Schedule

Theme of the Day: Your Voice

Session Time

Session Information

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Check In & Refreshments

University Student Center 3rd Floor Lobby

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Welcome & Opening Plenary

University Student Center 3rd Floor Amphitheater

Presented by: Jordan Shelby West, PhD and Bryson Handy

Session Overview: Welcome to the 2026 OneGW Summit: Many Voices. OneGW. We are eager to engage the GW community in three days of learning, connection, and action. Join us at the Opening Plenary Session to receive energizing welcome remarks from Jordan Shelby West, PhD and the Office of Community, Culture and Inclusion on the university’s commitment, strategy and efforts underway, and our collective work towards inclusion - OneGW. Following Dr. West’s remarks, we will be joined by GW Senior Bryson Handy, who will deliver a moving and inspirational story on the value of diversity, need for equity, and power of inclusion.

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

OneGW Summit Swag Screen Printing

University Student Center Continental Ballroom

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Low Sensory Space & Quiet Space, Center for Interfaith & Spiritual Life

University Student Center 2nd Floor

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Care & Wellness Resources

University Student Center Room 301

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

*Scholars and authors available for questions from 2:50 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Poster Sessions

University Student Center 3rd Floor Lobby

Many Voices, One Health Workforce: Insights on Building Shared Health Equity Competencies From a Longitudinal Study

Presented by: Grace Murphy

From Principles to Practice: Strengthening Equity in Community-Engaged Research Through Teaching Cases

Presented by: Angica Allonce, Tamana Sakhizada

Revolutionizing “Systems Innovators”: Empowering Advocacy, Leadership and Change Through an Equity and Justice Curriculum

Presented by: Dr. Kellie Sawyer

One Mission, Many Voices: Unpacking Motivations of Academic Professionals to Engage in Thankless and Unpaid Mission-based Labor

Presented by: Samaa Afoke

Many Voices of GW Physics

Presented by: Lucas Chandler

Satisfaction of diversity within English literature course offerings at a mid-Atlantic university: A pilot study

Presented by: Divya Benezette

Intimate Partner Violence: The Importance of Culture and Destigmatization

Presented by: Alie Dumas

Más Fuerte (Stronger): Exploring the Role of Spanish-Language Video Education in Distal Radius Fracture Recovery

Presented by: Dr. Stephanie Barbone

Following a distal radius fracture (DRF), Spanish-speaking patients frequently encounter communication and access barriers that hinder recovery. The "Más Fuerte" project addresses these health disparities by placing community voices at the center of developing video patient education. Through collaborative, semistructured interviews with 2 surgeons, and 1 physician assistant from GWU orthopaedic department, 2 nurse practitioners from Arlington Free Clinic, and 2 Spanish-speaking patients post DRF, current English language scripts are adapted to meet the specific needs of the Latino population. This initiative captures patients’ lived experiences and clinical insights to co-design educational video content used in orthopaedic clinics. Themes of provider interviews focused on systemic and socioeconomic barriers Spanish speaking patients face such as being uninsured and having a lack of financial resources, communication and health literacy challenges, concerns of patients being able to perform important activities such as work and childcare, importance of early education that is accessible, and specific script changes focused on giving more exercise progression instruction. Patient interviews focused on systemic and socioeconomic factors delaying care, functional loss, self-directed adaptive strategies, importance of rehabilitation, and the need for accessible, culturally, and linguistically tailored education.

Prevention Awareness Week: Interprofessional Community-Based Fall Screening and Prevention

Presented by: Dr. Sarah Doerrer

Falls represent the primary cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults, rendering community-level screening and prevention a crucial public health priority. This poster presentation illustrates the development, implementation, and interprofessional framework of DC Falls Prevention Awareness Week. This year, this free community event spanned over two days, broadening community outreach and providing hands-on opportunities for students to perform screenings on DC community members to prepare for clinical practice while serving local seniors.

The initiative brings together an interprofessional student cohort spanning occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, nutritional sciences, Marymount University health sciences, and engineering students from the UDC STAR Biomechanical Lab.

The event utilizes an interactive station-based model grounded in the CDC’s evidence-based STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, & Injuries) toolkit. Participants engage in supervised risk screenings evaluating balance, strength, and vision risk factors alongside blood pressure, vitals, and falls history screenings. Interactive activity stations complement clinical screenings by delivering practical education on safe fall recovery, medication management, assistive equipment (AE) and footwear, an interactive home safety walkthrough developed by Falls Free Wisconsin, home modifications (supported by DC Safe at Home), nutritional health, and exercise routines. This model directly aligns with the 2026 OneGW Summit theme by demonstrating how multi-institutional academic partnerships and government agency integration extend to the DC community to advance health equity and urban fall prevention. This initiative directly advances social justice by delivering accessible, free fall prevention and health screenings to diverse, underrepresented older adults across Washington, DC. Intended takeaways include learning about a multi-university, multi-disciplinary model for community engagement, interprofessional education, and real-world clinical practice.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Creative Expression and Well-Being in the Age of AI: From Studio to Clinic

Moderated by: Qing Zeng, PhD

Panelists: Hiroki Morizono, PhD, Melissa Goldstein, JD, Suzanne Bethel, and Makda Bekele

University Student Center 3rd floor Amphitheater

Session Overview: Self-expression and well-being are closely connected. People use creative activities to express identity, process experiences, communicate with others, and manage emotions. Art has long supported this process in studio, art therapy, healthcare, and community settings. Generative AI is now becoming part of this process as well.

AI can make creative expression more accessible by helping people generate, modify, and share images, stories, music, and other creative work. This may be especially useful for people who face physical, cognitive, communication, or other barriers to traditional forms of creative expression. At the same time, AI raises important questions. Who is the author when a person creates with AI? What happens when artwork and personal narratives become data? How should consent, privacy, likeness, and reuse be addressed? When does a tool that supports creative expression become a health or mental health tool? What should AI interpret, and what should remain a human responsibility?

These questions require perspectives from multiple disciplines. This panel brings together expertise in biomedical informatics and clinical research, bioethics and health information privacy, arts leadership and community practice, and the student experience at GW. The same AI tool may have different implications depending on how it is used. Creating an image for entertainment differs from helping a person with a disability express an idea. Both differ from using AI to interpret a patient's artwork and make statements about emotional well-being. These uses require consideration of technical, artistic, clinical, ethical, and community perspectives.

The session draws on an active GW interdisciplinary initiative involving the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), Milken Institute School of Public Health, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Children's National Hospital, and The Art League. The initiative examines where AI can support creative expression and where clear boundaries are needed.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Your Voice, Truly Heard: A Playback Theatre Experience

Presented by: Erin Whalen

University Student Center Room 302

Session Overview: Storytelling. Music. Live (improvised!) theatre. Deep connection.

