4.8.19
8:30am-4:30pm
The Dearborn
Donate: @TagBoston (Venmo) 
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2019 Speakers
Organizing to address gentrification and school closures in Boston & Beyond

Morning Keynote
​Lisa Owens
​Executive Director, City Life/Vida Urbana

​Lisa Owens is the Executive Director at City Life/Vida Urbana: a grassroots community organization committed to fighting for racial, social and economic justice and gender equality by building working class power. They promote individual empowerment, develop community leaders and build collective power to effect systemic change and transform society.

Afternoon Panel

Neema Avashia, Teacher Organizer

Neema Avashia has been teaching at the McCormack Middle School since 2003. She is passionate about teaching Civics, pickling, and keeping the McCormack open and thriving. Outside of school, Avashia is working on a collection of essays about her experience growing up in rural West Virginia.

David Venter, Parent Organizer

David Venter, an entrepreneur and marketing professional in Boston, and a proud dad of a special needs tween in the Boston Public School System. He is passionate about advocating for his son’s education and his bakery, Sweet Tooth Boston that he co-owns with a business partner, in Southie.

Catari Giglio, Student Organizer

Born in Florence, Italy. Catari Giglio throughout her life has lived in Italy, Chile, Miami, and here in Boston, Massachusetts. She’s currently an 11th grader at West Roxbury Academy and fought for BPS not to close the WREC by going to all the school board meetings and standing up for herself and her fellow classmates. Although she dedicated her time to fight for her school, she’s still a normal teen girl that struggles with the same problems any other teen would. 

Nino Brown, Teacher Organizer

Nino Brown is a BPS educator, a Boston Teachers Union representative, and an active participant of the the Dorchester Not 4 Sale campaign: working alongside other Dorchester residents and community organizations to make sure that #PlanGlovers does not displace any current residents,  leads to higher incomes, protects the ethnic and cultural enclaves in Dot, improves community safety and quality of life for all, and centers those most impacted. Nino is also an organizer with the A.N.S.W.E.R. [Act Not to Stop War and End Racism] coalition and has organized against U.S. militarism and racism at home and abroad.

Carolyn Chou
​Executive Director of AARW

Carolyn Chou is a queer, mixed-race, Chinese American organizer, living and working in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Carolyn is currently the Executive Director of the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), where she supports the leadership development and organizing around issues of racial, economic, and social justice of a diverse base of progressive Asian Americans, primarily young adults. Before AARW, Carolyn worked with recent immigrant youth in Dorchester through the Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard College, where she worked with other college students to support community-based programming and develop their social justice leadership skills. 

Conference Schedule

Saturday April 6th, 2019 

8:30-9:15        Breakfast, Registration &                                    Resource Fair
9:15-10:15       Welcome & Keynote
10:30-11:45     Workshop Session 1
11:45-12:30     Lunch & Resource Fair
12:30-1:45       Workshop Session 2
2:00-3:00       Panel
3:00-3:45        Action Organizing Breakouts
3:45-4:30        Student Performances

Dearborn STEM Academy
36 Winthrop St
Boston, MA 02119

Directions & Parking 
Conference attendees are strongly encouraged to walk or take public transit if possible, due to limited parking availability in the area. The Dearborn is a 10 minute walk from Dudley Station, accessible by bus and silver line. There is some street parking available on streets surrounding the school. Please be mindful of signs; regular parking limitations are in effect on Saturdays.

There is also limited parking (first-come-first-serve) available in the school parking lot off of Kearsarge Avenue behind the school. This is likely to fill up quickly, so come early if that's your plan!

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Gallery Photos from Previous Years