Presentations

On May 21st, Stephen Menendian presented the book Belonging Without Othering to the Berkeley Rotary Club. Download a copy of his slides here.

Equity-centered data is the foundation for creating a more inclusive and just society, ensuring that data collection, analysis, and decision-making processes include the needs of historically marginalized groups when setting goals for strong and inclusive communities.

Stephen Menendian presented at the Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California annual fair housing conference on April 23, 2024 as a keynote speaker. He presented on recent racial demographic data, patterns of racial residential segregation, and...

Stephen presented at the Housing Works Austin Summit on Housing and Regional Affordability on April 11th, 2025. Stephen was on a panel that discussed the need for regional approaches and the costs and problems of continued municipal fragmentation...

On January 22, 2025, john spoke at the NorthSound ACH 2025 Partner Convening about the importance of bridging to belonging, in times of crisis and in times of collaboration. Bridging is applied in the context of relationships and groups of people...

On November 12, 2024, john powell gave a keynote speech at the Nonviolence Factory about how othering and belonging relates to their organizing work. The audience consisted of fifty-five human rights activists involved in speaking out against authoritarianism from around the Euro-mediterranean region.

On November 13th, 2024, john powell spoke at a forum hosted by UNESCO and Novact in Barcelona. john provided the audience with a primer on belonging and othering.

On October 5, 2024, john powell gave the keynote speech at the 2024 Black Tech Saturday summit in Detroit, which was attended by minorities in the tech space.

On September 25th, john gave the keynote address at Forefront Annual Summit. Forefront is a statewide association that represents Illinois’ grant-makers, non-profits, as well as their advisors and allies. john touched on topics of othering and...

On the 3rd September, john gave the keynote presentation at an event organised by the Greater Good Science Center, in collaboration with the Sacramento County office of Education and UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. john spoke of the...

On June 26th, john powell was the keynote speaker at the National League of City’s National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO) Summer Conference. He discussed how othering, belonging, and targeted universalism relates to Black...

On June 20, 2024 OBI director john a. powell gave the George H. Frederickson Lecture at the National Academy of Public Administration’s 2024 Social Equity Leadership Conference in Stamford, Connecticut. In light of recent attacks on DEI initiatives...

OBI director john a. powell was the keynote speaker for the launch of Belonging Colorado, an bold statewide initiative that aims to bring together Coloradans across lines of difference in order to foster greater belonging across the state so that all...

john was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Equity Summit for the Municipal Management Association of Northern California. The event centered on Equitable Representation, and how to advance BIPOC Leadership in local government. john focused on the...

On February 14, Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) Director john a. powell guided attendees from the UC Davis Health and the MIND Institute through a conversation on OBI's frameworks. The presentation gave attendees a comprehensive understanding of...