In this interactive Playback Theatre session, GW attendees will experience a wildly creative way of bringing many voices into the same room.

Playback Theatre is an improvisational art form in which attendees share stories from their lived experience, guided by a Playback facilitator. Immediately after a story is shared, the Playback team of actors and musicians “plays back” the story through movement, music, and improvisational drama. Everyone gathered experiences the power of storytelling and the artistic recreation which gets to the heart of the story, and the heart of the person.

The session connects directly to the OneGW Summit theme, Many Voices. OneGW, and to the Summit’s emphasis on storytelling, deep listening, connection, belonging, and bringing different perspectives into conversation.
As Maya Angelou says: “I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

This session allows people to actually come to this realization in real time.

Participants will have opportunities to notice what it feels like to be heard, to hear an experience that may be different from their own, and to consider what becomes possible when we listen without immediately trying to fix, debate, or respond.

Attendees will leave with a greater appreciation for storytelling as a way to build connection across differences, as well as deepening perspectives about others who may be different from themself.

The session will be experiential, not lecture-based. The hour will be devoted to participant engagement, shared stories, Playback, and moments of connection. The experience, which is grounded in storytelling, is designed to be welcoming, cathartic, enlightening, and highly memorable.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

You Have 30 Seconds to Decide

Presented by: Heba Kamal

University Student Center Room 307

Session Overview: Make a decision, QUICK! Now what if I told you that you missed half the story?

Most of us want to believe that good intentions lead to good decisions. We help because we care. We speak up because something feels wrong. We advocate because we want someone to be heard. But what happens when helping makes a situation worse, advocacy unintentionally speaks over someone, or new information suddenly makes the “right” choice so much less obvious?

This session puts participants directly into that uncertainty; focusing on the ethics of good intentions. Through a series of “30 Second to Decide” challenges, participants will encounter realistic dilemmas involving friendship, leadership, community engagement, cultural differences, and advocacy. With limited information and limited time, they must choose what they would do. Then comes the catch: new context is revealed. Participants must decide whether to stand by their original choice, change their minds, or question the assumptions that led them there in the first place.

Through small group discussion, reflection, and facilitated dialogue, participants will examine how intention, impact, culture, lived experience, and perspective influence the decisions we make, especially when there is no perfect answer.

In connection with Many Voices at the OneGW Summit, this workshop asks what happens when we move beyond simply having different voices in the room and allow those voices to challenge our assumptions and collaborate with our decisions. Participants will leave with a practical approach focusing on intention, assumptions, impact, voices, and power that they can use to navigate difficult decisions with greater curiosity, cultural humility, and awareness. Because sometimes the most ethical thing we can do with a good intention is to question it!

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Toward a Beloved Community: Free Speech, Consequences, and Academic Freedom

Presented by: Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright

University Student Center Room 308

Session Overview

"Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation," writes bell hooks. In the pursuit of a truly pluralistic OneGW, understanding the boundaries, rights, and responsibilities of our expressions is paramount. Toward a Beloved Community: Free Speech, Consequences, and Academic Freedom is a 60-minute interactive workshop designed to demystify the complex web of speech rights at a private university.

While public institutions are bound strictly by the First Amendment, private universities such as GW govern speech through institutional policies, contracts, and codes of conduct. Furthermore, general free speech is often conflated with "Academic Freedom” the specific right for teachers, (maybe) students, and institutions to pursue knowledge without unreasonable interference. This workshop commences with a definition and differentiation of these legal and institutional concepts.

However, recognizing that legal permissibility should not serve as the sole foundation for speech within a potentially Beloved Community, the focus will then shift to the core of community building: the implications of our speech. Through collaborative, scenario-based activities, participants will evaluate whether instances of campus speech are protected and (if so) make a normative judgement as to whether the speaker should engage in the speech.

Participants will be encouraged to categorize speech according to its moral impact on the community rather than its permissibility. By addressing the complex issue of whether speech should be engaged merely because it is possible, we will analyze the impact of speech both within and beyond the classroom. The aspirational learning goal of the workshop is that attendees will acquire a practical framework for managing disagreement and viewpoint diversity, thereby enhancing the cohesion of our shared GW community.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

The Careers We Never Knew Existed: Discovering Hidden Professional Pathways Beyond the Classroom

Presented by: Avneet Singh

University Student Center Room 309

Session Overview

Many students enter college or graduate school with a relatively narrow understanding of the careers available to them. Job searches often begin with familiar titles associated directly with a degree: mechanical engineers search for mechanical engineering positions, data science graduates search for data science roles, and construction students look primarily toward traditional project management positions. Yet many growing and interdisciplinary professions exist between these conventional categories and may remain invisible to students throughout their education.

This interactive workshop explores how students and early-career professionals can identify career opportunities beyond the most recognizable job titles associated with their academic programs. The facilitator will use his own transition from mechanical engineering and engineering management into building commissioning as one example of a career path that combines engineering, sustainability, construction, controls, project management, energy performance, and communication, but is rarely discussed with students as a distinct profession.

Participants will then move beyond this example through guided reflection, small-group discussion, and collaborative career-mapping exercises. They will identify transferable skills from their own education and experiences, explore professions at the intersection of multiple disciplines, and discuss why certain careers remain less visible within traditional academic and recruiting structures.

The session supports the 2026 OneGW Summit theme, Many Voices. OneGW., by bringing together participants from different academic, professional, and personal backgrounds to exchange perspectives on how people navigate education and employment differently. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for exploring unfamiliar career pathways and ideas for how GW can strengthen connections among students, alumni, faculty, and professionals.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Belonging in Action: SEAS and CCAS: Affinity Groups for Shared Success

Presented by: Andre Culbreath, Mya Lesley-Drakeford, Ava Edge, Dana Pratt

University Student Center Room 310

Session Overview

Higher education institutions often operate in departmental and disciplinary silos, limiting opportunities for cross-school connection, shared advocacy, and collaborative community building. This panel brings together staff leaders of the joint affinity groups across the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) to examine how cross-departmental coalitions can strengthen staff and faculty belonging at George Washington University and beyond.

Rooted in the 2026 OneGW Summit theme, Many Voices. OneGW, this session demonstrates how affinity networks bridge divides between differing academic worlds, allowing for more opportunities for connection and community-building. Panelists will share reflections on navigating institutional silos, leveraging affinity spaces as hubs for advocacy and well-being, and converting shared community goals into actionable outcomes.

