2017 Schedule
Fri, September 15
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9:30am
Registration / Nossa Familia coffee station open
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10:00am
Welcome announcements
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10:30am
“So Do You Want To Fight or Nah?”—Identity Rage, Performance, and the Shaky Ground Keynote
It's not all pretty but it can be beautiful. There's no escaping that what spurs a lot of our work in social change is violent injustice and trauma. How do we express our hurt, do our work, without forgetting to take care of ourselves, avoiding the realities of where we began, or limiting the possibilities of where we can go?
CW: Sexism, racism, trauma and corresponding discussion of lived experiences, loud background musicSydette Harry -
11:00am
What Do Second Chances Look Like?
Having a criminal record adds a stigma to the rest of your life, even long after you've paid your dues. How can a policy be considered a “win” if it doesn't work for the people it's supposed to help? This is a talk on how technology can be used to implement effective policy and a behind-the-scenes look at Clear My Record, which detangles the process of clearing one's record in California so that anyone with a criminal record can get the opportunities and employment they deserve.
Jazmyn Latimer -
11:20am
Short break / Attendee Spotlight signups open
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11:40am
Direct Donation Models (Or How to Give Away Other People's Money)
After the election, I read a number of articles urging trans people to update their passports and other documentation to match their gender in case it became more difficult. Inspired by the Human Utility, I created the Trans Documentation Project, which used direct donations (in effect, small-scale wealth redistribution) to fund documentation. In three months, I gave away about $95,000 of other people’s money to trans people who needed to update the gender markers or name on their documentation. I'll talk about what worked, what I might change if I did it all over again, how dealing with concerns about shame drove a lot of my messaging choices, and finally, how to practice kindness to both others and yourself by ending things when you run out of steam.
Kendra Albert -
12:00pm
Lunch break
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1:30pm
Attendee Spotlight
We want to shine the spotlight on you, fellow attendees! If you'd like to share a 5-min story about your work or experiences in social change, you can sign up on the day of (via Twitter or onsite) and take the stage (first come, first serve).
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2:00pm
A Primer: Disability Justice In the Age of Mass Incarceration
People with disabilities represent the largest minority population in our jails and prisons. Disabled people are disproportionately represented in cases of police violence; school suspensions and expulsions; the foster "care" system; and in economically distressed communities. Yet, advocates rarely view the crisis of mass incarceration through a disability justice lens or approach decarceration advocacy with an intersectional framework. This talk will provide an overview of disability justice principles and practice; and explore the nexus between race, class, disability and structural inequality, focusing in particular, on people with multiple marginalized identities.
Talila “TL” Lewis -
2:30pm
Half-hour break
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3:00pm
A Journey to #DisabledAndCute: On Representation, Self Love, Self Care, and What's Next
#DisabledAndCute went viral in February, but before that, it took awhile to get to a place where I could celebrate myself in this way. I always believed that movements develop over weeks and years, so I was lucky that mine began taking off in a couple of days. When able-bodied people refer to us as cute, it's belittling. In reclaiming the word, I want to emphasize the importance of giving representation to people with disabilities and remind everyone that there's room to be proud of their full identity.
Keah Brown -
3:20pm
Representation and Storytelling in Suicide Prevention and Mental Health
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, with roughly forty thousand people dying by suicide a year. Sharing stories of hope and recovery from survivors has been proven to help at-risk individuals. But how do we ensure a diversity of voices and identities in the mental health stories and messaging we share? I'll dive into this question by examining the unique intersection of my work in Communications with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, my experiences as a secretly suicidal Asian-American woman, and what we know about the impact of storytelling on mental health.
CW: Discussion of suicide ideationFrances Gonzalez -
3:40pm
Short break
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4:00pm
Hacking Liberation: Building Safe Platforms for All Genders
Working on a dating app for queer people of all genders means taking on the various challenges of developing a product for a community in need of a safe space. There are issues of safety, security, and culture. As a black queer developer creating Thurst, I'll give folks some resources on how to make their platforms, companies, and spaces more inclusive to all genders while being mindful of the limitations of tech.
Morgen Bromell -
4:20pm
End of day announcements
Sat, September 16
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morning
Group volunteering (off-site)
Choose from one of three projects to jump directly into action.
- Venue: OMSI (carpool available) 9am - 12pm: CymaSpace needs some extra hands to create LED art that’s inclusive of Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks. Volunteering will be Deaf-friendly, with ASL interpreters on hand!
- Venue: Tech Academy 9:30am - 12:30pm: Did you attend Code for Good earlier this year or just want to get into open-source contributing? Bring your laptop (and charger) and prepare to dive in.
- Venue: NedSpace (accessible entrance through parking structure on SW Broadway) 10am - 12pm: Hands On Greater Portland is inviting us to make personalized greeting cards for seniors and homebound individuals served by Meals on Wheels and Lift Urban Portland. Card making materials will be provided.
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1:00pm
Doors open / Olé Latte coffee time
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1:30pm
Welcome back announcements
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1:40pm
We Read Too: Creating a Central Resource for Books by PoC
In 2016, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin determined that 12% of children’s books were written or illustrated by people of color. Since I was a little girl, I’ve been an avid reader, but as a teenager, I began to realize that a lot of books didn’t have characters that looked like me. After learning to code in 2013, I created We Read Too to be a free central resource that celebrates and highlights characters of color written by authors of color.
Kaya Thomas -
2:00pm
Voting Machines and a Road to Accidental Activism
After the 2016 Presidential Election, the technology industry sought technological explanations—and in some case hopeful solutions—to a political situation. At one point, I embarked on a small journey to understand the process of voting machine software quality control. Right now, voting machine certification is on a state-by-state basis and machines are only tested against ~100 ballots. Knowing where to find relevant data sent me down the path to becoming an accidental activist with an unusual tendency to end up in the newspaper. This talk will explore that journey, without losing focus on the issue that started it all.
CW: Political discussions, violent images (including Nazi and KKK imagery)Emily Gorcenski -
2:30pm
Half-hour break
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3:00pm
Tech For Active Resistance: 5 Calls
Silicon Valley types too often approach non-technical problems with solutions that are exclusively technical, ignoring the expertise of others established in the space. One of the most critical pieces of information we learned about during work on the Clinton campaign was the actual impact of phone calls. It's generally understood that making phone calls is a pain, but what if it turns out to be the best way to achieve your goals? This talk will cover the inception of popular app 5 Calls and how we're letting tech enable the interactions that create progressive change without turning the project into tech for tech's sake.
Nick O’Neill -
3:30pm
Feeding Social Justice to the Masses: the Racist Sandwich Podcast
Applying critical analysis to food is essential to understanding and framing “big picture” ideas about white supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchy. So many people feel gaslighted by mainstream food media, which paints their cultures/experiences as “other” and in need of interpretation by tour guides. We wanted to create an accessible starting point for the difficult but important conversations about the discourse that affects our daily lives, and thus Racist Sandwich was born.
CW: Discussion of racism, xenophobia, and immigrationJuan Ramirez -
3:50pm
Short break
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4:00pm
Small Media and the Possibilities of Conversation Keynote
I started a movie podcast called No, Totally! with a friend in 2013, when I was the kind of jerk who probably wouldn’t have an issue with people saying, “all lives matter.” Four years later, my life and mindset are unrecognizable. What started as a simple urge to understand became a sense of obligation to affect change, as producing the podcast shaped my politics, affected my financial stability, and ultimately created opportunities for big conversations.
Shaun Lau -
4:30pm
Closing remarks