The one-day conference will take place at the DoubleTree Inn in downtown Jamestown.

It will feature “The Diversity Gap” author and founder Bethaney Wilkinson as the keynote speaker. The Diversity Gap was created to help leaders close the gap between their good intentions for diversity and true cultural change. She will speak about what it truly means to diversify your organization and the importance of race conscious leadership.

Doors will open at 8:30am with the program starting at 9:00am. Tickets can be pre purchased for $60 at www.ywcajamestown.com/events.

For more information, call Alize Scott at 716-488-2237 or email Amanda Gesing at agesing@ywcajamestown.com

The book “Caste: The Origins of our Discontent” by Isabel Wilkerson has been chosen for the community read.

Chautauqua Institution’s Senior Vice President & Chief Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Officer Amit Taneja said community groups have been working on how to engage more people in Chautauqua County in creating a more inclusive and just society.

He said YWCA Executive Director Amanda Gesing reached out to the Institution after she learned that they would be hosting author Isabel Wilkerson this summer, “And so she reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, can we collaborate on this?’ and I said, ‘Great!’ because I had been thinking about how do we get everybody in Chautauqua involved and so that was sort of the birth of that program idea that everybody in Chautauqua County is reading the same book, focused on issues of justice and inclusion. And hopefully it sparks a lot of good conversation in the community.”

Taneja said the book touches on a lot of topics that society is struggling with and the hope is that the book discussions would give space to talk about things that are difficult, “Cause a lot of times I think fear of disagreement or opposition keeps us from talking about difficult things when really if we want to move the needle forward we need to come together in the spirit of mutual understanding even if we disagree on a few things so that’s kind of the hope out of this and this book gives us the tools to do that.”

Taneja said the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System has copies of Wilkerson’s book available for those interested in taking part. People who are interested in participating in a group discussion, whether in person or online, can register at https://www.ywcajamestown.com/chqbookread. The discussions will be scheduled for May 16 through 27.

Also, Chautauqua Institution is holding a “Chautauqua County Day” on Thursday, July 21 where county residents are eligible for free admission and parking in order to attend the live lecture by author Isabel Wilkerson. That lecture will take place at 10:45 a.m. at the Amphitheater on the Chautauqua Institution grounds. Tickets for this day will be available beginning June 1 by calling the Chautauqua Institution Ticket Office at 716-357-6250. Free parking is only available with ticket orders made by July 11.

Jamestown Public Schools

As the Coordinator of Extended Learning, Mrs. Penhollow will be responsible for the development, coordinating, and monitoring of grant writing and leading the programs associated with these grants. Mrs. Penhollow will also be responsible for developing partnerships with parents, community leaders and organizations and coordinating, scheduling, and managing after school programming and other extended learning activities.

Mrs. Penhollow has 14 years of educational experience. She most recently worked at Washington Middle School as a Spanish teacher. Mrs. Penhollow attended Alfred University receiving a degree in Spanish with a minor in Education. She received her master’s degree at SUNY Albany in General Education Studies and is currently working on her School District Leader and School Building Leader certifications at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester with a completion date in August 2021.

Mrs. Penhollow lives in Jamestown with her husband Brad and their two children, Jace and Ryan.

YWCA Executive Director Amanda Gesing said this year’s event addresses racism as a public health crisis,

“And what we’re doing this year is sending out an invitation for all community organizations, community individuals, businesses, ally groups and others to join us in the fight for justice to address the effect of policies, practices, enforcement, and education that disproportionately impacts the Black and Brown communities.”

Gesing said they’re asking people to gather outside at 3:00 p.m. on April 23rd to show their support against racism,

“Once there, we’re asking you to obviously follow COVID guidelines and socially distance, wear your mask, take some pictures, and send them to us. And we’ll make a video montage of all the pictures showing everyone just how welcoming the Jamestown community is.”

Gesing said “Stand Up Against Racism” is a national YWCA event, with the local YW’s mission to eliminate racism and empower women,

“But here locally, I just think it’s great to show our support and it’s very important we get together as a community to show our support for our Black and Brown community members and really just provide everyone with the information and knowledge that racism does still exist but that we’re going to do what we can to combat that.”

Gesing said yard signs for the event and some other items can be found at www.ywcajamestown.com.

They are Monika Alch, Arts/Culture; Dr. Jacqueline Crisman, Science/Technology; Shane Hawkins, Unsung Hero; Jacqueline Chiarot Phelps, Leader of the Future; and Amanda Gesing, Education/Training/Professional Development.

They will be recognized on Tuesday, June 16, at Moonbrook Country Club. Reservations can be made by calling 488-2237. The RSVP deadline is June 10.