2025 MLK Transformational Leadership & Service Conference Schedule

Angelica Smith, Director of the Unity Center & Multicultural Affairs at Marian University

This interactive session explores the multifaceted barriers that college students encounter on their journey toward self-alignment. Delving into external pressures, fears, and internal challenges, the session offers insights into the complexities of maintaining authenticity in the face of societal expectations. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of the impact of comparison, competition, and self-esteem on their ability to align personal goals with genuine aspirations. Practical strategies for overcoming these barriers, including self-awareness practices, goal-setting techniques, and boundary establishment, will be discussed. By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with valuable tools to navigate the path to self-alignment, fostering personal growth, and enhancing overall well-being during their college experience.

Charla Yearwood, MSSW, LCSW, Founder and Clinical Director of Connected in Community

In our quest for creating a more equitable society, we are often trapped into a habit of centering the dominant, oppressive group, to learn about the needs of the marginalized, oppressed group. This leads to benevolent initiatives aimed at addressing the “needs of the marginalized.” While well intentioned, this framework cannot bring about equity because it maintains existing power structures. Instead, we need to wrestle with the understanding that the only thing marginalized and oppressed people need from their oppressor is for their oppressor to stop marginalizing and oppressing them. In this presentation, we will grow in our understanding of why we must engage in personal reflection to recognize false ideologies we are carrying into the world and doing the work of healing from narratives that are used to maintain oppressive power structures.

Korie Griggs, Writer & Sarah Jené, Artist

Confronting Ourselves is an interactive session where we will explore how to reach our core truths and how they correlate to how we grieve ourselves. Presenters will be leading participants through an interactive session of the journey of confronting ourselves in four parts: Self Assessment, Confronting Ourselves, Cognitive Reframing and Thought Analysis.