This session will provide tools to navigate conversations with dissenting opinions, and harness the power of honoring traditions and values of the past while forging a relevant and progressive future. Attendees will learn how to engage alumni and donors in a way that empowers them to join in the vision, and identify when to detach from donors who do not uphold the institution’s current mission and vision.

Over the past 18 months, court decisions and public policy has drastically changed how higher education can approach DEIB. While academicians and student affairs personnel prepare for their work, advancement practitioners face our own unique challenges. This workshop is designed for all members of an advancement organization – from alumni engagement to development to Marketing and Communications. Participants will be taken through a framework that will allow them to examine their own organizations’ readiness to be nimble in this contemporary environment, ultimately to support a culture that will keep all stakeholders engaged. Additionally, participants will come away with tools to structure DEIB work in a way that is mission-centric and supportive of all communities.