By exploring the intersection of identity and professional life, the conversation highlights how centering diverse lived experiences enriches the broader university ecosystem. By exploring the creation of these groups, the panel offers a look at the opportunities and challenges of starting affinity networks within a large university setting. Attendees will gain practical strategies for launching similar initiatives, building coalition momentum, and fostering a campus culture where all staff and faculty feel connected and valued for who they are in their entirety.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

The Purpose of College in a Time of Great Change: Lessons from GW History

Presented by: Daphna Atias, Robin Pokorski, Brigette Kamsler, Leah Richardson

University Student Center Room 311

Session Overview

Since its founding, the institution we now consider “OneGW” has navigated debates about who belongs on campus, whose presence is seen and heard, and whose perspectives are entertained and acted upon. From efforts to desegregate GW to anti-war protests, students have always been at the forefront of efforts to promote inclusion and justice on campus.

This workshop uses materials from the GW Archives to explore how universities respond to social change. We will examine two documents: a letter from then-CCAS Dean Calvin Linton promoting “an environment of order, authority, and self-discipline” and annotations on that letter from student protestors arguing that “rigid order is the greatest enemy of true education.” We will also share other stories from the archive highlighting change at GW. Throughout, we will ask questions like:

What methods have students used to spark change on GW’s campus?
In what ways is the university as an institution equipped to respond to social change? In what ways is it not equipped?
How do the mechanisms for driving change on campus change over time?
How have members of the GW community challenged and listened to each other at different moments across GW’s history, and how can they do so now?

Our conversations will highlight that the pluralistic inclusion we promote today is not inherent to the institution but a contested space in which all members of the university, both past and present, have played a role.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

AI Beyond the Screen: Refusals, Criticisms, and Embodiment

Presented by: Lins Derry, Jet Inglis, Laura Schiavo, Nidhi Sing Rathore

University Student Center Room 302

Session Overview

This panel springs from the intent to more intentionally foreground deep criticisms of Artificial Intelligence as part of GW platforms and policies around AI. Two faculty members, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student will each speak to the question of what they think is missing in the AI conversation (at GW, or in general) and the impact of that gap. This session answers this question with the research and experience of people positioned in a variety of disciplines (Design, American Studies, Museum Studies) across CCAS. Just as GW begins to formalize its positions on AI (GW Trustworthy AI Initiative) and continues to take stock of AI in classrooms and research, more and more institutions, including universities banning AI, have begun to reframe and reassert the existential dangers of this technology. This panel aims to introduce new ideas from students and faculty to broaden the range of GW’s positioning on AI.

Schiavo will introduce the panel. Following the broad call for a discussion of what is missing in the current conversation, each of the three panelists will speak about their ideas and research for about ten minutes. We will then open the conversation to the audience (in person and on Zoom). The hope is that through this discussion and public platform, we might be in touch with people from other disciplines and perhaps form a working group, or become a part of the official GW discussions around “Trustworthy AI.”

Lins Derry will discuss AI experimentations in choreography. Derry explores the slowness of the mind-body compared to the speed of computational machines and how the embodied experience can be used as a mode for resisting pervasive AIs. Jet Inglis will discuss their disappointment in the use of AI in education where professors expect larger projects from their students without providing basic skills, expecting their students to rely on AI to do the work. Nidhi Sing Rathore will speak about how her research shifts the framing of AI from an efficiency tool to a diagnostic one – noting how in the field of design AI can surface assumptions and biases (our cultural obsession with productivity and optimization) we might not have noticed we were carrying.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will be encouraged to think about what is missing from current conversations around generative AI.
Attendees who share concerns about AI will meet others who share those concerns in other parts of the GW community.
Attendees with various ideas about AI will be exposed to others’ positions and have an opportunity to discuss their differences on this important issue for GW and the world.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Who's Doing the Learning? Student and Faculty Perspectives on AI in GW Classrooms

Moderated by: Dr. Michael Akinwumi

Panelists: Dr. Patrick Hall, Kayla DeSousa

University Student Center Room 307

Session Overview

When a student opens a chatbot at 1 a.m. to get through a problem set, who is doing the learning? Across GW, students and faculty are answering that question in different ways, often without talking to each other. Course policies range from bans to open encouragement. Students navigate rules that change from one class to the next, while faculty weigh academic integrity against the reality that these tools are already part of how their students study, write, and think.

This 60-minute panel brings an undergraduate student and a faculty member into conversation, moderated by a GW professorial lecturer who teaches responsible AI and works on AI policy in the civil rights field. Rather than debating whether AI belongs in the classroom, the panel asks what it is changing: how students actually use AI tools and why, what faculty are gaining and losing in their teaching, where trust breaks down between the two, and what fair and transparent expectations could look like.

The conversation will also examine who benefits and who is left behind. Access to paid AI tools, comfort with technology, disability accommodations, language background, and first-generation status all shape how students experience AI and how their use of it is judged.

In keeping with the theme Many Voices. OneGW., the session treats students and faculty as co-authors of the norms that govern AI in learning, not as rule-makers and rule-followers. The final 20 minutes are reserved for audience questions, a short exercise in which attendees draft one principle for AI use they would want in every GW classroom and closing reflections.

Attendees will leave with a clearer picture of how the other side of the classroom experiences AI, practical ideas for setting course expectations together, and questions to carry into their own teaching, learning, and advising.

Statement on How the Different Perspectives Contribute to a Diverse Conversation

The panel brings three vantage points that rarely share a stage. The undergraduate student speaks to how AI shows up in day-to-day studying, peer culture, and the pressure to keep up, including shifting rules across courses. The faculty member brings the view from course design, assessment, and academic integrity, and the tradeoffs of adapting teaching in real time. The moderator, a GW instructor who teaches responsible AI and works on AI policy at a national civil rights organization, connects classroom experience to broader questions of accountability and fairness. Together, they model the student-faculty dialogue the session hopes to encourage.

Statement on Engagement with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Social Issues, and Plurality

AI tools do not reach every student equally. Premium tools cost money. Some students rely on AI as an accessibility aid or for language support. First-generation students may have fewer informal guides to unwritten academic norms. Research has found that AI-detection tools flag writing by non-native English speakers as AI-generated at higher rates. The session names these disparities and asks how GW can set AI expectations that are fair, transparent, and consistently applied. By placing student and faculty voices on equal footing, the panel treats AI in learning as a shared community decision rather than a rule handed down.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Media Literacy, Misinformation and the Midterms: Spotting Deepfakes and Defending Democracy

Presented by: Dr. Imani Cheers

University Student Center Room 308

Session Overview

In the final week before the November 3 midterm elections, our community will be scrolling through a flood of political content, and not all of it will be real. Doctored clips, AI-generated voices, fabricated screenshots, and genuine material stripped of its context move faster than any fact-check. This workshop equips faculty, staff, students, and alumni to slow down, look closer, and verify before they share.

