The third annual Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Conference was held over two days in September, continuing its mission of bringing the campus together to affirm and explore our shared commitment to building a community where every individual feels a sense of belonging.
Day 1: Introduced new campus leadership, dialogic practices, and explored social media’s impact on mental health. The day closed with a networking reception.
Day 2: Featured 21 dynamic sessions led by a diverse range of students, staff, and faculty members, including a student poster session, an Our Immigrant Voices display, and Voices of Adoption.
The conference was a highly collaborative effort, with contributions from SACL, Global Affairs, EOA, ASER, academic units, and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.
JEDI Conference 2024
At the start of every academic year, the UMass community is invited to participate in the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Conference. JEDI features a series of educational workshops, talks, panels, and networking events to inspire, educate, and connect people. Holding this event near the beginning of each academic year is our way of reaffirming our values and providing important learning tools that our community can embed in their daily lives, whether they are students, employees, or leadership.
Format: All of the keynote presentations are livestreamed and held in person. The accompanying small group workshops are in person.
Content: In the preceding spring semester, Office of Equity and Inclusion staff will send out calls for proposals to the UMass community. All staff, faculty, and students are encouraged to propose workshops or keynote presentations they think would be beneficial to our campus. The chosen proposals are then led by the individuals or teams who submitted them.
Watch the JEDI 2024 Keynotes
If you were unable to attend the JEDI 2024 Conference, please watch the recording of the keynote presentations that opened the event, including our leadership panel, an introduction to dialogic practice, and a presentation on social media, belonging, and mental health.
JEDI Registration Statistics
Registration for JEDI since it's inaugural year in 2022 veers more heavily towards staff and has seen a large percent of repeat attendees, while also drawing in new participants.
309 attended in person
437 viewed the livestream (registration not required)
36% have been to one JEDI
15% have been to 2 or more JEDI
49% were attending for the first time
21% graduate/undergraduate
19% faculty/librarian/post-doc
9% campus administrators
2% alumni/community
Reasons registrants could not attend
Changes in schedules, including class times, work commitments, and office hours.
Health issues and unforeseen emergencies, injuries, and accidents.
Work or teaching schedules that overlapped with the conference.
Overall Feedback
Based on our post event survey, respondents viewed the conference very positively, with many of our goals coming through and making in impact for participants.
Open-Ended Feedback
We asked attendees to provide us with open ended feedback on the keynote sessions, workshops, food and comfort, and any additional factors. Overall, participants appreciated the engaging and insightful sessions, knowledgable presenters, and variety of food. Comfort was cited as a negative aspect of the conference, as the banquet hall chairs were not comfortable enough to sit in for length of the conference.
“This was a wonderful talk. We don’t use Dialogue at UMass enough, instead favoring a top down, do as i say approach. I can imagine what would happen to the UMass community if we instituted dialogue as an approach to conflict.”
- Feedback for An Intro to Dialogic Practice
“Love the space of the ballroom. The chairs are just atrociously uncomfortable.”
"Your team put so much effort into this conference, and you can tell. I think, honestly, I would like to see more people from administration in attendance in the sessions—given the topics and the sort of grassroots/community-derived workshops. Maybe providing at least one day off from classes/work to encourage campus-wide attendance to either keynote speakers or individual sessions (and likely more sessions)."
“I wish I had been able to attend more of the conference. Being the beginning of the semester, my office is much busier this time of year. Next year can be different. I'm happy to attend whatever I can."
“Thank you to the team who put this together and to all who presented. Amazing conference. And says so much about UMass. Makes a real difference in shifting culture and systems and influencing practices.”
"Another stellar conference and a great way to start the year with community-building around our values of inclusive excellence. Thank you!"
"Thank you to the team who put this together and to all who presented. Amazing conference. And says so much about UMass. Makes a real difference in shifting culture and systems and influencing practices."
"I appreciated having the conference spread out over 2 days so things didn't feel so rushed. Day 1 was awesome, excellent format, and it was so great to reconnect with all of our colleagues. I wish there was some sort of shared space on Day 2."
Opportunities for Connection
Many appreciated the opportunity to network and build relationships with their UMass colleagues, suggesting the conference build on this by creating shared spaces for lunch or informal gatherings, and other activities to foster community. Since the conference, OEI has integrated follow-up workshops for all of our large scale events to foster further discussion and learning.