Seattle Human Rights Day 2024: Beyond Barriers
Disclaimer:
Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Bridge educational divides within our community by connecting attendees to local resources and programs in this community-focused event.
Topics Covered: Women Empowerment, Youth Education, Equity, Activism, Personal Development, Professionalism, Community Investment
Conference Overall Ratings: Venue (4/5) - Food (5/5) - Speaker Content (3/5) - Networking Opportunity (2/5) - Likeliness to Return (3/5) —- more details below
Initial Conference Thoughts - Why Attend? This event has lots of great sponsors and partners attending. It seems like you’ll be able to learn a whole lot in a condensed amount of time. I’d like to learn more about what different organizations are working on - and - who they are looking to partner with. Seems like a good market research opportunity for the education industry and beyond.
Photo Collage & Commentary
Notes from Conference—
I like how I was greated with a very genuine, “thanks for being here”, by the greeters, after signing in and walking into the event.
Equity is an Investment
View “equity” as an investment—you get back what you put in.
Give people what they need to thrive.
Be co-creators in shaping what this community will look like moving forward. Recognize what you bring to the community. You are a reflection of the community you serve.
At first, I’m like “am I?” But, i’s true, especially when you’re loud—like loudly representing small groups, like I am with often speaking up for the apes/retail investing community.
As you’re setting the table for others, set the table for yourself as well.
Don’t limit yourself because of a framed narrative you have of yourself.
You must work to see the humanity in each other, from rising up to laying down.
Walk with strength, recognizing that your personal power is enough.
How do you choose to be here for one another?
See that you are in need of the same service you’re providing for others.
Take care of yourself unapologetically.
Don’t die on the vine.
We can be in relationships that don’t serve us.
Recognize who you are and how you show up.
Ask the right questions to get the right answers.
Learn the art of asking questions.
Be mindful of yourself and your worth. You’re not invisible where you live, work, or spend time. You are a whole human.
“Round Robin” Section Notes Explanation & Feedback (a little lengthy below in purple)
The event used a "round robin" presentation format for the rest of the time, which was an interesting approach… though perhaps not as engaging as it could have been. While some speakers directly referenced to their promotional materials for their entire talks, there might have been an opportunity for more dynamic interaction - perhaps through a panel format with a host interviewing groups of 3-4 participants on stage at a time. Then, special presentations, like the women's rights speaker from Iran with her music video and the high school entrepreneurs' video presentation, could be separate presentations on their own… (or they could join in both). This may have added valuable variety to the program experience - maybe they can try next year.
Some observations about the setup:
The transitions between speakers took some time, which is natural with over 10 presenting groups. The varied presentation lengths, from brief introductions to longer talks, created an interesting but somewhat uneven flow.
The timing of the networking portion could be adjusted. The sponsors and presenters, including young entrepreneurs, gave great introductions during the round robin, but there wasn't much opportunity to connect with them or buy their products afterward since they packed up almost immediately..
The venue setup was functional but could be enhanced:
There were about 20 fold-out chairs available and they were right up by the stage, then the vendors were in the middle of the audience with open space behind it, yet that was meant for people to walk through
Vendor tables lined the room's perimeter
The lighting was bright and professional, though perhaps not ideal for leaving on during presentations and playing videos
Ideas for future events:
Consider incorporating panel discussions with represenatives of the vendors to encourage more conversation
Plan for some networking time after the formal program so that people can talk more and even plan a few collaborations
Consider ending with a social component, perhaps featuring music in the venue and socializing
Adjust the room layout to create a more inviting atmosphere, with more seats and better layouts for listening
Include dedicated time for attendees to connect with presenters, either with more short breaks or the socializing after
These adjustments could help build on the event's strengths while creating an even more engaging experience for both presenters and attendees. The core concept of showcasing these organizations and initiatives is solid, and with a few tweaks, it could be even more impactful. Okay - back to the notes! 📝😁
Support Our Youth & Vice Versa
Support youth and guide them with opportunities.
Become active in your activism. Be active in this world—don’t be a bystander.
