Trainer: Claudia Quintero is a Los Angeles native who, as an attorney, represents migrant and seasonal farm workers in Massachusetts. Claudia grew up in the performing arts playing the piano and is a trained classical dancer. She is excited to be a part of the Truth School and to return to her roots as a teacher, as she has taught communication studies, music, and dance in the past.
Class Description: If we are going to stand up for truth, we need to be ready to speak up for truths. But for many of us, the prospect of public speaking is terrifying. Join Claudia Quintero for a workshop exploring our fear, and working in a safe, supportive environment to overcome it together. With the right tools, encouragement, and experience, we can equip one another to make a diļ¬erence.
Trainers: Janine Fondon, an author, educator, and speaker, brings her New York spirit, Caribbean lineage, and Massachusetts mindset (with Southern exposure) to the boardroom, living room and classroom. Janine has used her communication skills to build bridges of inclusion in corporations and communities. Her work on diversity councils and leadership teams has focused on raising unheard voices and inspiring change through eļ¬ective communication. She has worked for several corporations (ABCāTV, CBSāTV, BankBoston) and coāfounded UnityFirst.com, to share diversityārelated news. As an MFA candidate at Bay Path University, where she is Chair of Undergraduate Communications, Janine inspires women and communities to make new history; and Nikai Fondon, a lifestyle blog writer, speaker and business professional who holds a degree in marketing from the Isenberg School at UMASS Amherst. She currently works for the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts as the Program Associate in the Scholarship Department and commits her free time to sitting on steering committees for two additional nonāprofit organizations. Nikai truly believes in women’s empowerment, leadership, and education and chooses to use her position in society as a young, Black woman to uplift and encourage others of all backgrounds to become better versions of themselves.
Workshop Description: This workshop will explore the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the anniversary of his death in 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. We will use creative expression to evaluate where we, individually and collectively, stand as we answer Kingās question, āWhere do we go from here?ā As King once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” In a call and response roundtable, we will discuss strategies for advancing civil rights, diversity, inclusion, and equity in a world filled with change and controversy. With storytelling, we will use the āVoices of Resilience” to create a shared plan for social change and inclusive leadership. The session will include a virtual museum tour of the Voices of Resilience exhibit which highlights the contributions of diverse women who raised their resilient voices for justice, social change and inclusion. The exhibit illuminates and celebrates the untold or lesser known stories of African American women who defined leadership, refined relationships and demanded humanity along the roads, paths and intersections of our communities and beyond.
Objectives:
Past: To learn some new history about people from our region who engaged in the struggle for freedom in diļ¬erent decades as noted on the Voices of Resilienceās inclusive historic timeline.
Present: To examine Kingās legacy by examining our personal and collective interest in social change and inclusiveleadership.
Future: To engage our creative expression to engage all ages in shaping, designing and curating a new social justice movement that would be worthy of praise by MLK and Sojourner Truth.