The session opens with a 20-minute presentation grounding participants in the language of information disorder: misinformation (false content shared without intent to harm), disinformation (false content created to deceive), and malinformation (true content weaponized to harm). Drawing on digital storytelling, documentary production, and media studies, the facilitator will show how political messages are engineered for emotion and speed, why deepfakes succeed, and how misleading content has historically targeted Black, Latino, immigrant, and young voters.

For the remaining 40 minutes, participants become investigators. Working individually and then in small groups, they will examine real and synthetic political images, video, and audio, apply a simple verification routine, and use free tools such as reverse image search and lateral reading. Groups will debate their verdicts, compare the cues they relied on, and discover how their own backgrounds shaped what they trusted or questioned.

The workshop speaks directly to Many Voices. OneGW. A plural democracy depends on a shared commitment to truth, even when we disagree about what that truth means for policy.

Media literacy is how a diverse community keeps its many voices from being drowned out or impersonated. Participants will leave with a pocket toolkit, practiced verification skills, and a plan to share what they learned with family, classmates, and colleagues before Election Day.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Circle Keeping: Creating Community through Restorative Practice

Presented by: Hannah Gray, Joshua Segalewitz

University Student Center Room 309

Session Overview

Upon learning of GWOne Summit’s theme, Restorative Justice immediately came to mind. With roots in indigenous ways of living in right relationship with one another, restorative practices in their many forms allow transformative opportunities for connection and community building. We will utilize Restorative Justice’s practice of circle-keeping to focus on community and how to build trusting relationships through active inclusion, mutual understanding, and shared power.

It can be all too easy to get lost in the noise of our own lives. There is always something that feels urgent, pressing down on us. Whether it be a deadline for work, studying for the next exam, or just trying to make it through another day without letting any balls drop. And so we keep our heads down, do the work, and before we know it, we’ve forgotten to look up at all. This is especially true at a place like GW. We are a microcosm of high-achieving, passionate individuals, dropped in the middle of one of the most powerful cities in the world. Regardless of what the next big project or lofty goal may be, nothing great has ever happened in isolation. True greatness comes when we are able to gather in community, building upon each other’s strengths to achieve those goals together.

Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to receive a high-level overview of restorative justice and accompanying practices. Through a combination of traditional presentation and a restorative circle, participants will deepen their understanding of the importance of community and connection. Together, we invite folks to envision what our community might look like if all voices were given the chance to be heard. Guided by restorative practitioners, we will create the space to look up and connect across differences as we move another step closer to creating OneGW.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Community-Academic Partnership to Improve Access and Inclusion in Public Recreational Services: Teaching, Learning, and Advocating from Three Perspectives

Presented by: Dr. Roger Ideishi, Yetta Myrick, and Kate Agnes

University Student Center Room 310

Session Overview

Belonging and inclusion. Disabled individuals report less participation in community activities leading to increased rates of isolation and loneliness (Budavari et al, 2021; Kwan et al, 2020). Accessible and inclusive community arts and recreational programs mitigate isolation and loneliness increasing a sense of belonging and leading to increased frequency of community activity participation (Glass et al, 2022; Sumner et al 2021). Accessibility and inclusion are not the same thing. Accessibility creates opportunity; inclusion creates meaning. Accessibility, as defined by the American with Disabilities Act, creates opportunities, but these opportunities don’t always translate into meaningful engagement. Strategies to increase community participation and to improve a sense of belonging is to intentionally design public services using inclusive principles, yet most public services minimally or inadequately address accessibility and rarely consider inclusion.

Accessibility and disability inclusion. The GW occupational therapy students, faculty, and community members have been collaborating and advocating over the past two years to improve disability access and supports within DC public recreational services. This panel will examine the different perspectives from a community advocate, a former student, and a faculty lens in using a community driven and engaged process to impact public services. This panel will explore the advocacy process for academic and community capacity building that impacts community member’s experiences, student learning, and faculty teaching. The panel will discuss the supports, challenges, and outcomes of advocating for systemic change.

Relevance. The panel will explore inclusion advocacy beyond the civil rights of accessibility that addresses human participation, meaning, and belonging. This session will examine the themes of belonging and inclusion, and accessibility and disability inclusion through an academic-community partnership to develop research on equity, access, and institutional change. (278 words)

Diverse Conversations: This panel will constitute the lens of a community member, an alumnus (former student), and a faculty member. The community member will discuss the lived experiences in the disability community navigating physically and socially inaccessible health, education, and social systems. The faculty will describe the curricular structure that is intended to contextualize teaching within non-dominant social, cultural, and historical contexts. The former student will discuss the learning process that empowers students to lead and advocate. (77 words)

Engaging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Social Issues, and Plurality: Approximately 1 in 4, or over 70 million, people reported a disability in the latest U.S. Census (2020). Yet, the disability community continues to encounter a lack of accessibility and inclusion in health, education, and social settings. Despite this large population identity, “DEI” initiatives or discussions often do not address disability, yet disability identities intersect with every other identity (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, economic, etc.). This session will explore the issues the disability community encounters within everyday activities. (88 words)

Technology needs: Microphones, speakers, projector and screen for power point slides

Ideal space setup: Chairs for panelists to dialogue and engage with each other and the audience. Theater style with audience facing the panelist platform. Extra microphones available for the audience for question-and-answer phase. Microphone “runners” for audience members to ask questions.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Many Voices, One Community: Building an Engaged Department through Shared Partnerships

Moderated by: Dr. Rebecca Pinkus

Panelists: Dr. Erin Wentzell, Dr. Karen Goodman, Dr. Jason Dring, Nadia Taran, and Harsh Thakker

University Student Center Room 311

Session Overview

This panel invites participants into a collective story of how the Physical Therapy program created an Engaged Department, known as ENGAGE (Educational Network of Grassroots Advocacy and Global Community Engagement). An Engaged Department structure prioritizes community engagement across its mission, curriculum, research, and partnerships, rather than relying on isolated faculty initiatives or single-course service-learning experiences. It is grounded in the principles of reciprocity, shared power, and community-identified priorities. Engaged departments have been shown to strengthen connection, belonging, and shared purpose across different perspectives, generations, roles, and ability levels.

Through the voices of students, faculty, and community partners who are a part of ENGAGE, the session will illustrate how authentic engagement reshapes learning, scholarship, and community relationships. Panelists will share pivotal moments when collaboration challenged assumptions, when student voices redirected projects, when community partners’ lived experiences reframed student and faculty understanding, and when intergenerational and diverse groups co-created solutions. ENGAGE demonstrates how intentional program design can elevate student experience, deepen faculty scholarship, and strengthen community partnerships. Presenters will describe the culture of connection, navigating the partnership, and designing engagement that honors the strengths and assets across all the collaborators.

