Location: Heritage Prefunction

Closing Keynote Address

Fostering a Culture of Belonging Requires Pivots: Are You Ready?

Parfait Bassalé

Parfait Bassalé (he/him) is a true catalyst for change; he is a change strategist, organizational development professional and singer-songwriter who helps individuals and organizations create a culture of belonging. Parfait achieves this through engaging keynotes, workshops, and coaching that leverage the virtues of storytelling, music, and reflexive inquiry. During his five-year tenure as the Executive Diversity Officer at South Puget Sound Community College (a 2023 ASPEN Top 10 Community College finalist), Parfait championed a culture of belonging and implemented equity programs that reduced the achievement gap for historically excluded students. Parfait Bassalé holds a Masters in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. He has supported many state agencies, boards, non-profit and private sector organizations with their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He is a Social Justice and Equity Commissioner for the City of Olympia and sits on the Olympia Education Foundation Board of Trustees. Parfait Bassalé is an alumni of the Washington State Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.

Description:

Fostering belonging isn’t an easy task operationally. It requires an understanding of the pivots that produce it as an interpersonal outcome. This session guides participants through the internal transformation needed to lead equity and belonging work, a different paradigm to approach our past, our future, and the injustices we seek to rectify.

Objectives:

• Understand critical pivots needed to achieve equity.
• Assess and reflect on one’s habits, behaviors, patterns, and policies that create barriers to belonging.
• Begin outlining alternatives to foster greater belonging for your teams.

Location: Discovery Ballroom ABC

 CEU: 0.1