Overview
We invite all to attend the 2026 Community Empowerment & Justice Symposium.
Now in its fourth year, this event will highlight explorations and experiences of challenges and opportunities, how these intersect with other asymmetries of power, and how we can work to foster greater justice.
Event Details
- Friday, April 10, 2026
- 9:00 am-3:00 pm
- Doors open at 8:30 am for guests to check in and enjoy a light breakfast
- Sheldon B. Lubar College of Business, 1st floor
- 3202 N. Maryland Avenue, Milwaukee, WI
If you have any questions, please email Dr. Jill Budny (budny@uwm.edu) or Dr. Sarah MacDonald (macdonald@uwm.edu).
Register
Keynote Speaker
Lea S. Denny, Dr. h.c.
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of the HIR Wellness Institute
Symposium Schedule
Expand each time slot for presentation details and locations. All rooms are in the Lubar College of Business, first or second floor.
Room S151
- Opening welcome
- Featured keynote speaker, Lea S. Denny, Dr. h.c., Chief Executive Officer & Founder of the HIR Wellness Institute
Room S230
- Slater Gutierrez, “After This: A New Indigenous History”
- Smriti Maskey and Ellie Oslin, “The Paradox of Choice Feminism, the Insidious Nature of White Feminism, and the Concept of the Race to Innocence: Toward Intersectional, Anti-Racist Feminism
Room S231
- Naomi Omoruyi, “When Support Doesn’t Transfer: Continuity of Student Basic Needs Support Across Institutions”
- Lexy Lunger, “Navigating Help-Seeking: A Mixed Methods Examination of Barriers and Pathways to Transgender Women’s Help-Seeking and Attainment Following Interpersonal Victimization”
Room S233
- Anna Morgan, “Remnants of Me Too: Journey of Healing After an On-Campus Sexual Assault”
Room S250
- Lilly Carrillo, “Being Latina in Mathematics: My Story and Our Work Towards Equity”
- Angela Paredes Montero, “Academic Friendship and International Research amid the Maduro Pandemic”
Room S231
- Ellyn Blakeman, “Votes, Lies, and the Law: Racially Targeted Voter Disinformation as an Equal Protection Violation”
- Elizabeth Lappano, “Creating Spaces for All: A Study on Accessibility in Theatre Experiences”
Room S233
- Alana Fisher, “Oreo: ‘Black on the Outside, White in the Inside'”
- Eve Wolf-Brown, “The Recycled Man”
Room S250
- Joseph Kaberlein, Grace Fredrick, Rebecca Konkel, and Benjamin Trager, “Experiencing Reentry: How Immersive Simulations Shape Empathy and Understanding of Post-Incarceration Barriers”
Boxed lunches will be available in the hallway outside room S151
Room S231
- Allyson Ruffino, “Socio-Economic Barriers to Health: Frequent Emergency Department Use”
- Ajeng Puspitasari, “Radical Healing in Verse: Psychological Science and Poetry as Resistance to Systemic Oppression”
Room S233
- Rukayat Goodluck, “When Language Is Mistaken for Disability”
Room S250
- Elijah Treviranus, “Culture of Resilience”
- Yinan Wang and Adrian Chan, “From Section 48 to King Drive”
Event Sponsors
