Laurier launches annual Lamine Diallo Equity, Diversity and Inclusion speaker series

Brantford – Wilfrid Laurier University’s Office of the Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), in collaboration with the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa and Laurier’s Black Faculty and Staff Caucus, has launched a new speaker series to foster meaningful conversations about EDI within the context of Canadian universities.

The speaker series is named after Lamine Diallo, associate professor in the Leadership program and longtime champion of equity, diversity and inclusion across Laurier’s campuses.

“The Lamine Diallo EDI speaker series is held in recognition of Lamine’s tireless efforts to embed the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion into our collective consciousness,” said Lauren Burrows, the education and inclusion coordinator at the Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and a co-chair of Laurier’s Black Faculty and Staff Caucus.

The theme of this year’s speaker series is “Reflections from EDI Champions” and includes four lectures that will run through the 2021-22 academic year. Diallo will be the inaugural speaker at the first lecture taking place on Nov. 24 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. entitled “My EDI journey from Africa to WLU.”

All events are open to the public and will be held virtually. Participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible, as capacity is limited. See a full list of event details and how to register online.

Future speakers include:

• Dawn McDermott, senior advisor of Dispute Resolution and Sexual Violence Support in Laurier’s Human Rights and Conflict Management office
• Clinton Beckford, acting vice-president, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of Windsor
• Jeanette Parsons, director of Accessible Learning at Laurier