Civically Leadership Conference

Hosted by the University of Utah's Bennion Center and Salt Lake Community College's Thayne Center, the annual Civic Leadership Conference explores community leaders' diverse pathways towards social change.  

The Civic Engagement conference was a great learning experience and I had some good parts that were beneficial for me as an ITP student. First off, the keynote speaker Kilo gave an amazing presentation about his experiences and how they relate to the notion of colonization. One question he suggested we ask the community is "what do you need/want from me so that I can be successful ally?" To often we go into other cultures thinking to mold their community to be like our own. 

Secondly, I learned that could have an impact on the Deaf community is I talked with a man who is a lawyer for people with disabilities. I asked him what kind of cases he gets that involve the deaf community and he told me mostly access to communication cases. This is the number one issue that the deaf community is involved with and I believe is the most important. I didn't know there was a law office that strictly deals with persons with disabilities but I think these cases are subtly important for the community and their access to communication. Also I had the chance to speak with many different people from other organizations and I thought that that workshop was the most productive and informative throughout the day. Other workshops included discovering your motivation and how to use that. And one that discussed burnout and how to avoid that. These workshops were great but by far the most productive was getting to engage with members of organizations that actually are out in the field working with these different communities.