(CANTON, NEW YORK) - Last November, United University Professions (UUP) put out the call for its Members who were interested in joining UUP’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Capacity Building Team, a new initiative to focus on building diversity, equity and inclusion on State University of New York (SUNY) Campuses across the State.

Christina Leshko, a UUP Canton Chapter Member and Capacity Building Team Member, answered that call.

Now, she’s taking what she’s learned back to her campus to help her colleagues and students learn more about the importance of DEI and how they can create a more inclusive community at SUNY Canton.

Leshko is Co-Facilitator of a Fall series at SUNY Canton titled: Microaggressions: Classroom, Campus, Community.

The series starts on September 25th with a conversation with Canton Chapter Member Marcella Chiromo, an Assistant Psychology Professor at the college.

It continues on October 26th with Canton Chapter Member Daniel McLane, a Canton Sociologist and Social Sciences Lecturer.

And it wraps up on November 29th with a discussion featuring Jennifer Ball, a Professor and Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Access at Clarkson University.

The events are free to attend, but registration is required.

The sessions will also be broadcast live via Zoom.

“Directly as a result of my participation in the UUP Capacity Building training, I applied for a small grant to host a series of Faculty/student dialogues focused on microaggressions,” she wrote in an e-mail to Statewide Vice President of Professionals Carolyn Kube, who helped create the Capacity Building team. “Our focus is on engaging students, but all are welcome!”

“It is really gratifying to see that our Members who participated in the DEI Capacity Building team learned real skills and training in crucial DEI topics,” Kube said. “That this training empowered them with the courage to use their skills to provide DEI training and events on their campus is wonderful.”

Kube was instrumental in obtaining a $50,000 AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute Grant in 2022, which was used to contract with Tangible Development, an Albany County DEI Consulting Firm.

Working with Tangible, Kube and Capacity Building Team Members attended 14 two-hour virtual training sessions that started in November 2022 and ended in February.

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Canton member takes Capacity Building training to next level (uupinfo.org)