NCCJ grieves alongside the Buffalo community in the wake of the racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo.
We condemn this hateful and bigoted action fueled by violent white nationalist extremism.
We mourn the lives cut short and hope for the relief of their families and all those who were injured.
What happened in Buffalo is a tragedy.
But it’s not a surprise. Mass shootings and hate crimes are all too common in our society.
This shooting is a painful reminder that white supremacy is dangerous and often lethal. It is a toxic belief system that dehumanizes Black people and other people of color.
White supremacy also harms white people. In this case, two of the victims of this crime are white.
In a way, the shooter was also a victim. That’s because white supremacist beliefs rob people of their humanity by chipping away at their ability to feel empathy and compassion for people who look different from them.
Ultimately, racism hurts everyone. White supremacy hurts everyone. There are no victors; there are only victims.
The shooting in Buffalo is the latest example of overtly expressed hate and prejudice rooted in white supremacy. Such hate harms us all. We call on every community to denounce it, to confront it, and to root it out.
NCCJ exists to counteract bias, bigotry and racism. We are here to help you build bridges of compassion and respect with people who are different from you. We’re here to help you have the difficult but necessary conversations that help us find solutions and move our communities forward.
We offer youth and community programs for people of all ages, from teens to retirees.
You’re invited to learn more about our summer youth camps, Anytown and STARR: Students Talking About Race + Racism. Know any high schools students in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region? Talk to them about these camps and help them fill out their applications today.
You are also invited to check out the free, open-to-all community programs we offer. If you’re looking to begin or return to a social justice journey of learning (and unlearning), we encourage you to sign up for our self-paced, email-based program – The Reset.
NCCJ’s mission of fighting bias, bigotry and racism and building more inclusive and compassionate communities for all of us – not just some of us, is a big mission that takes all of us, and not just some of us, to advance.
So at last month’s Citation Award Dinner, we gave sponsoring organizations the chance to spotlight someone who has gone above and beyond to champion diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) efforts in their workplace.
(Interesting in spotlighting someone at your organization at next year’s Citation Award Dinner? Email Erika.)
Keep reading to learn more about each of these 7 champions and the work they are doing to advance DEI at the organizations that nominated them for this spotlight.
“Jessica has been critical to the launch and continued focus of our D&I journey. She is committed to working across the organization with a wide range of employees to create a diverse and inclusive workplace. She not only listens to all voices but advocates for an environment where all voices are both heard and welcome.” – David Gansberg, CEO, Arch MI
Works with our Employee Resource Groups and Employee Engagement Committee providing direction and guidance on projects, activities, membership and collaboration.
Served as the D&I liaison to the Executive Steering Committee during an interim period to ensure forward momentum.
A key source of information to our D&I key stakeholders. She ensures that information flows amongst groups and actions are coordinated.
Kiva Elliott | Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Cone Health
“Kiva is an inspirational leader who reaches across barriers of all kinds to include our people in conversations that lead to possibilities of growth, hope, and change. She has made an impact in our organization by challenging us to embrace our differences and the power they bring us.” – Dr. Mary Jo Cagle, CEO, Cone Health
Led the creation of the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Strategic Plan for Cone Health.
Positions Cone Health as an engaging and inclusive workplace for all, attracting and hiring diverse leadership.
Develops leadership that challenges bias and racism inside and outside the walls of Cone Health.
Focuses on Cone Health’s community impact by encouraging the hiring of diverse suppliers and employees.
Kevin Gray | President of the Weaver Foundation (recognized by The Cemala Foundation)
“We’re grateful to Kevin for collaborating to navigate this endeavor – engaging larger organizations; identifying the need for better coordination at the school district level; developing with schools a plan that Weaver could fund each year; enabling volunteers to free-up school employees time; encouraging innovation; and ensuring that more and more hungry students are fed.” – Susan Schwartz, Executive Director, The Cemala Foundation
Lead the Weaver Foundation board to focus on addressing food insecurity in Guilford County Schools
Co-chairs the Equity Strategies Committee of Ready for School, Ready for Life.