Young people (especially Black, Brown, Asian, and people of color): You are amazing. There are no limits to what we can accomplish together.
Sometimes changing the world means changing our own world.
Recognize your value.
Your worth is in your community, your home, and your places.
Together, we make the world a better place.
Young Entrepreneurs’ Project (YEP):
High school program for students to learn how to build their own businesses, meeting twice a week in high school:
Designing clothes, creating music, and producing video content, etc.
Mock interviews with Amazon and Seattle Venture Partners.
Mission: Cultivate a safe space where students can think differently.
Creative jobs like graphic design matter—if it doesn’t look good, no one will come or buy it.
Trades are making a comeback for kids who may not choose college. Hard work is the real bag.
Yes. This is so true and I’m hearing it everywhere. Trades are thriving and make up a lot of our state’s economy. I believe this will only continue to grow as popular becomes more and more discredited by the younger generations.
YEP is a “real-time dream.” These kids are living it. So far 71 kids have completed the class and graduated.
Mission is to cultivate a safe space where students can think differently. Awareness and exposure to nontraditional STEM paths.
Don’t see creative jobs as careers? Graphic design: if it doesn’t look good, no one will come to your things. If it doesn’t look good, no one will buy it.
When is the last time someone wanted to use a sewing machine? We’re making it cool. You can feel safe to be cool again. Creating opportunity.
Sometimes college is not an option. Forget about the scholarship: is someone equip to handle college? It’s okay if no, they can still have a great successful life with trades. The trades are coming back. This is a ways for students who aren’t very good at chemistry, whatever — kids who are good at hands, learning, and want to make money.
The experience to get up, set your stuff up. No one is buying anything? T hat’s not what it’s about.
The school district has boundaries on what you can do as a schoolteacher. Now, as a nonprofit, we can maneuver within these walls to better serve students.
High School Lobbying Club / WA Youth Alliance:
Students focused on advocacy and leadership—run for youth, by youth.
They talk to legislature as lobbyists and focus on issues like mental health and gun violence prevention.
Lobby day: youth can be involved during legislative selection — take to legislature in Olympia, fully paid for housing and food
Youth wanting more leadership, programs provide an opportunity to start a community in their chapter
Stipend sent to work in their communities
Talk to school boards or principals about the issues they see in their schools and communities
Iran Women Institute for Life and Liberty:
Some facts they shared:
Only 45 years ago, women had similar rights to men in Iran. Then, the 1979 uprising was meant to bring democracy and instead turned into an authoritarian regime.
Girls can be married off as young as 13.
Women can not get divorced, even in abusive relationships.
LGBTQ is punishable by death. Kissing is punishable by death.
Insurance only pays half to women what it would in the same situations to men.
Two years ago, people came to the streets after a 22 year old was beat to death for some of her hair sticking out of her scarf, when visiting the capital, Tehran. “Women, life, freedom” people chanted on the streets for months in rebellion.
Currently there is gender apartheid.
They are trying to raise awareness that no one should be a second-class citizen on this earth. This should be a universal world agreement. But instead, civil disobedience continues in Iran.
Iran holds the largest number of executions per capital in the word. Every six to eight hours someone is executed.
Of the 85M people living in Iran, the average age is only 30 years old.
Seattle Women’s Commission
Focused on making Seattle better, safer, and more equitable for women.
Stopping gender-based violence, addressing reproductive issues, and housing
Advisor mayor, city council, etc on things that matter to women in the area.
Incarcerated Black Men Nonprofit:
Lack of education in prisons is a huge issue.
Volunteers are needed to host classes in prisons.
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world
The lack of education really effects Washington
Inmates who are about to be released are the only ones who get time to spend learning and educating themselves. The rest of the inmates have no access to education.
Long-term inmates have an extreme lack of opportunity for education. Many just spend their days with no direction, doing drugs, bored, gambling, and fighting.
Without education, they are more likely to fall back into patterns of bad behaviors.