Participants will gain a clear understanding of the framework’s core components, practical approaches for integrating community engagement in higher education, and insights into the transformative impact of sharing diverse perspectives This session will center on sharing the experiences of the faculty, students, and community members that lead to stronger partnerships, inclusive learning environments, and a more equitable GW community.

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

OneGW Community Festival

Columbian Square, University Student Center 1st Floor

Session Overview

There is nothing more powerful than being in community. As we open the 11th Summit at the George Washington University, we center our GW community. We invite all members of the GW community to come together to enjoy food, performances, music, and experiences across cultures. Through an activation of all senses, attendees will connect across differences, break bread, and experience stories that weave us together, like a beautiful tapestry, as OneGW.

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

Theme of the Day: Our Stories

Session Time

Session Information

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Session Type: Plenary

Delivering on our Promise: Higher Education, Public Trust, and the Work Ahead

Presented by: Lynn Pasquerella

Opening remarks by: President Ellen M. Granberg

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: Higher education is confronting a crisis of public trust at precisely the moment when its contributions to individuals, communities, democracy, and society are most urgently needed. Rebuilding that trust will require more than defending colleges and universities against their critics. It will require demonstrating that we are delivering on the promise of higher education—and being willing to hold ourselves accountable when we fall short. Drawing on her own journey through higher education and her work as president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, Lynn Pasquerella will explore what it means for colleges and universities to reclaim their public purposes in a period of profound change. President Ellen Granberg will provide opening remarks.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Session Type: Panel

Lessons Learned from the GW/DCPS Partnership to Prepare Equity-Centered Leaders

Moderated by: Rebecca Thessin

Panelists: Abe Tekleselassie, Tynika Young-Aleibar, Shelley Anderson, Shaun Shepard

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

This panel will reflect on lessons learned from a nearly six year partnership between GSEHD and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) focused on preparing aspiring equity-centered school leaders. Funded by the Wallace Foundation’s Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative (ECPI), this partnership has brought university faculty and DCPS leaders together to create an aligned principal pipeline for the District. This collaboration launched a new approach to educating aspiring school leaders in our nation’s capital that focuses on instilling equity-centered knowledge, practices, and dispositions in GW ELA program graduates.

This panel, with representatives from both GW ELA and DCPS, will discuss how they partnered to create the ELA program’s equity-centered Portrait of a Graduate framework, redesign program curricula and coursework, revamp the candidate assessment process, develop meaningful cohort learning experiences, and establish a system to monitor graduates’ leadership placement. Panelists will reflect on key outcomes from this partnership, including how most graduates from its first cohort moved into new leadership roles within DCPS, and speak to challenges that arise when sharing ownership of joint initiatives across institutions.

Aligning with the 2026 OneGW Summit theme, this discussion will focus on how different perspectives from both GW and DCPS shaped this university-district partnership and its evolution over the course of the grant. Panelists will have the opportunity to speak about the challenges they faced and barriers they overcame in the process. Panel attendees will then have the chance to participate in a conversation with panelists around how GW and DCPS can sustain their partnership to prepare aspiring school leaders and expand their partnership to continue to improve outcomes for students. It is the hope that participants leave the session with practical strategies to develop collaborative, reciprocal relationships in their own contexts.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Session Type: Panel

Many Passports, OneGW: International and Transnational Journeys to Belonging

Moderated by: Kavita Daiya

Panelists: Elizabeth Chacko, Leenu Sugathan, Soumi Ganguly, Daksha Khatri, Jennifer Donaghue, Omar García-Ponce, Adiana Johnson, and Nafeesah Owodeyi

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

GW sits blocks from embassies, the World Bank, and the State Department, and its classrooms draw students and scholars from around the world. Yet our community’s global dimension is often discussed as a statistic or a recruitment asset. It is less often treated as lived experience that shapes how belonging is built, tested, and sometimes withheld, or as central to questions about inclusion. This panel brings together two faculty members and three graduate students from CCAS and GSHED whose paths to GW cross borders, languages, and academic traditions. They will take up a simple question with complicated answers: what does it mean to be “one” GW when so many of us are also from somewhere else.

Through a moderated conversation grounded in storytelling, panelists will reflect on moments when their or their students’ international or transnational identities were an asset, an obstacle, or invisible at GW. The faculty will also address teaching in globally diverse classrooms such as the Global Bachelor’s Program, while also drawing on scholarship about internationalization in U.S. higher education. Graduate students from CCAS and GSHED will speak about both their experiences and research. Topics may include navigating norms and finding community beyond affinity groups. Together, we hope to explore the many stories that encompass international and global perspectives at GW, possibly exploring the tension between global openness and national policy pressures, between assimilation and affirmation, toward exploring what genuine inclusion requires.

Aligned with the 2026 theme, Many Voices, OneGW, the panel will gather shared storytelling that leads to:

a) a stronger understanding of the global diversity on campus
b) practical strategies for faculty, staff, and students to build cross-cultural connection in classrooms and offices
c) an invitation to commit to one concrete action that makes GW more welcoming and inclusive

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Find your Family Story

Presented by: Hanan Daqqa

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: You know you have a unique family story, but are not sure which memory will bring it to life. In this one-hour workshop, we will use proven activities to help attendees connect with themselves and find that meaningful story. You will leave with a draft and a plan on how to turn it into a 3-5 minute film.

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Human Ingenuity vs AI Creativity

Presented by: Nidhi Singh Rathore and Shreya Thakkar

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

Every day, members of the GW community solve problems with what they have on hand. In India, this kind of resourceful, context-driven ingenuity has a name, jugaad: a practice born from real need, scarce resources, and the determination to make things work. As generative AI (GenAI) becomes part of how we study, teach, and work, we must ask: whose ways of knowing does it recognize, and whose does it leave out?

This workshop draws on the facilitators' ongoing research comparing how people and GenAI approach the same problems. In our studies, human participants consistently drew on geography, environment, and available materials, prioritizing what works over what looks good. AI-generated images largely defaulted to polished, context-agnostic solutions regardless of how specific the prompt was. Research shows that AI systems tend to reflect Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) perspectives. We argue this risks homogenizing problem-solving and leading communities to doubt their traditional approaches, a pattern we call "Global South thought alienation."

After a brief provocation, participants will work in small groups on everyday scenarios from campus life. They will solve these first from their lived experience, then compare their ideas with AI-generated responses. We will surface what forms of intelligence (embodied, relational, cultural) are missing from AI training data. We will also map practical ways to keep these many voices present as AI tools spread across the university.

