Beyond the Binary: Gender Inclusive Strategies to Move Your Organization Ahead

Presenters are Sara Komoroske Nappa and Kiera Duckworth, both Founding Consultants of Birch Consulting Group, LLC, will be speaking about Gender Inclusive Strategies to Move Your Organization Ahead. Come enjoy a night of networking and dinner with the Buffalo-Niagara Chapter.. Come enjoy a night of networking and dinner with the Buffalo-Niagara Chapter.

Time: 5:30 Networking/6:00pm Dinner

Location: Protocol Restaurant

Sara Komoroske Nappa

Sara is a dynamic educator, trainer, and speaker with over sixteen years in the field of education. She has spent the majority of her education career working with high needs youth in urban settings in New York and Massachusetts. Fueled by outrage at the injustices that her students and colleagues faced daily, Sara became a fierce advocate for social justice, especially in the areas of LGBTQ+ inclusivity and trauma-informed care in the way she knew best - empowerment through education. Sara's passion for her work is evident in every workshop and participants frequently leave enlightened and inspired to take immediate action. Sara's "keep it real" style, social intelligence, and varied life experiences allow her to connect with diverse audiences, and participants of her trainings often hire Sara to train the rest of their colleagues/staff at their own places of employment.

In addition to training and speaking, Sara has co-authored multiple inclusive policies, including at the school, district and legislative levels, facilitating several institutions becoming leaders in their field. Sara is certified Pre-K-12 in Health and Physical Education, earning her B.S. Ed. at Canisius College. She earned an M.S. Ed. in Educational Technologies and Emerging Media at Canisius College and studied both English literature and English Education at Boston University, which is where her work with urban youth began.

Kiera Duckworth

Kiera has spent her career in education teaching about social issues and advocating for more LGBTQ-inclusive spaces and programming, with a special emphasis on inclusion in sports. In fact, the State University of New York at Buffalo was recently awarded the NCAA and Minority Organization's 2018 Award for Diversity and Inclusion for their implementation of inclusion policies that Kiera authored. Currently, Kiera is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the
University at Buffalo. Her dissertation examined the influence personal notions of masculinity have on health behaviors among young men. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Ithaca College in 2010 and her Master of Arts in Sociology from the University at Buffalo in 2012. Kiera has worked on numerous projects focusing on underrepresented communities and developing equity initiatives on post-secondary campuses and is a sought-after speaker for trainings and conferences for professionals in both the Sociology and Sport fields.