Waking Up White Collaborative Statement of Purpose
While reading Waking Up White and holding a White Privilege Symposium in La Crosse in 2021, we asked ourselves the question, "What does it mean to be White?" and helping community members learn that there is a white racial viewpoint that is narrow & limited and that others do not share. An additional and important educational component is to have our community gain a collective understanding of how white supremacy, white privilege, and other forms of oppression operate in general -- and in particular, in the La Crosse region.
EDUCATE because this project's intent is to facilitate White Racial Literacy. Robin Diangelo, author of White Fragility, states that "Ignorance of Whiteness is not neutral or benign - but has profound implications for our self-identity and how we White people relate to People of Color and our society".
CREATE SPACES FOR COMMUNITY DIALOGUE through "Deep Dives" -- facilitated conversations on race and related topics in small groups of diverse community members -- and through community readings and discussions of the book Waking Up White by Debby Irving.
STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITY'S NETWORK & RELATIONSHIPS by creating connections to individuals, organizations and resources committed to justice and equity.
EXECUTE ACTIONS that move our community beyond "Diversity and Inclusion" and toward a more comprehensive understanding of, and challenge to, white supremacy, white privilege and other race-based forms of oppression.
HOLD OURSELVES AND OUR COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABLE TO ANTI-RACISM CHANGES AND ACTIONS
While reading Waking Up White and holding a White Privilege Symposium in La Crosse in 2021, we asked ourselves the question, "What does it mean to be White?" and helping community members learn that there is a white racial viewpoint that is narrow & limited and that others do not share. An additional and important educational component is to have our community gain a collective understanding of how white supremacy, white privilege, and other forms of oppression operate in general -- and in particular, in the La Crosse region.
EDUCATE because this project's intent is to facilitate White Racial Literacy. Robin Diangelo, author of White Fragility, states that "Ignorance of Whiteness is not neutral or benign - but has profound implications for our self-identity and how we White people relate to People of Color and our society".
CREATE SPACES FOR COMMUNITY DIALOGUE through "Deep Dives" -- facilitated conversations on race and related topics in small groups of diverse community members -- and through community readings and discussions of the book Waking Up White by Debby Irving.
STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITY'S NETWORK & RELATIONSHIPS by creating connections to individuals, organizations and resources committed to justice and equity.
EXECUTE ACTIONS that move our community beyond "Diversity and Inclusion" and toward a more comprehensive understanding of, and challenge to, white supremacy, white privilege and other race-based forms of oppression.
HOLD OURSELVES AND OUR COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABLE TO ANTI-RACISM CHANGES AND ACTIONS
LAX Waking Up White Collaborative
Steering Committee Members
Laura Abellera
Laura (she/her) is a new faculty member in UWL's Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department teaching introductory level classes in racial and social justice. She is also a Team Member with Social Responsibility Speaks, a justice-centered consulting firm with a background in community and political organizing. She received her J.D. from Loyola University in Chicago, and her M.S.Ed. from UWL, where she had the privilege of working in the Campus Climate engaging in programming for student activists and leaders, sitting on UWL's Hate & Bias Response Team, and helping to develop a campus clothing closet (housed at Common Ground Campus Ministry).
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Workshops
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Workshops
Kristi Bechtel
Kristi Bechtel (She/Her/Hers) is a Comprehensive Community Services Program Service Facilitator at La Crosse County. Kristi has worked with and for people experiencing homelessness and/or a mental health disability. She is very active with the Coulee Collaborative to End Homelessness and has been on the planning committee for the La Crosse Homeless Connect for the last several years. Along with working for the county as a social worker, Kristi also has a passion for advocating for trauma informed care and has had the opportunity to offer several Trauma Informed Care workshops for social service conferences in Wisconsin.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Marketing/Advertising/Outreach, Volunteer Coordination, Sponsorship
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Marketing/Advertising/Outreach, Volunteer Coordination, Sponsorship
Amanda Florence Garcia Goodenough
Amanda Florence Goodenough (she/her/hers) is a dedicated educator operating from a cultural humility framework to center and elevate historically marginalized voices, promote belongingness and mattering, disrupt structural inequities, and advance intersectional social and racial justice. Amanda currently serves as a Team Lead for Social Responsibility Speaks™, LLC, a womxn-owned and BIPOC-centered consulting agency, whose mission is to create a culture of belonging and mattering through a focus on equity, inclusion, and justice. Amanda is also a member of the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council's (GLADC) Speakers Bureau, and an independent contractor/facilitator for the La Crosse area YWCA Racial Justice workshops, Waking Up White Collaborative, and Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community initiative.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
Alyssa Gostonczik
Alyssa Gostonczik (She/Her/Hers) is the Director of Advising, Career Development, and Accessibility. She has also worked in Career Services offices at Western Technical College and University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (UWL). Alyssa drives bus for Bus Bros. Tour Co. and fosters dogs through New Leash on Life. Alyssa moved to La Crosse in 2013 from northern WI to attend UW-L and has grown attached to the area.