The session speaks to the Many Voices OneGW theme and celebrates the plurality of knowledge its community carries. Participants will leave with an awareness for critically evaluating AI outputs and strategies for centering cultural context in their teaching, research, and work. They will also leave with connections to colleagues thinking about AI and inclusive excellence.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Start. Struggle. Success.: Centering Student Voices, Strengthening Student Support

Presented by: Chanté Clarkson

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

Every Student Has a Story: Many Voices, One Community, Paths to Success

Student success is rarely a straight path. Every student enters college with a unique story shaped by their experiences, strengths, identities, challenges, relationships, and support systems. In a community defined by its plurality, supporting student success requires us to recognize and respond to these differences while creating opportunities for every student to be seen, respected, heard, challenged, and supported.

Aligned with the 2026 OneGW Summit theme, “Many Voices. OneGW.”, this interactive workshop will explore three student journeys through the framework of Start, Struggle, and Success. Using real-world student cases, presenters will guide participants through each student’s transition to college, the challenges they encountered, and the interventions, relationships, and resources that contributed to their progress.

The cases will demonstrate how academic success programs, advising, success coaching, financial support, campus partnerships, and other institutional resources can come together to address students’ complex and evolving needs.

The workshop positions student success as a shared institutional commitment—one strengthened when multiple perspectives, experiences, and areas of expertise come together.

Key Takeaways: Participants will:

Identify strategies for responding to students’ diverse academic, personal, financial, and transitional needs.
Explore how advising, coaching, academic support, financial assistance, and campus partnerships can work together to strengthen student outcomes.
Exchange practical strategies and resources with colleagues that can be adapted to their own institutional contexts.
Reflect on how the principle of “Many Voices. OneGW.” can inform a more inclusive, responsive, and student-centered approach to supporting student success.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Sacred Spaces, Authentic Selves: Navigating Faith and Identity in the University

Presented by: Dr. Dwayne Wright

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

At a diverse institution like GW, faith and religious identity are core cultural legacies that shape who our students, faculty, and staff are. However, the university environment—a place of rapid self-discovery, intellectual challenge, and exposure to differing worldviews—can sometimes feel at odds with deeply held religious beliefs. This virtual 60-minute interactive workshop, "Sacred Spaces, Authentic Selves," explores the intersection of faith, personal identity, and academic life.

Directly engaging with the 2026 OneGW Summit theme of "Many Voices. OneGW," this session fosters religious diversity, pluralism, and a holistic student experience. We will address how students can deepen their faith while discovering their true selves, specifically navigating the intersection of moral pedagogy and sexuality development without conflict. For faculty and staff, the session offers practical frameworks for designing inclusive virtual and physical learning environments. We will explore how to ‘allow’ students to bring their faith into the classroom as intellectual artifacts, ensuring their core beliefs can be rigorously challenged but never disrespected.

Participants will engage in guided reflection and small-group scenario problem-solving via Zoom breakout rooms. By engaging with case studies involving the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identities and religious communities, as well as classroom conflict resolution, attendees will leave with actionable strategies. This workshop challenges us to think differently about viewpoint diversity and religious inclusion, showing that rigorous academic inquiry, personal discovery, and deep faith are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are essential components of a thriving, pluralistic university community.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Who Gets Remembered? Many Voices and the Future of GW’s Institutional Memory

Presented by: Shana Feggins

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: This virtual workshop will use individual reflection, chat-based storytelling, breakout-room dialogue, collaborative digital exercises, and facilitated whole-group discussion. Approximately 45 minutes of the session will involve active participant engagement.

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Session Type: Workshop

Many Voices in the Age of AI: Preserving Human Perspective in AI-Assisted Learning

Presented by: Muhammad Ahmed

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

Generative artificial intelligence has become part of how students learn, write, research, and communicate today. Much of the conversation surrounding its use in higher education has focused on academic integrity, plagiarism, and the possibility that students may outsource their thinking to machines. These concerns are important and need to be part of our conversation.

This interactive workshop asks a different question: Can AI help us express our individual perspectives more effectively without making those perspectives more alike? In the spirit of Many Voices. OneGW., the proposed session explores how emerging AI tools can expand opportunities for people to participate and express their ideas while preserving differences in perspective, experience, and thought that give a university community its intellectual richness.

This challenge is not entirely new to education. A lesser challenge emerged with modern calculators, which reduced our dependence on manual arithmetic. Search engines transformed how we locate information, while other digital tools changed how we write and communicate. Each innovation required educators to reconsider which skills technology could support and which forms of human understanding and judgment remained essential. Generative AI presents a more complex challenge because it can participate directly in the formulation and expression of ideas.

Participants will explore their own associations with AI and discuss what education might lose—and what it might gain—as AI becomes more prevalent. Through a hands-on exercise, they will compare developing a response independently, allowing AI to formulate or substantially rewrite it, and using AI as a partner to strengthen their existing perspective.

Together, we will examine whether AI can broaden participation while unintentionally pulling diverse voices toward similar forms of expression, and develop practical principles for using AI to discover, challenge, strengthen, and communicate our individual voices.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Pecha Kucha

Fostering Belonging Across Cognitive Backgrounds Through Creative Expression

Presented by: Sabrina Yeh

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

In 2024, I volunteered at a senior care facility and noticed that residents felt “trapped,” especially when seeing the same people and doing the same activities in the same building daily. I also learned that individuals living with dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders often experience significant isolation, anxiety, and frustration due to progressive cognitive decline and verbal communication barriers. To address this challenge, I founded the Dementia Art Therapy Alliance (DATA) at George Washington University (GW). This club serves to provide quality social interaction time and creative outlets for people with diverse cognitive backgrounds to express themselves.

In this 10-minute Pecha Kucha presentation, I will use 10 visual slides to share my personal story of DATA at GW. This empowering story starts with how I established a formal community partnership with The Residences at Thomas Circle, and now we have recruited over 100 student volunteers and facilitated more than 60 weekly art therapy sessions. The Pecha Kucha will highlight how art adaptations made by volunteers (like paintbrushes with thick handles and textured decorations) enhance residents’ confidence. Attendees will view how GW student volunteers and senior residents bond through shared interests, memories, intergenerational connection, and growth.

