Embracing Community: Empowering Our Dialogue, Deepening Our Understanding
After Empowering Our Mission Through a Year of Learning, the City’s Embrace Naperville has evolved into Embracing Community: Empowering Our Dialogue, Deepening Our Understanding. In 2024, the City will present a series of "Inclusive Community Conversations," led by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager Dr. Geneace Williams, in partnership with other community organizations that share the goal of building a community where all feel a sense of value and belonging. Building upon the work already accomplished, this series will foster deeper dialogue and understanding as we continue to advance the City’s mission of creating an inclusive community that values diversity, and furthering the values of People, Respect, Trust, and Pride.
The series began during Women’s History Month with an empowering panel discussion. Future events will include storytelling and opportunities for the community to participate in intentional, respectful and ongoing dialogue to deepen understanding, while fostering inclusion among generations, cultures, and those with diverse perspectives across our increasingly diverse community. Join us as we leverage the power of understanding to embrace community — individually and collectively.
Embracing Our Future
Learn more about how the City and its partners – including the next generation of leaders – have been sharing diversity, equity, and inclusion messages. All are invited and encouraged to share in these important efforts as they move forward.
Upcoming Events
Human Library®
People with diverse life experiences will serve as human books who can be “checked out” for conversation during a Human Library® program hosted in partnership by the City of Naperville, Naperville Public Library and Naper Pride. Attendees are invited to participate between the hours of 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, at the 95th Street Library, 3015 Cedar Glade Dr.
Registration is encouraged by visiting our Human Library® registration page.
Created by a Denmark-based nonprofit, the Human Library® concept is to create a safe platform for personal conversations that can help to challenge prejudice and discrimination, prevent conflicts, and contribute to greater cohesion across social, religious and ethnic divisions. During Human Library® events, people, rather than books, are on loan for conversations. Topics might include disability, ethnicity, gender and sex, health, ideology, lifestyle, mental health, occupation, religion and sexuality. Human books share stories of their lived experiences, while attendees are encouraged to ask questions. For more information about the Human Library®, please visit humanlibrary.org.
(To view a text-only webpage with the below flyer information, please click here.)
