InterAction Diversity Conference

AED Hosts Conference on Diversity

The first InterAction Diversity Conference was held October 4-5 in Washington, D.C. at the AED Conference Center. The theme of the gathering was "Ensuring Effectiveness through Inclusion."

Attendees had the opportunity to participate in nearly 20 sessions designed to help them integrate diversity within their organizations and increase personal knowledge of diversity issues.

Pamela Paul, vice president and director of Professional Development and Diversity at AED, was very involved in planning the conference.

"We not only wanted to share best practices," said Paul, "we also wanted to give participants time to explore some dimensions of diversity in detail through indepth, interactive workshops.

AED Chief Operating Officer Jack Downey welcomed the group and saluted InterAction for offering humanitarian and development assistance professionals the opportunity to become more diversity competent.

InterAction Vice President Ken Giunta and Director of Gender and Diversity Suzanne Kindervatter spoke about InterAction’s diversity initiative.

Speakers included Julius Coles, President, Africare; Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee; Arunabha Ghosh, Advisor, UNDP; Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, and Wilfredo Sauri, Director of Diversity Recruitment, Peace Corps.

Presentations made by AED executives at the conference included:

"Incorporating Diversity Into Organizational Functioning: Lessons from AED" – Pamela Paul and Mark Ketcham, vice president and director of the AED Center for International Training;

"How to Handle Harassment Incidents" – Ricardo Villeta, senior vice president and chief management officer, AED;
"Diversity, Recruitment and Retention" – Wendy Pobanz, vice president and director of Human Resources, and Karen Nicholson, manager of Human Resources; and

"The Organizational Imperative for Diversity: The Community We Work In!" -- Pamela Paul, Philip Hesser, senior program officer, AED, and Monica Hawkins with Diversity Best Practices.

For the full conference agenda click here.