Accountability for Action: Moving from Conference to Community

Authors

  • Jody Alyn Principal and Founder Jody Alyn Consulting
  • Vanessa Roberts University of Colorado

Keywords:

Accountability for action, Accountability programs, Transfer of learning, White privilege, Privilege, Oppression, Tools, Strategies

Abstract

This paper reports on a pilot program to assess the impacts of the White Privilege Conference on participants in specific accountability workshop sessions. These sessions were designed with particular attention to “accountability for action,” to agreements about behaving in specific and intentional ways that dismantle systemic privilege. The results indicate that accountability-focused programs can help learners translate ideas from workshop sessions into specific actions to challenge privilege at three levels.

Author Biographies

Jody Alyn, Principal and Founder Jody Alyn Consulting

Jody Alyn is an organizational equity and inclusion expert with over 20 years of experience serving public, private, academic and nonprofit organizations. She has co-chaired the Accountability for Action Initiative of the White Privilege Conference since 2013. Jody heads a Colorado-based consulting firm helping companies navigate a wide range of situations and issues that affect workplace culture and productivity.

Vanessa Roberts, University of Colorado

As an academic, artist, and activist, Vanessa possesses years of experience working with various communities and organizations on issues related to diversity, inclusion, and sustainable social change. She has been a part of the White Privilege Conference for over 10 years and is a former co-chair of the Accountability for Action Initiative. Currently Vanessa is completing her doctorate in the Sociology department at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where her areas of expertise as a community-based researcher are youth development, cultural sociology, and race & ethnicity. 

Published

2018-08-21

How to Cite

Alyn, J., & Roberts, V. (2018). Accountability for Action: Moving from Conference to Community. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 8(1), 121–126. Retrieved from https://wpcjournal.com/article/view/18003

Issue

Section

Case Study of WPC: Action, Inaction, and Accountability