Worked to build an Equity Action Plan to infuse equity practices throughout the operations, governance, and programming of Ready Ready.
Dr. Andrea Hunter | UNCG Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Dr. Hunter “is a leader, collaborator, and a change agent. As UNC Greensboro’s Chancellor’s Fellow for Campus Climate, she has advanced actions, policies, and practices that have created a more equitable and inclusive campus, for which we have received national recognition and become a model on how to achieve inclusive excellence.” – Chancellor Frank Gilliam, UNCG
Collaborated with students, faculty, and staff at UNC Greensboro to develop an online Action Framework and Roadmap for Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.
Helped to create a new leadership pipeline program at UNCG to address the persistent national gap of people of color holding leadership positions in academia.
Established pathways to equity, developing anti-racist and anti-bias training opportunities, and continues to track the University’s progress toward inclusive excellence.
Rodney Meheux | Reverse Logistics Coordinator at Ralph Lauren
“As a member of Ralph Lauren, North Carolina Campus Diversity and Inclusion Council, Rodney is passionate & engaged in every meeting, event, discussion, and learning. His willingness to learn from other cultures, and be an ally to so many communities, show his authentic commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.” – Roz Frazier, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Ralph Lauren
Member of Ralph Lauren’s NC Campus Diversity and Inclusion Council and RL NC Campus Co-Lead for Ralph Lauren’s Black Advisory Council.
Member of the NC Campus Black Advocacy Advisory Government Committee
Co-project lead for RL Hispanic Heritage Month and an ally to many more communities!
Gradate of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Other Voices program
Thurmond Toland | Wells Fargo at Work Senior Program Manager
“Thurmond has been instrumental at leading our segment through our diversity journey. Thurmond speaks with candor about his life experiences and delivers in a way that empowers all of us to think differently about our actions.” – Bill Tarleton, Regional Manager for Wells Fargo at Work Atlantic
Key contributor and spokesperson in the formation of the DEI Journey Team for the Affluent and WFAW LOBs.
Lead several courageous conversations and panel discussions on the “The Racial Wealth Gap” across multiple LOBs and work groups..
Organized and facilitated a curriculum of financial wellness workshops in partnership with a local non-profit (Crosby Scholars) to plant Seeds Of Wealth and inspire long-term investment strategies for selected members of the AAMPED (African American Males Pursuing Educational Dreams) program.
Halle Vakani | Partner and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee chair at Wyrick Robbins
“All of us at Wyrick Robbins are tremendously proud of the work Halle has done to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts both in our firm and throughout our community. Her leadership as our DEI Committee Chair has brought creative programs and meaningful conversations to our firm. There is still work to be done to bring true equity to the legal profession and our broader community, but we are fortunate that our work is made a bit easier and certainly more fun because of Halle’s spirit and tenacity for change.” – Jimmy Yates, Managing Partner and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee chair at Wyrick Robbins
Partnered with NCCJ to host over half a dozen firm-wide discussions on racial equity and systemic racism
Participation in the Midsize Mansfield Rule Certification, designed to increase the number of attorneys from historically underrepresented groups working in and leading law firms.
Helped award The Wyrick Robbins Diversity Scholarship, given to a 1L law student with strong academic and professional credentials, a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and an interest in the firm’s practice areas.
Thank you to these sponsors who helped us spotlight these remarkable folks and the work they are doing every day within their organizations.
Of course, you don’t need to be an executive or work within a large company to be a leader in building more inclusive communities.
You can be a leader in creating positive change (in ways big and small) in any role, group or space you find yourself in.
NCCJ has your back. We’re here for you – and we’re here because of you. Thank you for being an ally in our mission to fight bias, bigotry and racism and build more inclusive, respectful and compassionate communities.
Interested in an NCCJ program on implicit bias or other DEI topics for your workplace or organization? Let’s talk. Email us or call 336-272-0359.