Alyssa served as a deep dive facilitator for the Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community event and is part of the Waking Up White Regional Read and Community Learning Collaborative Digital Teams.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, On-stage Announcer, Sponsorship, Scheduling
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
Alyssa served as a deep dive facilitator for the Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community event and is part of the Waking Up White Regional Read and Community Learning Collaborative Digital Teams.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, On-stage Announcer, Sponsorship, Scheduling
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
Josh Hertel
Josh Hertel (He/Him/His) is an Associate Professor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department at University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (UWL) with expertise in the teaching and learning of mathematics. He is one of the organizers of the local Hate Has No Home Here Campaign, which is focused on raising awareness, counteracting hateful messages, and letting neighbors of diverse backgrounds know that they are welcome in our community. Josh is passionate about social justice and fostering equity through his work as an Equity Liaison at UWL as well as through the annual Coulee Con Tabletop Gaming Convention, which he coordinates.
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Facility Coordination, Budget, and Sponsorship
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth Film Committee
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Facility Coordination, Budget, and Sponsorship
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth Film Committee
Mary Nelson
Mary Nelson is a retired physician who has lived in the La Crosse community for over 35 years. She states, “Reading Debby Irving's book Waking Up White helped me to realize that I view the world through a white frame and that the ramifications of my ignorance of white culture and history was not benign. This book has brought about a change in how I think, and propelled me to become involved in the 2020 Waking Up White Regional Community Learning Collaborative.”
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Co-Leader
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth Film Committee
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Co-Leader
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth Film Committee
Heather Quackenboss
Heather Quackenboss works for UW Madison Division of Extension in La Crosse County as the Human Development and Relationships Educator, focusing on compassion resilience, belonging and inclusion, strategic facilitation, and food preservation. Heather collaborates with people and strives to provide programming, education, and actionable reflection so we can all be better. She lives in La Crosse and is often found outdoors with her family.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
Pat Ruda
Pat Ruda (She/Her/Hers) is the retired Justice & Peace Promoter at Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA). Pat is involved with the La Crosse Task Force to End Modern Slavery, Coulee Region Immigration Task Force, Coulee Collaborative to End Homelessness and was a 2019 White Privilege Conference Delegate in Cedar Rapids, IA
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Food & Beverage and Volunteer Coordination
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Food & Beverage and Volunteer Coordination
Rebecca Schwarz
Rebecca Schwarz grew up in the La Crosse area, the child of dairy farmers and graduated from UW-La Crosse. She spent the next 15 years living in the Twin Cities and Portland, OR, where she met her spouse. In 2017, they moved back to La Crosse to raise their son and be near family. Rebecca Schwarz is the former Mission Impact Coordinator for YWCA La Crosse. Rebecca is passionate about community education and collaborating with other groups, such as Feminism on Tap, which is sponsored by YWCA La Crosse, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and the Driftless Voter Coalition.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitator
Amanda Strosahl
Amanda Strosahl (She/Her/Hers) is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of La Crosse and of Beloved Conversations Opposing Racism. She is retired Internal Medicine physician at Gundersen, the mother of three adult children, and passionate about social justice issues. This picture of Amanda was taken while attending her daughter and son-in-law's Hindu wedding in India. The bindi was placed on her by her new family members in an act of mutual respect and honor.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- Waking Up White Regional Read Committee Member
Bridget Todd-Robbins
Bridget Todd-Robbins (She/Her/Hers) is the Youth System of Care Administrator at La Crosse County’s Washburn Corner. Bridget is also a Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Member, Rebuilding for Learning Summit Committee Member, Alliance to Heal (Halting the Effects of Addiction Locally) Sub-Committee Co-Chair, and the 2014 National White Privilege Conference Delegate in Madison, WI.
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Youth Action Project (YAP) Coordinator
- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member
- White Privilege Symposium Host Committee, Youth Action Project (YAP) Coordinator
Not Pictured:- Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee Member: Carrie Bergum, Vanessa DaughterofLois, Katie Furlan, Perrin Iacopino, Khouri Markos
Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth Film
Committee Members Tashyra Bernard
Tashyra Bernard has been a resident of the La Crosse community for 21 years. She is the third oldest of eight children and moved here from Madison, WI with family during junior year of high school. She received a bachelor's degree from Viterbo University, where she studied business and psychology. Her family has shared generations of experiences and each of their stories are all too similar. It is her belief that courageous conversations need to be had in the schools, at work, in the churches, and all places where there is an opportunity to connect and learn from one another.
