UMBC has been particularly well positioned throughout this time, supporting both Blackboard Collaborate Ultra and WebEx as synchronous platforms. But with this wealth of opportunity, one is at times left wondering what platform to adopt and for what use cases. The response to these concerns require some nuance: It depends on what one is attempting to undertake and how much time one is willing to spend preparing their learning spaces to promote learner interactions.

URCAD Live Q&A with Klaudine Wakasa

https://umbc.webex.com/umbc/j.php?MTID=m257179aef1261f8debe3c7c9909ef97a

Wednesday, Apr 21, 2021
12:00 pm | 1 hour | (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Meeting number: 120 790 6323
Password: URCAD2021

You can see Klaudine's keynote here:

https://urcad.umbc.edu/guest-speaker-klaudine-wakasa/

Read Klaudine's bio here:

https://urcad.umbc.edu/speaker/

URCAD.umbc.edu

Visit URCAD and see the video by  

URCAD Alumni Keynote Speaker

Klaudine Wakasa!

We will host a live Q&A with Klaudine on Wednesday, April 21st from 12-1pm. You can ask questions and Klaudine will answer them live! Klaudine will be introduced by Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye, Honors College.

Klaudine Wakasa

Green Economy Advisor to International Governments

’08 B.S. Financial Economics, Minor: Gender and Women's Studies, UMBC
’10 M.Sc. Gender Development and Globalisation, London School of Economics

Klaudine is a Strategy Advisor who has spent her professional career working with government, multilateral/bilateral organisations, and private sectors across the African continent – first as an Advisor within KPMG’s International Development Advisory Service; later as a Strategy Consultant with Dalberg Global Development Advisors; and currently as the Regional lead for the Government of Canada’s effort to build Clean Technology ecosystems in Africa, and for the United Kingdom’s goal of mainstreaming a ‘Green Economy’ approach into its work in Africa.

Africa has an opportunity to lay solid foundations for future Green Economies. Klaudine’s interest is in understanding which approaches and interventions African countries can adopt. Her expertise has been best applied when working in roles that allow her to engage in mutually beneficial conversations between Africa and the world. Klaudine’s work has contributed to projects for organisations such as the African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, USAID, the MasterCard Foundation, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and The Department for International Development (DFID), just to name a few.

At UMBC, Klaudine earned her undergraduate degree in Financial Economics with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies, and a Certificate in Accounting (2008). She was a Judicial Board Justice, Resident Assistant, Classic Upward Bound Tutor/Counselor, UMBC Ambassador, Peer Tutor, Conversation Partner, a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon Honor Society, a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and an active member of the Africa Students Association. Klaudine credits UMBC for nurturing her diverse interest in interdisciplinary thinking and particularly her tutelage under Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye, which influenced her worldview, even to this day. In 2010, Klaudine completed her M.Sc. in Development and Globalisation at the London School of Economics, Gender Institute.

• Breathe deeply. Taking long quiet breaths helps to ground you in moments of crisis.
• Connect with loved ones you trust to process, cry, or just be together. There is no “right” way to process the ongoing trauma we are experiencing. 
• Monitor your news and social media intake. To the degree that you are able, avoid (re)watching videos of death, or getting stuck in the traumatic news cycle.
• Remember that we are in this together. As a function of White Supremacy, communities of Color can find themselves pitted against one another, getting caught in horizontal aggression and/or the Oppression Olympics. Instead of getting caught in that cycle, or “keeping score,” consider ways to coalition build and show up for one another across identities.

• Connect with your friends, family, peers, and colleagues by helping them to understand why ongoing racial violence is traumatic and overwhelming for communities of color.
• Take the time to explore local organizations who are rooted in ending racial violence in MD, and more broadly across the United States.
• Take the time to learn more about the impacts of racial trauma and the history of racial violence in this country. What we are experiencing today, is not new and has not necessarily ever stopped. Take the time to explore more deeply the historical context of white supremacy, racism and xenophobia in this country and the ways it continues to show up today.
• Instead of getting caught up in hashtag wars, explore the lived realities of the victims of violence - learn their names and about their communities - remind yourself that they were living human beings, not just social media trends.

• Instead of thinking solely about what you might see as a singular current issue at hand, consider the number of BIPOC community members who have been accosted, murdered, etc. as connected to racism and xenophobia in the past two months alone. From spas in Atlanta to Fedex in Indianapolis to Minneapolis and California - there are far too many to name, but the patterns are present and clear.
• Consider that we are not only talking about systemic issues, we are also talking about real people whose lives were taken - real living, breathing human beings whose lives were taken at the hands of someone else. Lean as much as you can into compassion, empathy, perspective taking, and radical love for humanity. As mentioned above, explore the lived realities of the victims of violence - learn their names and about their communities remind yourself that they were living human beings, not just social media trends.
• Explore concepts like Racial Battle Fatigue and Race Based Traumatic Stress to support a more deep exploration of the impacts of racial trauma and the history of racial violence in this country. 
• Take the time to explore more deeply the history of white supremacy, racism, and xenophobia in this country. As you explore this history be careful not to give in to defensiveness, shame, or guilt, instead sit with any discomfort you may be experiencing and explore why those feelings may be present for you. 

• While our i3b staff team will not be hosting a healing or processing space this week, we are still offering times to connect with us personally. We offer this space for you to join us individually, or in small groups. You can join our office hours at the times listed below by joining using our individual Webex Personal Room links provided. Our staff will be holding office hours this week during the following times: 
• Tuesday, April 20 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. with Jasmine Lee | https://umbc.webex.com/meet/jaslee | 640903142
• Wednesday, April 21 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. with Erin Waddles | https://umbc.webex.com/meet/waddles | 641819311
• Thursday, April 22 from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. with Lucy Delgado https://umbc.webex.com/meet/ldelgado | 1208674009
• Friday, April 23 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. with Carlos Turcios | https://umbc.webex.com/meet/carlos6 | 640105492
• You can also join our Webex Chat space that serves as our virtual "lounge space" by going to our main myUMBC group page.