This Pecha Kucha presentation embodies the 2026 OneGW Summit theme (Many Voices. OneGW.) by demonstrating the power of uniting and building connections despite differences in age, ability, and cognition. By working directly with community members in Washington D.C., DATA at GW fosters an authentic sense of belonging and de-stigmatizes neurodegenerative diseases. Attendees will gain valuable takeaways, including strategies to incorporate accessibility and social inclusion when designing projects such as student organizations. They will also leave feeling inspired to be a part of something greater than themselves. I hope that attendees can celebrate the heartfelt and joyful community that DATA has built at GW.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Poster

Changing Culture from Within: How Staff-Led Initiative Groups Build Community, Belonging, and Engagement in the Office of Sponsored Projects

Presented by: Erin Grady

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: Meaningful cultural change does not always start at the top. This session explores how staff-led initiative groups and culture committees can create opportunities for connection, collaboration, and engagement while empowering employees to shape their workplace experience. Participants will learn how grassroots leadership, shared ownership, and inclusive practices can strengthen departmental culture and foster a greater sense of belonging across their department and GW.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Poster

Many Voices, Shared Responsibility: GW Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism and Hate - Advancing an Inclusive Community at GW

Presented by: Dr. Lisa Schwartz

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

Formed in Fall 2024 in response to the rise in antisemitism on college campuses nationally and globally, GW Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism and Hate (GWUAH) is dedicated to fostering a safe and inclusive academic environment where Jewish students, faculty, and staff can bring their whole selves to the university while supporting broader institutional efforts to uphold educational excellence, community well-being, and shared values. The organization brings together colleagues from across The George Washington University's schools and units who share concerns for the safety, dignity, and well-being of all members of the university community. GWUAH supports Jewish students on campus and provides guidance to faculty, staff, students, and university leadership on issues related to antisemitism that affect the institution's educational, research, and community-building missions.

Drawing on resources, educational materials, and initiatives developed by GWUAH, this poster highlights approaches for addressing antisemitism and other forms of bias while strengthening a campus culture in which all community members can participate fully, authentically, and respectfully. The poster aligns with the 2026 OneGW Summit theme, "Many Voices. OneGW.," by emphasizing the importance of civil discourse, coalition-building, active listening, and engagement across differences in creating a more inclusive university community.

Through examples of faculty and staff engagement, relationship-building, educational outreach, advocacy, and collaborative problem-solving, attendees will be invited to consider practical strategies for fostering inclusive excellence within their own units and organizations. Key takeaways include recognizing the role of allyship and shared responsibility in promoting belonging, understanding how targeted forms of hate influence campus climate, identifying opportunities for constructive dialogue across diverse perspectives, and developing actionable approaches that strengthen community trust and resilience. Ultimately, the poster demonstrates how responding thoughtfully to antisemitism and other forms of bias can contribute to a stronger, more connected, and more inclusive OneGW community.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Pecha Kucha

AI Essentials at GW: Diverse Voices Shaping Our AI Journey

Presented by: Dr. Joy Wu, Ryan Watkins, and Andrea Johnson

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: Core objective: Understand staff AI experiences, address learning friction points, and inform future GW-wide learning strategy through direct community trial.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Poster

When emotions masquerade as facts: Combating unscientific conjecture with evidence that demonstrates the pervasiveness of structural inequities in medicine

Presented by: Haily Vu, Sophie Arib

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

Abstract: Recent federal attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives have prompted educational institutions to restructure or discontinue programs addressing racial discrimination and equity-focused measures. While our DISRUPT anti-racism curriculum, authored by Dr. Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH, and Dr. Olanrewaju Falusi, MD, MEd, has been widely recognized within the GW health professionals community and national medical education spheres, critics of DISRUPT and of anti-racism training similar to DISRUPT undermine the role of evidence-based health equity education in medical training.

To defend the necessity of dismantling racism in healthcare, our paper dissects common arguments against the validity of anti-racist and health equity training and evaluates those claims in the context of contemporary medical research. We analyze unsubstantiated opinions that frame biomedical science and equity-focused education as competing priorities, distort the intention behind educational outcomes research, selectively challenge pre/post-study designs while disregarding their role within educational evaluation frameworks, and conflate limitations of measurement tools with the rejection of broader evidence on health disparities, biases, and social drivers of health. We examine how researchers assess educational interventions using mixed methods, quasi-experimental designs, behavioral outcomes, and other measures regarding the effective implementation of anti-racist training. These approaches provide insight into the efficacy of educational interventions, especially when a randomized controlled trial is not feasible.

This year’s summit theme, “Many voices. OneGW.,” celebrates unity in diversity. Consistent with this principle, our paper utilizes debate within the GW community to prompt evidence-based dialogue across differing perspectives. Rather than excluding opposing viewpoints, we emphasize constructive discourse and engagement with rigorously evaluated competing claims.

Attendees will be equipped to identify common criticisms of health equity education, evaluate them within the context of medical education literature, and ascertain the role of health equity training in preparing healthcare providers to serve diverse populations.

4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

Session Type: Poster

Advancing health equity in clinical research administration education: Current reflections and future directions.

Presented by: Dr. Kathy Thoma

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview

This poster presents the results of a multi-year survey that measured the health equity knowledge, capacity, and attitudes of incoming Clinical Research Administration students at GW. In 2021, a group of GW faculty and researchers developed a validated 36-item survey to measure these attributes among incoming health professions students. Between 2022 and 2025, 314 incoming health science and nursing students from eight different programs completed the survey to establish a baseline and identify educational gaps. This specific analysis focuses on the results from incoming Clinical Research Administration students who completed the assessment.

It is vital for the clinical research workforce to have an in-depth knowledge of health equity and have the capacity to translate it into practice. These professionals have an ethical, medical, and scientific responsibility to ensure that access to clinical trials is equitable and that all population groups are represented. A lack of representation negatively impacts the generalizability of trial results, leading to dangerous gaps in therapeutic availability. Clinical research professionals who understand health equity can minimize systemic barriers in protocol design, recruitment strategies, patient materials and other elements that prevent minority, low income and other underrepresented patients from participating. The capacity to apply health equity concepts can help clinical research teams build trust with historically marginalized patient populations. Highlighting baseline metrics in health equity attributes among students will foster ongoing dialogue regarding strategic curriculum design for Clinical Research Administration academic programs.

This presentation directly addresses the OneGW Summit themes of research on equity, inclusion, and accessibility from a health and learning perspective. Attendees will learn about measuring health equity attributes among students, why the capacity to apply health equity concepts is critical for clinical research professionals, and how the results of a baseline survey can practically inform curriculum design for educating the future clinical research workforce.

