Yorkville University is set to host an upcoming webinar titled Perspectives on Anti-Black Racism and the Role of Educators.
Co-moderated by Thamina Jaferi, Yorkville’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Jill Cummings, the Associate Dean of Faculty Development, the hour-long, faculty-facing discussion will explore the role of educators when it comes to naming, examining and addressing anti-Black racism in the classroom.
The event’s panellists – who include Dr. Alice Crawford, Violet Ferreira-Sutherland, Dr. Humphrey Nartey, Dr. Rita Onolemhemhen and Dr. Seyy Sode – will touch on theory, as well as their own lived experience and observations.
Perspectives on Anti-Black Racism and the Role of Educators
Date: Thursday, Feb. 24
Time: 1 p.m. (EST)
Click HERE to register
About the Panelists:
Oluseyi (Seyy) Sode
Dr. Seyy Sode holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behaviour with a thesis on the concept of “ethnocultural orientation” and how it influences leadership and managerial effectiveness. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in General Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology. Sode is an associate faculty of the BBA program at Yorkville University’s Ontario Campus, where he teaches Business Organization Analysis (Capstone), among other Organizational Behaviour, Strategy, and Business Management courses. His research focuses on Organizational Dynamics, Learning and Effectiveness, Leadership, and Behavioural Strategies.
Humphrey Nartey
Humphrey Nartey received his Ph.D. in Human Kinetics from the University of Ottawa in 2019, his M.Sc. in Kinesiology from Georgia Southern University in 2013, and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo in 2008.
He studies sport and physical activity from a socio-cultural perspective, with an emphasis on the educational and sport experiences of racialized student-athletes. As a former varsity athlete himself, he is focused on the diverse, complex and relational experiences, aspirations and outcomes, of educational and transitioning experiences and trajectories mediated by stereotypes, which have operated in these athletes’ lives. He has given presentations in this field at regional, national, and international sport sociology conferences, and has a recent publication in the McGill Journal of Education.
Additionally, Nartey’s interest in transitioning out of university led to him coordinating the implementation of the Afro Caribbean Mentorship Program (ACMP) within the Ottawa region. This program is designed to aid racialized students in navigating the Canadian university educational system. The goal is to support Afro-Caribbean Black (ACB) undergraduate and graduate students and various racialized students, in accessing resources that contribute to their overall academic success.
Violet Ferreira-Sutherland
Ms. Violet Ferreira-Sutherland is a Ph.D. candidate at York University in the Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies program. Her research interest is in the area of Banking, Wealth Creation and Inclusion, focusing on the adaptation of minoritized groups to the evolving decentralized financial (DeFi), crypto and blockchain ecosystems as a way to create generational wealth outside of the traditional banking system, from which they were often excluded.
Ferreira-Sutherland holds PMI designation, an MBA in Finance (Western Michigan University, USA), MPhil in Gender and Development Studies (University of the West Indies, Mona), Post Graduate Certification in Project Management (Centennial College, Canada), and a BA in Economics & History (UWI).
Ferreira-Sutherland worked as an Associate Professor in Finance at Northern Caribbean University and Adjunct Lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies. She has also worked as a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant for a variety of International Development Agencies such as the European Union, UN Women, UNDP, CARICOM, and the Caribbean Development Bank. More recently, she finalized the National Strategic Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (2017-2027) in Jamaica, along with its Implementation Plan, which were approved in Parliament for joint implementation by the Bureau of Gender Affairs and UN Women.
Rita Onolemhemhen
Dr. Rita Onolemhemhen is a professor at Yorkville University, where she teaches Energy Management and Energy Policy in the Bachelor of Business Administration program. She has an MBA from the University of South Wales.
Though her research interests are energy management, energy economics, climate and energy policies, her lived experience as one from a minority group has piqued her interest to be part of the discussion that creates awareness on anti-black racism.
Onolemhemhen believes that skin does not define any human because we are first humans before our race.
Alice Crawford
Dr. Alice Crawford holds a Doctorate is in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University-Schaumburg and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the State of Illinois and the state of Minnesota with over 26 years in the field of Counseling. She has worked with Anthem as a Process Improvement Consultant, with Humana as the Employee Assistance Consultant to the employees and families of the BNSF Railroad, and with Magellan Health Services as the District Consultant of the Employee Assistance Program for the United States Postal Service.
Currently, Dr. Crawford teaches Counselor Education and Supervision at Yorkville University, and Grand Canyon University, for nearly seven years and eleven years, respectively. Her favourite classes to teach, are Practicum and Counseling Skills because she learns so much from the students and enjoys helping ease the anxiety of newly practicing counsellors. She is also, a telehealth counsellor with MDLive, for the past 5 years, helping clients to address many different issues in their lives.
She is a member of the Illinois Counseling Association, Illinois Mental Health Counselor Association, Illinois Counselor Education and Supervision.
On a personal note, she loves the artistic challenge of crocheting extremely difficult patterns. She is married for nearly 40 years, proud mom of one grown son and two rescue fur babies. As the second oldest of four children, she is considered the rebel and the researcher of the family, as well as a proud daughter of loving parents.
Her favorite quote: “There is nothing more dangerous than ignorance being practiced” by Goethe.
