Save the Date: 2025 WA State Employee DEI Empowerment Conference

Office of the Governor / Office of Financial Management sent this bulletin at 04/16/2025 11:28 AM PDT

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2025 DEI Empowerment Conference

The conference schedule

The 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Empowerment Conference will be held virtually over Zoom on Wednesday, June 4; Thursday, June 5; Wednesday, June 11; and Thursday, June 12. Admission is free and open to all employees of Washington state agencies, boards, and commissions.

Registration opens May 1, 2024. Add to your calendar now to save the dates!

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Join a single session or join them all!

Governor Ferguson encourages us all to join sessions and continue our pro-equity, anti-racist work!

A message from Governor Ferguson about the DEI Conference

Check out Governor Ferguson's message to employees (video on YouTube).

We'll have 16 sessions of thoughtfully selected content to choose from. Each day will include a keynote and three additional presentations, each lasting 90 minutes.

We also encourage team members to attend virtual and in-person June events planned by three of our Business Resource Groups (BRG) – WIN, BUILD, and RAIN! We are excited to continue our partnership with the BRG community!

Attend the live sessions virtually

Conference participation is restricted to government workers and invited community members. All state employees have the power to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in their workplaces and are encouraged to attend.

Block time on your calendar to attend the virtual live sessions. We strive to provide recorded sessions as an accessible solution for later playback. However, some sessions may only be available live for presenter safety or due to other concerns.

Ask your agency leaders about workforce planning for the conference dates and how you can work together to ensure you can attend.

Call to action for leaders

For those in leadership roles, supporting equity work includes removing barriers to DEI learning and activities.

Here’s how you can help:

Look for ways to adjust team schedules and workloads to allow each team member to attend at least one conference session.
Cancel or reschedule conflicting meetings.
Use your current communication tools to encourage employee attendance.
Plan agency-specific reflection sessions for team members to discuss their questions, key takeaways, and “aha” moments from the conference sessions.
Register for several event sessions and share leaders’ schedules with teams to model attendance and show their commitment to equity and learning.

For more information

Please see our website https://ofm.wa.gov/deiconference.
If you have questions, feel free to contact us at WAStateEmployeeDEIConference@ofm.wa.gov.

Registration will open May 1, 2024. Admission is free and open to all employees of Washington state agencies, boards, and commissions.

We look forward to engaging with you in June!

The Washington State Employee DEI Empowerment Conference Planning Committee

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