NCCJ works to build more just, inclusive and compassionate communities for all people. We oppose racism and bigotry in any form or forum, and we strive to be a useful and trusted facilitator of open and respectful dialogues that honor everyone’s experiences. Thus, we feel compelled to be true to our purpose and speak out in opposition to remarks made in recent months by our state’s lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson.
Speech that degrades and demeans an entire group of people as a foundation of its public discourse serves no good purpose. Bias and bigotry should not form the basis of our community’s reaction to social changes and new realities. Hate speech threatens our democracy, dividing us in ways that affect every aspect of our lives and can perpetuate injustice for generations. We cannot allow our elected officials – in this case, the second-highest elected official in our state – to escape our condemnation when they resort to using such demeaning speech.
The lieutenant governor’s recent homophobic and transphobic remarks are hurtful and discriminatory to people of LGBTQ+ identity, as well as to their friends and loved ones. His comments target a large number of the people he was elected to serve, representing diverse racial, religious and political constituencies. Not only do his insults hurt those directly affected, but they also poison our whole community and present North Carolina as a divided place where differences are feared.
We desire leaders who are role models of good governance and respectful behavior. It is harmful for our children to hear our elected representatives imply that they are “filthy” or suggest that books and other educational materials representing aspects of their identities be banned in schools. Such commentary harms their mental and physical safety and sends the same signal to their peers and families, fueling bullying and violence. We cannot ignore this threat to our values, and we will not accept it as a normal part of our civic dialogue. We can and should do better.
We at NCCJ cherish dialogue and facilitate discussions so we can better understand and resolve issues with compassion and treat people with respect. We invite the lieutenant governor and his supporters to meet with us; to participate in any of our adult programs; to join us in our Open Minds, Respectful Voices practices; to visit our youth programs, such as Anytown; and to attend our annual Citation Award Dinner next November at the Koury Convention Center.
There, he can witness what love and respect can sound like and connect with others who are working to heal and uplift our community. There, he can meet students with real lives and families who are profoundly affected by what he and others say and do to them. By engaging with any aspect of NCCJ’s work, he will find resources to bridge differences with positive outreach, understanding, and compassion.
Last week, we caught up with Maria Cortez-Perez (Anytown 2013.) Maria told us a bit about the refugee community organizing work she’s doing with Church World Services. We talked about her reflections on Anytown; the hard journey of coming to terms with aspects of her identity that have shaped who she is and affect how others treat her (“I didn’t fully know how to claim myself and my culture”); her struggle to pursue secondary education as an undocumented student; her dream of attending law school and working to lessen that struggle for future generations of undocumented students; and her message to you, her Triad community.
Keep reading for Maria’s story, in her own words.
“Anytown was the first step for me.”
I went to Anytown back when I was a junior – I think it was that summer before senior year.
I was at Southwest Guilford, and I remember getting a flyer from someone at school about the NCCJ Anytown and I wanted to go because I thought it sounded like a really interesting camp and something cool to do that summer. Then I started talking to other people about it and learned that it was a great resume-builder, as well. That’s one of the reasons I applied to go.
Maria with fellow Anytown delegates in 2013
Thinking back now, I think that maybe the conversations we had at Anytown would have been a lot more fruitful if topics about race and social justice were actually talked about in class. Because Anytown was the first space where I was able to talk about the discrimination that I’ve experienced as a Latina.
I remember there was one part during the program where me and two or three other Latina students went up to present. One of the other girls in my group had talked about being called a slur at school – I think the slur was “beaner” – and I remember the moderator asked us, “And how did that make you feel?”
I remember feeling the same way my partner in my group felt – I said something like “I don’t really care, and it just is what it is.” That was our response. But thinking back on it, I feel like I could have said more if I’d known the things I know now about discrimination and racism and immigration – all these things.
In retrospect, I do feel like Anytown was the first time that we ever had these conversations. We just didn’t know how to fully encompass and articulate what our experiences were. That question (“how did that make you feel?”) is something I’ve always thought back on and wished I’d said more or expressed myself more in response to that conversation. And I didn’t get the chance to do that, because I thought that by just not caring and brushing things off – brushing off those kinds of biases and things like that – I thought that by doing that, that was me resolving the issue.
