building financial wealth / generational wealth including how we can leverage our personal financial security to benefit our communities at large, particularly currently and historically disenfranchised groups.

We will also work on defining financial wealth and security, such as by identifying who has historically been left out. We will also consider what can individuals do to gain better financial footing, and what is required by local, state, and the federal government to support financial security for disenfranchised groups.

Facilitators:

Harold R. Johnson Collegiate Professor; Director, Community Engagement, School of Social Work, The University of Michigan

Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual

Navigating Housing Policies with Felony Convictions (Group B)

Presented by Nation Outside

This session will cover felony disengagement for Housing by considering how felony disengagement impacted people from obtaining wealth and prosperity. We will also look at the need for fair chance ordinances in urban communities and how this policy would benefit both the community and the individual.

Facilitators:

Director of Policy and Program Operations for Nation Outside

Statewide Director for Nation Outside

Water Rights & Justice (Group A)

Presented by Hydrate Detroit

This session aims to cover taxation on water affordability for low income/no income residents, water rights and the intersection of land sovereignty and wealth, water discrimination against communities of color, as well as how to take action.

Facilitators:

Founder & Chief Director of Hydrate Detroit

Vice Chief Director of Hydrate Detroit

Environmental Justice (Group A)

Presented by Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

The impact of environmental racism and discrimination on residents in poverty, including how this impacts Black families and families of color from building wealth will be covered in this session. We will also look at the fight for environmental justice in Michigan using examples of the refinery and Marathon Oil company.

Facilitators:

Movement Building & Education Organizer at Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

Engagement Director for Michigan Climate Action Network

Land Sovereignty & Governance (Group B)

Presented by Detroit Food Security Network

The idea of community (Urban) gardens will be the focus of this session. We will look at the response to poverty and scarcity of healthy food in urban communities and community involvement with community gardening including challenges that arise when working to involve community members in community gardening and generate ideas to ease those pain points. What local, state, or federal policies hinder this work and what can community members do to push for policies that support more sustainable communities, particularly those who are currently and who have been historically disenfranchised?

Facilitator:

Co-founder of Liberated Farms and Pyramid Builders Institute of S.T.E.A.M.

Derrienne Reese

Co-founder of Liberated Farms and Pyramid Builders Institute of S.T.E.A.M.

Neighborhood Beautification (Group A)

This session will explore neighborhood beautification through the lens of restoring the neighbor back into the neighborhood.

Facilitator:

Deputy Director of Neighborhood Organizing with the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion

Let us know if you'll be attending!

Registration is open from 9/28/2022 to 10/19/2022. To register later, please email BuildingPowerUM@gmail.com