ASPIRE Speaker Series — Dr. Sara Furr
The ASPIRE Racial Equity and Inclusion Speaker Series continued in May with a workshop led by Dr. Sara Furr, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at The Field Museum. Dr. Furr’s workshop, Social Justice Fatigue and Wellness Interventions for Practitioners, asked those participating in the ASPIRE Project to examine their practice of self-reflection and self-care as practitioners of social justice. By the end of the workshop, participants walked away with tools, such as a wellness intervention plan, that can be utilized in overcoming social justice fatigue while improving institutional productivity.
As the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at The Field Museum, Dr. Furr develops, directs, and evaluates the impact of the Field’s diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion strategies and practices. Dr. Furr is also the Founder and CEO of Mayari Coaching and Consulting, a consulting and coaching company that embodies an identity conscious approach to our work and situates growth and development within the context of larger systems of privilege and oppression. Dr. Furr most recently served as the Dean of Students, Inclusion and Equity at The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at The University of Chicago. Over the past 20 years as a professional in Student Affairs, Dr. Furr has been actively engaged in all aspects of college life and has specifically led and served in the functional areas of residential life and housing operations; multicultural affairs and intercultural development; and student conduct. She has always remained passionate about social justice education and helping students become agents of change.
The creation of the Accelerating Student Progress and Increasing Racial Equity (ASPIRE) project was in response to the Developmental Education Reform Act (DERA) which aims to address inequities in college completion among students of color and first-generation students. Passed in March 2021, the act requires public colleges in Illinois to reform their developmental education (dev ed) programs — the introductory math and English classes students may need to improve their skills, before they can take a college-level math or English class — so that students can enter a credit-bearing, college-level math or English course by their second semester.
To read our refresher on the ASPIRE Project, click here.