That feeling seemed like something that was very common among the students in my cohort. But it seems like students these days are more prepared to talk about these topics.
“Anytown was a beautiful experience and I got really close to a lot of people.”
When I was in high school, I recall wanting to think that racism wasn’t such a big issue anymore because, like, “Oh, we’re in the 21st century now, it’s 2013!” And I thought “Ok, these things happen but it’s not because race is an issue, it’s because there are bad people out there, or people who have negative thoughts.”
I was also affected by some very negative social experiences in middle school when I ended up going to a private school: Westchester Country Day School here in High Point. I came from a very low-income family and the only reason I ended up going there was because I got a scholarship. But the students were so mean. It’s a predominantly white institution, K through 12, and I was only one of two Latino students in my grade. And I had a very negative experience with white people.
At Southwest High School, it was diverse but still predominantly white – and thinking back at that time, I still didn’t fully know how to claim myself and my culture. This is part of why I think it was difficult for me to express my authentic self at Anytown. I didn’t know then that my experiences had led me to self-hate and that I had experienced these negative interactions in the world, but I was just brushing it off and saying “it’s not a big deal.”
A Dream Deferred
Maria campaigning for in-state tuition in 2016
But the thing that was really a huge turning point in my life was my senior year – because I’m undocumented.
The only thing I had by then was DACA, because of Obama. When I was trying to go to college, I got in – but I wasn’t able to pay because undocumented students didn’t qualify for in-state tuition. Which meant I wasn’t able to go off to college.
That’s when I started reflecting more on racism and immigration and all of the things I’d experienced, saying to myself – “No, Maria, these things are real and they are actually happening. This is one of those manifestations – you not being able to go to college because of institutional racism and the way the system is set up.”
Anytown was the first step for me, and I still didn’t know exactly how to grapple with these ideas about race and being in the margins. I didn’t know why I was in the position I was in – I knew I was undocumented, I knew I was Latina, and I knew I had to try extra, extra hard in school. I was so caught up in those things, but I had never taken the time to dig deep – I just didn’t know how.
“My turning point was when I watched my friends go off to college and I felt like I was left behind.”
I honestly felt like I had been stripped of something that was mine and I couldn’t get it back. So it was very hard. Even still talking about it, it gets me emotional. Because I remember that summer, I was home washing dishes for my mom and I started crying. All I could think about was “I shouldn’t be here washing dishes. I shouldn’t be worrying about the next bill we have to pay. I should be thinking about college and getting my stuff for my dorm room and getting ready for my first class.” And I wasn’t. So I was extremely, extremely depressed. I wanted the earth to open and swallow me whole.
I graduated with a 4.2 GPA and honors and over 200 community service hours – and it just felt like none of that mattered.
“I’m the type of person who will let myself break down but I’m willing to get myself back up.”
At some point that summer, I decided to reach out to the Latino Family Center at the YWCA in High Point. Margarita Kerkado is in admissions at UNCG now, but she used to be the director at the Center for many years. I had done some volunteer work for them before, and I just wanted to do something for the community and get my mind off what I was going through.
Margarita was the one who motivated me and sat me down and said, “Maria, this is just temporary. We can create a pathway for you. You just have to have hope. Don’t give up on your dream.”
And you know what? I was like, “You’re right! I shouldn’t give up because the system is set up the way it is. I can find a way. If other students who never had DACA found a way to go to college, maybe there is a way for me to go.”
“And that’s when I started just going to different places here in the Triad and just telling my story.”
During that time, American Friends Service Committee was doing a lot of awareness around in-state tuition. They had an educational forum here at the YWCA and they asked me if I wanted to tell my story. That was the first time I ever talked about me being undocumented, who I was, my aspirations – and it felt great. It felt great to share that with a community of people, and they were very supportive.
And that’s when I started just going to different places here in the Triad and just telling my story. And later on, American Friends Service Committee offered my first internship and they wanted me to coordinate the campaign for in-state tuition here in the Triad. So that’s what I did. I was able to mobilize students, people, organizations. We even got a resolution passed through the city council in Greensboro.
