Past Events from Social Action Works

2021-2022

October 21, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific time)

Lorenzo is a NYC-based Trans*queer artist, activist, & educator who promotes "Queer Art for Queer Liberation." Lorenzo is the author of "Representational Refusal and the Embodiment of Gender Abolition," (GLQ, 2022), a 2020 Bronx Museum Fellow, and has artwork featured as part of the permanent collections of the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR) and Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, IL). A full-time Instructor of Photography at Oregon State (Ecampus), Lorenzo will talk about carving pathways that support your passion for creativity and commitment to social justice.

November 4, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific time)

Indie author and founder of author imprint, Starr Creek Press, Julie is committed to producing quality books that transcend genre and age categories. Winner of the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award, acknowledging excellence in books produced by small, independent and academic presses. Join Julie for a conversation about the evolving world of self-publishing, how it differs from traditional publication, and what it’s like to create a dedicated readership, focused on your voice and unique place in the literary landscape. 

November 10, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific time)

Raquel is a Black transgender activist, writer, and media strategist. Raquel has held impactful positions as Director of Communications for The Ms. Foundation, Executive Editor of Out magazine, and a national organizer for Transgender Law Center (TLC).In 2018, she founded Black Trans Circles, a project of TLC, focused on developing the leadership of Black trans women in the South and Midwest. Raquel is currently working on her debut memoir detailing her coming of identity and activism. 

2020-2021

LANAYA IRVIN
President, COQUAL, NYC

Currency of Authenticity: Identity in Professional Spaces
Oct. 29, 2020 at 3:30 p.m.

“Having worked as a black, female-bodied, out LGBT leader on Wall Street, I know firsthand what it’s like to be discounted despite the access and privilege I may have. I’ve experienced micro-aggressions in the workplace, told I’m articulate or asked if I can speak articulately to a client. I’ve experienced the males in the room only addressing the cis-gendered white men on the other side of the table, even if it was my meeting or if I was the most senior banker present. Talking about race at work requires leaders who commit to addressing bias and understanding the dynamics at play within their own work environment. That’s a really challenging part of the work, but it’s critical. You have to look inward and diagnose some cultural weaknesses.”
    - Lanaya Irvin

MIKE MURAWSKI 

Transforming Museum Culture: Reinventing our Institutions and Ourselves
Oct. 22, 2020 at 4:00p.m. (Virtual Event)

Independent consultant, change leader, author and illustrator.

“I have been thinking a lot recently about my own ancestors, but also all of the individuals and communities that have acted as guides for where I stand in life right now. As a white, cisgender male, I think I was taught a very individualistic and narrow idea of ‘success’ growing up; yet I’ve always had trouble behaving according to those rules and following that path. Throughout my education and professional work, I have walked in those creative spaces between traditional disciplines and rigidly-defined areas of teaching or museum practice.”
    - Mike Murawski

Celebrate the launch of Social Action Works

October 8, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
Open to all OSU students

Learn more about SAW’s Communities of Purpose, a help design a space for students in the liberal arts to share conversations, collaborate and envision professional and leadership roles that combine their fields of study with their energy and passion to advance social change.

COMMUNITY NETWORKS OF CARE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

With the Community Doula Program and partners

February 4, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. (PST) (Virtual Event)
Free and open to all

The Community Doula Program provides culturally, socially, and linguistically matched doula care to Medicaid-eligible families in Oregon. The program has trained over 100 doulas since 2018, supporting them to become Traditional Health Workers on the state registry. Community doulas have served over 200 families, and documented remarkable improvements in several health outcomes for participants in the program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDP integrated telehealth for pre- and post-natal services, while continuing to attend births in person. They also started pandemic parenting support groups offered in English and Spanish and task shifted to work as team leads for the TRACE testing program. With funding from IHN, CCO’s Delivery Systems Transformation division, the CDP is an innovative collaboration between OSU students and faculty and the larger Linn, Benton and Lincoln county communities.