04/23/2018

The City of Noblesville is partnering with Noblesville Schools and the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce on a public education series centered on the power of diversity and inclusion. The second session of the series is 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26 in the Council Chambers of Noblesville City Hall, 16 S. 10th Street.

The topic for this session is “Got Bias? No Judgment!” Rebecca Humphrey and Devon Moore will facilitate the talk about stereotypes and implicit bias:

• Got Bias? We all do and during this no judgement conversation, small groups will discuss together what implicit bias is, how it forms, and how it can impact our daily decisions. We all make up stories about people before we get to know them and these preferences (or aversions as the case may be) and what we do in response to first gut level impressions contributes to unconscious disparity. Join the discussion to provoke conversation and insight into implicit bias.

“The city is excited to host this event as the series explores the diversity we are fortunate to have here in Noblesville, and to foster respect amongst its residents for those differences,” said Mayor John Ditslear.

The series is being organized by the Community Diversity Committee, which includes representatives from Noblesville Schools, the City of Noblesville, and local faith organizations, as well as Noblesville parents and business leaders. The first forum event was held in March with Noblesville students representing various cultural backgrounds talking about their experiences and common misperceptions about their culture.

“We appreciate the community collaboration on this initiative as we are much more powerful in creating an impact when we all work together,” said Dr. Beth Niedermeyer, superintendent of Noblesville Schools. “Our district leadership team has already participated in the bias training and I hope community members will take advantage of this opportunity to attend. It’s important to acknowledge that we all have biases and must learn to recognize and discuss them if we are to create a culture that values all.”

The community diversity planning committee will continue to explore further opportunities for future learning series sessions.