And thank God, before I went off to college (I haven’t even gotten to that part yet!), I was able to help a handful of students go to college – undocumented students, DACAmented students. That’s one of my biggest accomplishments, in my opinion – to have been able to help a handful of other people to pursue their career. To not give up.
I had heard Moises Serrano tell his story by then, and I knew that me telling my story does mean something. I was just so happy to be able to touch people and enable them to move forward.
A Golden Door to Wake Forest University
Maria and fellow student organizers (including two more Anytowners!) in 2016
I ended up applying very last-minute to the Golden Door Scholarship and they called me for an interview a couple of weeks later. I was supposed to go through two more interviews – the second one, the third one – and then I didn’t get a call for a couple of weeks.
In December 2015, I was going to pick my sister up at Andrews High School. And it was dark, I remember, because the time had changed. Anyways, I got a call and they said, “Congratulations, you got the Golden Door Scholarship.” And I was in shock! I told them “Thank you! I just want you to know that if I’m not crying, it’s because I’m in shock! I didn’t think I was going to get it.”
Wake Forest was my #1 choice, and I ended up going there in the fall of 2016.
I was at Wake Forest for four years and I also did a lot of community organizing on campus. We brought a lot of awareness to immigrant issues, and I was also the director of what we called the Social Justice Incubator. I would support students who wanted to start initiatives around social justice. I also served on different administrative committees at Wake Forest, to revise the Student Code of Conduct. I remember my sophomore year they were trying to do away with freedom of speech, mainly targeting student organizations and mainly minority organizations. So me and a couple of other students got together, sat down with the faculty, and we revised it. We looked at what other schools were doing, researched policy, and thankfully got a better code of conduct produced.
I graduated last year right as the pandemic started. And that was really tough, because a lot of my plans just crumbled.
One of those plans was going into law school.
“I’m not in law school … yet.”
I’ve always been dedicated to this issue of education when it comes to the undocumented community. Because it’s not just something that affects the Latino community – it affects people from all walks of life, all across the board. Being undocumented, we only have so much to work with. So I took it upon myself to just do more research on in-state tuition and how we can achieve it for undocumented people.
I think if we take the case to the Supreme Court, that would be the fastest way to get legislation to affect everyone nationally. OK, we’re in the Fourth Circuit – I did my research, we’re in the Fourth Circuit. South Carolina is in our circuit, and they’re the state with the harshest legislation in our circuit.
So I thought, if we challenge South Carolina’s legislation maybe we could go from there. I won’t go into all the details, but I developed some arguments that maybe would have influence with the court. I talked to professors and lawyers and got advice from different kinds of people.
I’m not in law school yet. But I would love to be able to know how to actually interpret the law and take the research I’ve started and do more work on it once I get to law school, God willing.
“This past year was very difficult.”
After graduating last spring, I went through several employers. I’ve never been through this many employers before – I’ve always been able to stick with one and it’s always been a great experience.
The first work experience that I had last year was with a sweat shop in High Point. I was a supervisor and we had about 30 women sewing and 30 women folding these hospital gowns. It turns out that the higher-ups had a furniture business, but because of the pandemic that had completely fallen apart so they started doing hospital gowns.
I was only with them for a week and a half. The last few days that I was there, my manager came up to me and she said, “Hey, we need you to talk to the ladies in folding and let them know that for every gown they put in the box, that’s 9 cents a gown. I had already peeped at how they were doing things because they were lowkey having me do part accounting, part supervising, and part other hats they wanted me to have on. So I knew some people were getting paid $11, some $9, some $10 an hour. When I did the calculation for the 9 cents per gown, I saw that they were barely going to make $9 an hour even if they folded as many as they could, as fast as they could.
I talked to the ladies about this, and then I thought about what I’d learned earning my degree. I graduated from Wake Forest with a major in sociology with a concentration in immigration studies and a minor in communications. I knew there were some protections. I went back through some of my research and was able to say – “Ok, we have collective bargaining! We don’t have a lot of protections in North Carolina, unfortunately, but we do have the right to collectively bargain.”