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Session Type: Keynote

2026 OneGW Summit Keynote: Leading Boldly Through Difference

Presented by: Bakari Sellers and Emily Hammond, JD

Virtual - Register to access the event Zoom link

Session Overview: Meaningful change rarely waits for everyone to agree, and it rarely arrives on our preferred timeline. Join us for a conversation with attorney, author, and political commentator Bakari Sellers, moderated by Emily Hammond, J.D., Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Sellers will draw on his own path of being the first, taking risks, and facing adversity to reflect on what it takes to lead across lines of difference toward the greater good. Sellers will explore how to work alongside people who see and experience the world differently, hold onto patience in moments that feel urgent, and let setbacks sharpen purpose rather than end it. He'll also reflect on why colleges and universities remain among the few places where people of different backgrounds can learn, argue, and build together, and what that means for the future we are preparing students to lead.

Theme of the Day: In Action Together as OneGW

Session Time

Session Information

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Check In & Breakfast

University Student Center 3rd Floor Lobby

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Low Sensory Space & Quiet Space, Center for Interfaith & Spiritual Life

University Student Center 2nd Floor

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Care & Wellness Resources

University Student Center Room 311

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

OneGW Community in Action Projects

University Student Center, 3rd Floor

Session Overview

After two days of engaging and inspiring educational sessions, we invite all participants to come together to translate these insights into direct impact through a series of activities aimed at supporting our GW and DC community on and off campus. From a donation drive for a local shelter to making care packages to a human design thinking activation focused on addressing challenges relevant to the GW campus and more, this is your chance to be bold and make a difference!

Participants are invited to spend the morning making an impact on our GW and DC community through a series of action projects in the USC. Learn more about how you can stay involved beyond the OneGW festival and participate in activities, such as:

Making basic needs care packages for a local nonprofit
Creating bookmarks, cards, and letters to send to hospitals and prisons
Donating to the Office of Advocacy & Support Survivor Fund
Participating in a human design thinking challenge aimed at addressing pressing topics at GW
Donating career-related clothing items to Sustainable GW's store, The Loop, on the Vern

The Loop with SustainableGW
Location: 3rd Floor Lobby

Join SustainableGW in promoting textile circularity, responsible fashion, and mindfulness about consumption habits by supporting The Loop, GW’s free clothing exchange! By making a donation, you can increase accessibility to responsible clothing on campus and for GW’s charity community partners in DC. The Loop can accept clean, untorn, unstained, and good-to-excellent-condition clothing, shoes, and accessories. A good rule-of-thumb for acceptable donations is whether you would give it to a friend, neighbor, or family member.

The Loop cannot accept undergarments or socks (outside of original sealed packaging); single shoes or mismatching items that are meant to be in pairs; torn, stained, or soiled items; household items, decor, or anything that doesn't fall within the category of clothing, shoes, or accessories.

Basic Needs Bags with the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC)
Location: Room 302

Join the MSSC to help realize the vision of DC as a nurturing community where all residents have access to the basic material resources they need for survival and growth by assembling Basic Needs Bags for our neighbors in the DC community through Bread for the City.

Bread for the City helps DC residents living with low income to develop their power to determine the future of their own communities by providing food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services.

Addressing GW's Challenges as OneGW Through Human-Centered Design Thinking
Location: Room 310

Join the SEAS Inclusive Excellence Team and Dr. Erica Wortham and colleagues across the university for a dynamic, hands-on workshop to address some of GW’s most pressing community challenges. Using Human-Centered Design Thinking, participants will collaborate in small teams to re-imagine the GW experience—from building community to improving food security, and student well-being & safety.

Rather than talking about solutions, you’ll get a chance to build them. Through fast-paced prototyping, teams will distill complex issues into actionable concepts, present Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), and select priority initiatives to move forward, representing the ethos of OneGW through the entire process.

Free Minds (Poetry workshop in support of incarcerated youth in DC)
Location: Room 301

Join the GW Community in support of the On the Same Page initiative, hosted by Free Minds, where community volunteers gather to provide uplifting feedback on poetry created by DC community members who are currently incarcerated. This simple but powerful process supports the writers’ processes of self-awareness and change, while you get to read great writing and meet community members who want to make a difference for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in DC!

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop is a DC-based organization that leverages literary arts, workforce development, trauma healing, peace-building, and member-led advocacy to foster personal development and systems change for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults.

Fostering Community Safety
Location: 3rd Floor Lobby

Join the Office of Emergency Management to connect, learn, and share feedback on how members of the GW community can have a part in creating a safer community for all. If you’ve ever wondered how you can make a difference or what initiatives you might join to support a safer campus, this project is for you! This space is also an opportunity to connect with others about a safety issue that is pressing to you and move into action.

CPR Training by EMeRG
Location: Room 307

Join EMeRG for real-time and hands-on CPR training. Whether it’s your first time learning CPR or it’s time for a refresher, being trained in CPR provides the knowledge, confidence, and skills to stay calm in a medical emergency and help a person in need. Individuals certified in CPR are prepared to make a difference in their community by being ready to jump into action.

Active Bystander Intervention and De-escalation Training
Location: Room 309

This interactive training focuses on effective skills for assessing, de-escalating, and diffusing a harmful or inappropriate behavior (bullying, harassment, physical violence). It provides participants with the tools they need to quickly recognize when they are bystanders, evaluate the consequences for everyone involved, and take action. Training sessions promote nonviolent alternative approaches for defusing harmful situations and engaging with the aggressor and those subject to harmful acts. This session begins at 9:30 am and attendees are encouraged to plan for the full duration of the training.

DVAM: Community Action
Location: 3rd Floor Lobby

Join the Office of Advocacy and Support (OAS) and the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) for a Call to Action as Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close where you can learn and commit to ways to continue supporting survivors. Give directly by donating to OAS’ Survivor Support Fund and by bringing donation items for the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Donation items include:

Toiletries (new/unopened)
Winter accessories
Menstrual products
School supplies
Children’s Toys

Interactive Tabling from GW Offices

Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service
Global Food Institute
Community Crochet

11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Community Engagement & Building Connections

University Student Center 3rd Floor Lobby

Session Overview: Take time to connect with attendees, reflect on your learning and experience, and engage with our university partners tabling throughout the 3rd Floor Lobby. Use this time to consider what you will do next to move into action.

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Doors open at 11:15 a.m. and lunch will be provided.

Closing Plenary Luncheon & Community Impact Awards

University Student Center Continental Ballroom

Presented by: Provost Edward J. Balleisen and MJ Childs

Beyond Silos: Connecting Ideas, People, and Possibilities for Change

The work of a university is strongest when its people and ideas are in conversation with one another. Join us for a conversation with Provost Edward J. Balleisen, moderated by Student Government Association President MJ Childs, as he reflects on moving beyond the silos that too often divide higher education. The Provost will share what he believes it will take to connect ideas, people, and possibilities for knowledge creation and positive change at the George Washington University. Provost Balleisen will share his vision and perspective on inclusive excellence and belonging at GW, and how we can move toward One GW, followed by an audience Q&A.