Tashyra and Shamawyah are the co-founders of Hope Restores, a resource center for African Americans in western Wisconsin, where they fight for equality for all. Shamawyah Curtis
Shamawyah Curtis was born in Mattson, IL, and is the second oldest of five brothers and two sisters. She moved to Madison, WI and graduated high school in 2001 as one of the first high school students to receive a lead childcare teacher certification from a high school. Shamawyah went on to Mesa Community College in Phoenix, Arizona to study Child Development before moving back to Madison to open a family daycare which she ran for 15 years. After the murder of her little brother in 2016, Shamawyah decide to move to La Crosse to open Yellow Brick Road, a youth group home. She graduated from Western Technical College with an associate's in Human Service and is presently enrolled at Grand Canyon University working on a bachelor's degree in Social Work. She has four children and they are her heart and she works hard to provide them with a better life than what she had.
Shamawyah and Tashyra are the co-founders of Hope Restores, a resource center for African Americans in western Wisconsin, where they fight for equality for all. Diana DiazGranados
Diana DiazGranados works as the Project Evaluator for Better Together, a youth mental health project in La Crosse County. She holds masters' degrees in social work and public health from Columbia University. Diana started her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Southern Africa where she met her husband. They lived and worked in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Guatemala, and Bangladesh before moving to La Crosse with their two kids in 2009. Diana is passionate about social justice issues, promoting kindness and cross-cultural understanding. Diana is active in the La Crosse Interfaith Shoulder to Shoulder Network, a group dedicated to dismantling islamophobia. Diana served as a deep dive facilitator for the Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community event and is part of the Waking Up White Regional Read
Past Collaborators:Amplifying the Voices of Black Youth
- Danya Day - Peter Moua - Arlette Rodriguez-Miller, Executive Director at the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council Waking Up White Collaborative Steering Committee
- Alice Benson, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) La Crosse Chapter - Thomas Harris, formerly of UWL - Bob Huff, UU Fellowship of La Crosse - Lisel Kruse, UU Fellowship of La Crosse - Pat Lunney - Ron Malzer, formerly of SURJ - Wendy Mattison - Eric Severson, UU Fellowship of La Crosse - Colleen Shively, UU Fellowship of La Crosse, - Rev. Krista Taves, formerly of the UU Fellowship of La Crosse - MaryAnna Thornton, formerly of Western Technical College - Gerrianne Wettstein Waking Up White Regional Read Committee
- Peggy Derrick, La Crosse Historical Society - Maria Hertel, formerly of The La Crosse Public Library - Ebony Hyter, Community Health Worker at St. Claire Mission - Barry McKnight, La Crosse Public Library Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Facilitators
- Matthew Bersagel Braley - Diana Christy-Moss - Diana DiazGranados, Project Evaluator for Better Together - Karter Etchin, formerly of the YWCA - Darrell Ferguson, formerly of Onalaska School District - Nancy Heerens-Knudson - Sara Jackson - Reggie Jackson, Nurturing Diversity Partners - Dr. Fran Kaplan, Nurturing Diversity Partners - Jane Klekamp - Ralph Knudson - Mai Lee, formerly of Cia Siab, Inc. - Dr. Bee Lo - Vincent Loera - Dillon Mader - Marcellese Powell, formerly of New Horizons - Lynette Prieur Lo - Andrew Rasmussen - Karen Sherman, formerly of UWL and Viterbo - Heidi Svee, New Horizons Shelter and Outreach Center - Keonte Turner, formerly of the La Crosse Area Family YMCA - Ge Vang, Western Technical College - Yer Maggie Xiong, formerly of Cia Siab Inc White Privilege Symposium Host Committee
- Carrie Bergum, retired Spanish Teacher in Holmen School District - Amanda Dotson, Director of Program Development at the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault - Thomas Harris, formerly of UWL - Elizabeth Janvrin, Educator Coach at Head Start - Steve Minnema, retired Presbyterian minister - Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., The Privilege Institute - Melissa Murray, formerly La Crosse School District - Jenni Oliver, The Privilege Institute - Raj Ramnarace, justice consultant - Arlette Rodriguez-Miller, Executive Director at the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council - Karissa Sanchez Traun, formerly of Gundersen Health System - Michael Slevin, University Centers Assistant Director at UW-La Crosse - Mark Solyst, former Senior Pastor at English Lutheran Church - Scott Tyink, The Origins Program - Dodie Whitaker, Singer/Educator/Song Activist |
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