Join us in our mission of eliminating racism and help us raise awareness about the impact of institutional and structural racism during our national Stand Against Racism campaign.

Every day, we take a Stand Against Racism by raising awareness about the impact of institutional and structural racism and by building community among those who work for racial justice. Now it’s your turn. We can’t do it alone.

Stand Against Racism Community Breakfast:

The 2024 Stand Against Racism Breakfast is SOLD OUT and we will not accept walk-ins.

Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. and program will start at 8:00 a.m. Upon arrival, please enter at Gate D for security check and take the elevator to 3^rd floor.

PLACING THE ‘EQUITY’ IN WOMEN’S HEALTH:

Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu’s efforts to advance healthy equity to vulnerable, under-served, and historically marginalized communities has led to a nationally recognized and innovative best practice model of care. Join us as she sets the stage for a shared learning and leading experience that moves Worcester closer to eliminating racism and empowering women through health equity.

Working towards true racial justice takes all of us. Join us in advancing justice today and every day — until justice just is.

Sponsorship Opportunities Available.

Accessible communication for the deaf or hard of hearing is available, please contact events@ywcacm.org if this service is needed.

Registration:

Registration is now closed.

Venue Information

Polar Park: 100 Madison Street , Worcester, MA 01608

Program will start at 8:00 a.m. Upon arrival, please enter at Gate D for security check and take the elevator to 3^rd floor.

Parking Information

Parking available at the Green Island Boulevard Garage or other alternative parking here.

Equity Sponsors

 

 

 

 

 

Justice Sponsors

 

 

Ally Sponsors

Bay State Savings Bank
LUK, Inc.
UniBank
Upstream USA

Featured Speaker:

Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu, an Obstetrician/Gynecologist, is the inaugural Executive Director of the Collaborative in Health Equity at UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Health. She is also a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and a Professor in the Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Population & Quantitative Health Sciences. She received her undergraduate degree from The Johns Hopkins University, medical degree from Weill Cornell Medicine, and completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the George Washington University Medical Center. She subsequently completed a fellowship in Female Sexual Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and then became a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan where she obtained her Master’s in Health and Health Care Research examining disparities in reproductive health care among refugees/immigrants through mixed-method Community-Based Participatory Research.

From 2008 – 2023, Dr. Johnson-Agbakwu was the Founding Director of the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic (RWHC) at Valleywise Health in Phoenix, AZ, and the Director of the Office of Refugee Health in the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at Arizona State University. Her research focused on investigating strategies to advance sexual and reproductive health equity for women of color, including migrant women, with the aim of improving health care access and utilization, sexual and reproductive health education, counseling, community engagement, as well as enhance health care provider cultural competency.

Dr. Johnson-Agbakwu possesses well over 25+ years of experience providing clinical and surgical care, educating learners and health care providers, conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR), and advancing health policy to enhance trauma-informed care for communities affected by Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). She has led a federally funded effort to improve health care services, community engagement and provider cultural competency on FGM/C and gender-based violence, and has provided consultative expertise to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) on refugee women’s health and FGM/C.

Her current efforts at UMass Chan Medical School is to center health equity throughout all aspects of clinical care, research, education, and community engagement; leveraging institution-spanning, community-wide, and global assets which foster and sustain community embeddedness and trust while nurturing the recruitment, retention, and promotion of underrepresented minorities in medicine (URiM) across trainees, faculty, staff, and leadership. Her vision is for UMass Chan Medical School to become a premier academic institution nationally and globally in advancing health equity for vulnerable, underserved, and historically marginalized communities.

Take the YWCA Racial Justice Challenge

The YWCA Racial Justice Challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. The Challenge works to foster personal reflection, encourage social responsibility, and motivate participants to identify and act on ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination.

2024 TOPICS

• Bodily Autonomy
• Women’s Financial Empowerment/Caregiving
• Gun Violence
• Transportation

Join us in taking a #StandAgainstRacism today and every day! Accept the challenge and register here today.