YMCA Social Impact Center
Lately working on housing programs, employee training, counseling center
Swim and gym centers for healthy lifestyle
Group classes, childcare,
They work hard to connect you with the resources you need. So that you have help with the things you need help with. .
Conference “Overall Rating” Further Elaboration:
- - - - - - Conference Overall Ratings: Venue (4/5) - Food (5/5) - Speaker Content (3/5) - Networking Opportunity (2/5) - Likeliness to Return (3/5) —- more details below
- - - - - - Conference Overall Ratings: Venue (4/5) - Food (5/5) - Speaker Content (3/5) - Networking Opportunity (2/5) - Likeliness to Return (3/5) —- more details below
VENUE - 4/5
Allow Me to Elaborate: This place was not set up well for hosting presentations, yet over half the event was planned presentations. I like how it’s a concert venue/nonprofit right next to the huge arena, but I also felt the decorations were very unsettling. It was very “trippy”… and for an “all ages” venue, it feels like a place you’d get peer pressured to experiment. I mean, if you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna do it - but this environment had warped colors, mushrooms, pictures of a guy eating an elephant’s ear on the wall… I am just like… uh, okay. That’s more “over 18” if you ask me. I feel like “all ages” could just have nice colors and geometric shapes or something a little less like psychadelic taking over the entire environment.
FOOD - 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: What a nice surprise to get such an extensive meal! I ate three plates!! (But I hardly had dinner last night and no breakfast/lunch yet today. So, I was really ready for it.). They had samosas, veggies, and fruit which I had so much of. It was extremely good and Jamaican cuisine. But I’m curious where this funding came from. Maybe the vendors paid to have booths? This is a nonprofit in a SERIOUSLY prime location of downtown Seattle. IDK how they can afford this rent! But probably they have a lot of concerts. It would be fun to check out.
SPEAKER CONTENT - 3/5
Room for Improvement: Though one of the opening speeches was incredible, there were not a lot of chairs for people to watch the presetnatoints, so not many people stayed to watch them all. The “round robin” format of everyone giving a short speech for 1-10 minutes actually didn’t seem to be an efficient use of time, either. I would have loved to see representative from each group, maybe 3-4 at a time, each answering questions and sharing. This could have been broken up, with certain groups (maybe the ones with multimedia) giving their presentations separately… tehn let the others join a discussion panel. In this current setup, if each of the 10+ vendors takes 1 minute to get on stage and another to get off/transition, that’s 10-20 minutes of this short hour spent on transitions. I’d like to see that time spent sharing knowledge and info! These are groups I’d like to hear more from in the future.
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES - 2/5
Room for Improvement: The rooms had it so you could talk to vendors, but also the logistics weren’t that great. You could talk to people, but at the same time, most of the places to stand around were like “walking area”. I think they could have rearranged some of the vendors, or put the food more in the venue area and then the chairs over there too. It was just a bit inefficient and there wasn’t much of a way/time to meet anyone else there effortlessly, without interrupting something, starting conversation out of the blue by the food, or really going out of your way to talk with someone. It was easy to meet no one (outside of vendors) at this event haha.
LIKELINESS TO RETURN - 4/5
Room for Improvement: I think I’d like to return to this venue in the future, and this event I’d give another try too. The food was good and the vendors were interesting. It was nice to learn about and nice to have them all here at this location. It related a lot to the industries I work with, so hopefully we can be helpful for each other. I’d like to see them provide even more content and inspirational information at their future events - but on my way out the door, I heard them say they’re sending out a follow up survey asking for feedback. So it’s good to see they want to make it better every year! 😁
Kelly’s Remaining Questions:
How often is this venue having concerts?
What other types of events do they do?
Are kids allowed to come here on school nights? (lol) - how much attendance are they getting?
What types of workshops are they hosting?
Who put together this event and what were their goals from it? What were they hoping for as the takeaways?
Who was the intended audience of this event?
How would they add to this event, if, let’s say, they turned it into a six hour event?
How do we make it more efficient and easy for people in this area to realize all of the opportunities and communities that are a great fit for them, and could really help them flourish? How do we spread this awareness and matchmaking?
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