So, I went back to the ladies in folding and we talked, and then I went back to the higher-ups and said, “Hey, I don’t think they want this” (meaning the 9 cents per gown) “but they want to talk about it with you and have a conversation, and they want to collectively bargain.”
They let me go at the end of that day. I was fired.
That was the first job I had out of college, and it was very disappointing. I was upset, because I had family members working there – but then they let me go.
“Then I had a couple of other jobs that I had to leave, including a law firm that fired me in January after I was hit by a car.”
The car hit me while I was walking my dog. I really think I should have died, because my body flew through the air. I flew and landed on the other side I was trying to get to, on the grassy patch area of the sidewalk. It was a very traumatic experience and then the officer made it worse by telling me that it was my fault, not the driver’s fault – that I was supposed to be walking in a designated walking area.
I was panicking at that point – I don’t know injury law very well, so I didn’t know what to think or what to do with his comment. I was also in severe pain, so I didn’t have the energy to defend myself. I mention that because that same night I called my job to let them know that I had been hit by a car, and the next day when I was in the emergency room, they called me to tell me I had been let go.
After that, thank God, I ended up with Guilford County Schools. I finished off the last 3 months of their semester this year. Then I had to find another job after the students were out for the summer.
That’s when I ended up getting this opportunity with Church World Services. I feel very blessed, because 1) they have benefits and 2) it’s something that I am passionate about. I love doing community work. Immigrant rights has been something that I’ve dedicated my life to since the moment that I truly knew what the consequences of being undocumented meant.
“To me, an immigration status is just a status.”
At Church World Services, I’m a refugee community organizer. I’m not mainly focusing on the Latino community like I was before, but I’m still very grateful for the opportunity. To me, an immigration status is just a status. To be able to work with a different group of people within the immigrant population, it’s very rewarding and it’s also going to allow me to learn how to work with different groups of people and reach different people within the immigrant population. I learn a lot from them – their lifestyle, what their beliefs are, how they interact with each other, and what their values are as well.
It’s also making me wonder about some things. For instance, I’ve realized fully just how some immigrant groups are treated differently from other immigrant groups. I see that more now. As a refugee, you get all the support. But as an undocumented person coming to the United States, you don’t get any of that kind of support. And I wonder, if we can someday expand those benefits and support systems for other groups of people under different immigration statuses. That’s just something I think about.
It’s been a great experience so far. I started with CWS in July and as soon as August started, we jumped on community calls to action and direct action for congressional August recess. Our congressmen and women came back to town, to their districts. I set up some meetings with Congresswoman Kathy Manning and Congressman Ted Budd and I was able to get a group of people, including a refugee leader and an Afghani ally there for these conversations. We advocated for Afghan families to be evacuated and to create a support system for them. Our refugee speaker talked about funding the resettlement program.
That’s just one of the activities that we did ever since I’ve been involved with CWS.
We’re planning on having a community meeting soon. We’ll go to the refugee community and asking them “What would you like us to organize around? What can we do? What issues are the most pressing right now?”
We have a lot of new things coming up and I’m really looking forward to the work that we can accomplish together.
“It’s funny, undocumented people can start businesses and buy homes and we pay taxes – but we aren’t authorized to work here legally.”
I’ve been here in High Point since I was 2 years old, and I’m 25 now. I’ve always been here.
I’m close to my family here in High Point. I have my mom and three siblings.
I support my mom with her cleaning business. I do the administrative stuff. For years she did the menial work, and I did all the administrative work. Thankfully, her English has gotten better over the years, so now she does her own invoices and I just help her with outreach.
I helped her with that even throughout college. I was juggling a lot – I don’t know how I did it.
She mostly does apartment complexes. We do commercial and residential, but we mostly do commercial now. So, when people move out of the apartment units we go in and clean. It’s deep cleanings, it’s not something light. It’s a lot on her, and I can see that it’s taken a toll on her body. She had cancer this past year. Thank God she was declared cancer-free in March. But she’s still doing her janitorial work. Right now, I’m trying to get her more office buildings, because the work will be lighter on her.
