Workshop title: The Identity Conscious Practitioner: Building Habits and Skills for More Inclusivity

Workshop description: Identity very much informs our daily work. Building an identity-conscious practice means realizing that who we are informs and impacts how we act, interact, and how we see the world around us. To do this, we need tools to explore what our identities are, how they shape our views, and how we might work towards greater inclusion and equity. This workshop will help you understand the impact of identity and explore how such knowledge can contribute to building more inclusive, compassionate, curious, and critical spaces for learning and growing.

Speaker bio: Dr. Liza Talusan is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership at the UMass Boston. She is an facilitator, educator, and scholar-practitioner in areas of leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion. With over 25 years of experience in PreK-20 education and organizational leadership, Dr. Talusan has facilitate conversations about diversity, anti-racism, bias, privilege and power and creates environments that allow for people to build skills for difficult conversations.

Dr. Talusan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Child Development from Connecticut College; Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from New York University; Ph.D. in Higher Education from University of Massachusetts Boston; and her certified coaching credentials from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. Her scholarship has been published in peer reviewed journals, edited book collections, online platforms, and she has been featured on a number of podcasts and interviews related to leadership and identity. She serves in a number of national organizations focused on education and equity, and she has consulted with well over 350 schools, organizations, and corporations across the country and internationally. Her recent book The Identity Conscious Educator: Building habits and skills for more inclusive schools earned a Gold Medal from the IPPY Awards in 2023.