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Project Equality’s Diversity and Inclusion Summit brings together leaders in the civic, educational, financial, governmental, health, corporate, and legal communities to discuss where we are on the road to full inclusion, but even more importantly, what strategies will make equality and access a reality for all. The summit has a focus on forward-thinking initiatives that encourage awareness and open dialogue for all attendees. #ProjectEqualityKC #HousingKC

About Project Equality

Project Equality believes in equality and justice in the workplace. We unite the corporate, nonprofit, education and religious communities into a force for equality, justice and fairness in the workplace. Through facilitated discussions, community leaders identify and establish best practices that enhance workplace fairness. We work collaboratively to spotlight the best resources in our region that empower fairness in the workplace.

The workplace should be a place employee can thrive and grow. Discrimination is still common in the workplace. It takes many forms. Disparate treatment due to race, sexual harassment towards employees, reprisals because of sexual orientation, terminations due to age, ability/disability, age or religious bias. Project Equality works to raise the awareness of all forms of discrimination.
Join Project Equality and The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce for the

2021 Diversity and Inclusion Summit Details coming soon

Date coming soon
Atterbury Student Success Center, Pierson Auditorium University of Missouri - Kansas City 5000 Holmes St., KCMO 64110
Student Equality Partner $25 + ticket service fee Equality Partner $50 + ticket service fee
Your ticket includes admission to the event, continental breakfast lunch and parking on the UMKC campus in the Cherry Street parking garage (levels 5 & 6), located at East 50th and Cherry Streets.
Morning Keynote
Richard Rothstein, Senior Fellow, Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkley and author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America
Fireside Chat
Afternoon Keynote and Skill Building
john a. powell, Director, Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkley, and author of Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society
Morning Keynote: Richard Rothstein Richard Rothstein is a Senior Fellow at the Othering & Belonging Institute, a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute where he works on policy issues regarding education and race, and a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is also the author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America. Rothstein was a senior fellow at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at Berkeley’s law school, until that institute closed at the end of 2015. Afternoon Keynote: james a. powell john a. powell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. john is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world. Professor powell will lead the afternoon skill-building workshop.

Schedule*

  • 8:00 a.m. - Registration, Continental Breakfast and Networking
  • 8:30 a.m. - Gathering and Welcome, Truman High School Chamber Choir, “TruTones”
  • 8:45 a.m. - Introduction of Keynote Speaker
  • 9:00 a.m. - Richard Rothstein, Morning Keynote
  • 10:30 a.m. - Break, Networking
  • 10:50 a.m. - Fireside Chat, Richard Rothstein moderates with Quinton Lucas, Mayor, City of Kansas City, Missouri and Tara Raghuveer, Kansas City Eviction Project
  • Noon - Lunch, Networking
  • 1:00 p.m. - john a. powell, Afternoon Keynote and Skill Building
  • 2:30 p.m. - Break, Networking
  • 4:00 p.m. - Adjourn
Schedule subject to change.
Scholarships are available to cover ticket costs. Email projectequalitykc@gmail.com for more information.
This program is approved for 3.0 Continuing Legal Education credit hours in Missouri. Kansas credit pending. Indicate your interest at checkout or email projectequalitykc@gmail.com for more information.

PLATINUM SPONSOR
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Fireside Chat: Quinton Lucas, Mayor, City of Kansas City, Missouri
Quinton Lucas, "Mayor Q," was sworn in as the 55th mayor of Kansas City on August 1, 2019. As mayor, Quinton has prioritized making Kansas City's neighborhoods safer, creating more accessible and affordable housing and public transportation, fostering a healthier community, and improving basic services. Quinton created and chairs the City's Special Committee on Housing Policy.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Quinton has spent most of his life in the city's urban core. As a child, he moved often and experienced homelessness, sometimes staying with family or friends, or residing in a motel. Despite these challenges, Quinton remained focused on his schoolwork, earning academic scholarships to high school, college, and Cornell Law School before returning home to Kansas City.
Since 2012, Quinton has been a member of the University of Kansas Law School faculty, where he served as one of the youngest tenure-track law professors in the country. He is active in the Kansas City community and volunteers extensively in area schools and organizations, including providing mentorship in local prisons. Mayor Quinton Lucas lives in the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District, which he previously represented on the City Council.

Fireside Chat: Tara Raghuveer, Director, KC Tenants and the Kansas City Eviction Project Tara Raghuveer is the director of KC Tenants. She is also the director of the campaign for a national Homes Guarantee, based at People's Action, a national network of grassroots organizations committed to economic and racial justice. KC Tenants, founded in February 2019, has built a base of 250+ tenants who have held landlords accountable, made housing a central issue in municipal politics, and written and passed a municipal Tenants Bill of Rights. Under Tara's leadership, the campaign for a national Homes Guarantee has moved Presidential frontrunners to adopt grassroots-sourced housing platforms, and has resulted in a historic package of legislation introduced to Congress. For six years, Tara has spearheaded eviction research in Kansas City through the Kansas City Eviction Project, a collaborative of data scientists, community leaders, academics, and lawyers.
Tara cut her teeth organizing in the immigrant rights movement. She was the Deputy Director of the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), a coalition of the nation's 37 largest immigrant rights organizations. During her time there, Tara oversaw a campaign that won waivers for 3.7 million people in poverty to become American citizens for free or reduced cost. She developed the Community Navigator curriculum which has trained over 10,000 immigrant leaders and has been adopted by cities including New York and Chicago.
Tara's work has been featured in outlets such as the New York Times, The New Yorker, and the Washington Post. She has also written for the Urban Institute, TIME, and VICE. Tara's research on eviction and poverty in Kansas City is cited in the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted. Tara graduated from Harvard College. She is an Australian-born, Indian-American immigrant who came to the US with her family in 1995 and grew up in Kansas City.
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The 8th annual Project Equality Diversity and Inclusion Summit is a community-wide event. Volunteer or sponsor the Summit by contacting Kirk Perucca at kirk@projectequality.org or 913-486-7010 (call or text).

Project Equality, P.O. Box 7085, Kansas City, MO 64113-0085, 913-486-7010.
Kirk Perucca, President and CEO of Project Equality
Kirk Perucca has spent his life educating businesses and nonprofit agencies about diversity and inclusion. As a Presbyterian minister, Perucca serves an urban neighborhood church, with a multicultural congregation. Located in a neighborhood challenged by racial and economic disparity, diversity and equality are real issues. He has staffed committees including Justice for Women, Racial Ethnic Concerns and others within the Presbytery. Kirk Perucca spent eight years as the President/CEO of Project Equality, a nonprofit organization that promoted diversity. Perucca was a national compliance officer for the Department of Justice in the Adam's Mark Hotel settlement from November 6, 2000, to the projects end in 2004. Through past work experience, Perucca has provided training for nonprofit organizations, fire and police departments, and major corporations across the nation.

He holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Iowa in religion and political science, a master's degree in public administration. He also holds a Master of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

With a lifelong commitment to diversity and inclusion, he has the experience, skills and ability to help organizations seek real solutions based on the value diversity can add to an organization. Learn more about Kirk Perucca Associates HERE.

Join us!

Student Equality Partner $25 + ticket service fee Equality Partner $50 + ticket service fee Your ticket includes admission to the event, continental breakfast, lunch and parking on the UMKC campus in the Cherry Street parking garage (levels 5 & 6), located at East 50th and Cherry Streets
purchase tickets here