She’s been doing it for 7 years now. That business is the thing that keeps us afloat. I support her now with bills, and I came back to live with her because of her cancer. We are doing what we can to move forward and I’m not so worried anymore since she’s recuperating.
She’s still fully undocumented. It’s funny, undocumented people can start businesses and buy homes – but we aren’t authorized to work here legally.
Maria’s message to you
As a community, we are all connected. Regardless of what job you hold, what walk of life you come from, your background – regardless of all of that, we are all connected. In today’s world I think acknowledging that we are all connected is extremely important, because in acknowledging our connection to one another we are acknowledging that we must respect one another and love one another. We must understand that we need to move forward as a community together. Because in harming myself, I am harming my neighbor. And in harming my neighbor, I am harming myself. We should love one another and move together towards the light. Because in doing so, we will thrive. And I think we can do it. I have hope.
Each year, NCCJ presents the Citation Award to leaders in our Triad community in recognition of extraordinary efforts to fight bias, bigotry, and racism and make our community a better place for all of us — not just some of us. (Learn more about our past honorees – from the 1960s to 2020.) We hope you will join us on November 10 for an evening of community-building, celebrating these remarkable honorees, and reaffirming our Triad community’s shared commitment to inclusion and respect.
We are strongly recommending that only fully vaccinated people attend the in-person event (however, we are not requiring proof of vaccination)
In-person attendance is limited to 800 people. (Once we reach capacity, we will begin placing people who wish to attend in-person on a waiting list; we will notify you if seats open up. Consider joining us virtually for this powerful event.)
Sponsored tables will seat a maximum of 10 guests unless sponsors request more distancing (if requested by October 22, each table of 10 guests will be split between two tables)
Tables for ticket holders will seat 6 guests
We ask that all guests wear a properly fitted mask unless they are actively eating or drinking
Food and beverages:
We never serve pork or shellfish
Need a vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free meal? Just let us know by November 1
In-person event schedule:
5:45 PM – Distanced reception with cash bars
6:45 PM – Welcome and dinner served
7:15 – 9 PM – Program
Virtual Guests
What to expect as a virtual guest:
All ticket holders and guests of a sponsor will receive a carryout meal from a locally owned restaurant.
You can choose from great restaurants throughout the Triad. Greensboro options are 1618 On Location, Dame’s Chicken and Waffles, GIA, and Green Valley Grille. High Point Options are 98 Asian Bistro and Chop House. (Winston-Salem option TBA)
All carryout meal options must be selected by noon on Monday Nov. 1
Virtual event schedule:
6:45 PM – Virtual reception
7:15 – 9 PM – Livestreamed program
Event Sponsors
Here’s what to expect as an event sponsor:
As an event sponsor, you can choose to fill your table(s) in-person or virtually — or a combination of both. See above for more details on how each attendance type works.
For the in-person event, sponsored tables will seat a maximum of 10 guests unless sponsors request more distancing (if requested, each table of 10 will be split between two tables)
Hybrid attendance- – if you have some guests who want to attend in-person and some who want to attend virtually, we can do that! Just let us know by Monday, November 1
NEW this year! NCCJ wants to help you celebrate and showcase the work your company has done to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in a special presentation at the Citation Award Dinner. This opportunity is available for sponsors at the Inclusion Champion level ($2,500) and above. Interested in spotlighting someone who has championed DE&I work within your organization? We will need all materials for your spotlight by Monday, November 1. Email Erika Rain Wilhite or call her at 336-272-0359 x 150
No matter how you choose to attend, Gloria Hoover, NCCJ’s Development Manager, will be your staff liaison for this event. Please ensure that you share your preferred contact information (email address, phone number) with NCCJ so that Gloria knows how best to reach you. She will be in touch to share information and ask questions to ensure that you have a great experience. If you still have questions about the Citation Award Dinner (or haven’t seen any emails from Gloria yet) please reach out by emailing her or calling 336-272-0359 x 160.
