Connections Conference 2021

​​​Listen, Learn, Act!: ​Fighting for Justice in our schools & communities
March 24th, 2021

Keynote Speaker
Dr. Jamila Lyiscott

Jamila Lyiscott aka, Dr. J, is a community-engaged scholar, nationally renowned speaker, and the author of Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is the co-founder and co-director of the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research. Dr. J is most well known for being featured on TED.com where her video, '3 Ways to Speak English,' has been viewed over 4.5 million times, and for her commissioned TED Talk, '2053' in response to the inauguration of the 45th occupant of the white house. She has delivered keynotes and workshops at 100s of institutions throughout the nation where she works closely with youth, educators, and communities towards racial healing, equity, and justice.

Dr. J's scholarship and activism work together to explore, assert, and defend the value of Black life globally. As a testament to her commitment to educational justice for youth of color, she is the founder and co-director of the Cyphers For Justice (CFJ) program, apprenticing NYC high school youth, incarcerated youth, and educators into research and activism through hip-hop, spoken word, and media literacy. 

​Dr. J serves as co-editor of the highly acclaimed journal of Equity & Excellence in Education, and holds faculty fellowships at the University of Notre Dame, and Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the recipient of the 2019 AERA Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award and the 2019 Scholar-Activist & Community Advocacy Award. In her active efforts to disrupt the bounds of the academy, she has also been featured in Spike Lee's "2 Fists Up," on NPR, Cosmopolitan, NowThis, and many other media outlets nationally and internationally. 

Missed a workshop? Need a refresher?
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CLICK HERE to access 2021 Workshop resources, presentations, and more!

Conference Agenda 2021:

8:30-9:00 -  Welcome & Opening Activities
9:00-10:00 -  Keynote Presentation: Jamila Lyiscott and Q&A
              10 min Screen Break
10:10-11:25 -  Workshop Session 1
              11:30-11:55 -  Lunch Break
12:00-1:15 - Workshop Session 2
1:30-2:00 - Individual School reflection & planning time

2021 Conference Program

CLICK HERE to download a copy of the 2021 Connections Conference Program