Conference participants can expect to learn about the effects of racial, economic, and other disparities on our clients and ourselves and how to address them in our professional and personal lives. Attendees can earn up to 10.5 hours of Minnesota CLE credit, including up to 5 hours of elimination of bias and 1 hour of ethics credit.

The conference officially kicks-off on Wednesday evening, October 23, with special guest Emily Baxter, founder and executive director of We Are All Criminals (WAAC), a non-profit organization and storytelling project that challenges perceptions of what it means to be “criminal.” Emily’s session will be a conversation about crime, privilege, punishment, and second chances. One in four people in the US has a criminal record; four in four have a criminal history. Through stories, statutes, and statistics, we’ll examine the disparate impact of the criminal and juvenile justice systems on people of color and poor people across the country.

Resmaa Menakem, noted author, international speaker, and justice coach will deliver Thursday morning’s keynote address, in which he’ll discuss and define the theory of racialized trauma. He will share theory and insights on how historical, inter-generational, persistent institutional and personal inequities have impacted each of us and led to a decontextualized and internalized white body supremacy trauma we all carry in our bodies and unknowingly perpetuate in our culture. A break-out session on somatic-body practices and tools for confronting common historical and racial myths will follow the opening session.

Another highlight of this year's conference will be Friday morning’s closing plenary by the Honorable Susan Miles. In her session, Mindful Ways to Relax at Work and Keep Your Wits About You, Judge Miles will discuss bringing mindfulness to work, along with tips on how to increase concentration and calm, and rise above the temptation to react to the pervasive distractions in our professional and personal worlds. 

To register for the conference, and find out more about breakout sessions, speakers, and social activities, visit our conference page and click on the Register tab. Then, just select your participant type. We expect this to be the most attended conference in our history, so register early as space is limited! See you at Arrowwood!