The Racial Justice Summit’s virtual experience is intentionally designed to foster connection and engagement, no matter where you're joining from. Through our virtual platform, RingCentral, attendees will be able to join live keynote sessions, interactive workshops, and generative dialogues that invite deep exploration and collective learning. We invited attendees to use RingCentral’s interactive features live chat and engagement tools support a sense of presence and social connections throughout the event. There will also be featured performances, art, and creative expression woven into the virtual experience that brings additional depth and beauty to the Summit.
In addition to these plenary experiences, attendees will also have opportunities to participate in breakout spaces through Zoom or RingCentral for peer connection affinity-based gatherings and justice meet-up spaces to build coalitions across justice movements.
We believe that virtual space is a powerful way to hold the care, wisdom, and connection needed for collective liberation. Whether you're tuning in from your home, workplace, or with a group in your community, we welcome your full presence as we build a virtual space grounded in justice and collective healing. For those needing flexibility, recorded keynotes will be available after the Summit.
Opening Keynote
We are honored to open the Virtual Day of this year’s Racial Justice Summit with a keynote from Robin Wall Kimmerer, a renowned scientist, storyteller, and author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants and The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.
A member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Dr. Kimmerer brings a rich and deeply rooted perspective that weaves together Indigenous ways of knowing, ecological science, and a profound ethic of care. Her work invites us to reimagine our relationships with the Earth, with one another, and with systems of justice through the lens of reciprocity, gratitude, and abundance.
This keynote will root our Summit experience in the wisdom of interconnectedness and offer a powerful foundation for envisioning relational, land-based, ecosystem-centered, and liberatory futures.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Closing Generative Dialogue
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Maurice Mitchell, and additional contributors (to be announced soon)
The Virtual Day of the Racial Justice Summit will conclude with a powerful Generative Dialogue featuring keynote contributors Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Maurice Mitchell, with additional voices to be announced. This closing session invites us into meaningful conversation with visionary leaders who have shaped and continue to guide transformative justice movements.
Ruth Wilson Gilmore is a renowned abolitionist scholar and advocate who has spent decades illuminating the connections between racial capitalism, carceral systems, and the urgent need to build life-affirming institutions.
Maurice Mitchell brings a wealth of insight as the National Director of the Working Families Party and a core leader in the Movement for Black Lives, organizing at the intersection of racial, economic, and social justice.
This dialogue will weave reflection, strategy, and vision, offering a collective closing moment inspired by bold possibilities and a renewed commitment to showing up with our full gifts as part of an emergent liberation ecosystem.
Breakout Sessions
As part of the Virtual Day of the Racial Justice Summit, attendees are invited to participate in live breakout sessions hosted on Zoom or RingCentral. These sessions offer meaningful opportunities to dive deeper into the Summit’s key themes through interactive learning, dialogue, and practice. Facilitated by movement leaders, cultural workers, and justice practitioners, each session will explore topics such as abolition, healing justice, organizational transformation, environmental justice, and more.
Engagement modalities will vary and may include facilitator presentations, small-group conversations, journaling prompts, somatic and mindfulness practices, collaborative visioning, or creative reflection. Whether you’re seeking to expand your understanding, build practical skills, or co-create possibilities for liberation, the breakout spaces offer something for everyone.
We are currently reviewing proposals for breakout sessions. Please stay tuned for announcements in late August.
Session Announcements Coming in August
Connection & Reflective Processing Spaces
As part of the Racial Justice Summit, Connection and Reflective Processing Spaces offer attendees dedicated time to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful dialogue. These spaces are curated to support emotional processing, self-awareness, and community care as we navigate complex topics together. Many of these sessions are affinity-based, allowing participants to reflect and connect within shared lived experiences and identities in a supportive and grounded environment.
Meet-Up Spaces are community-driven gatherings that invite attendees to connect across different areas of justice work. These spaces are designed to spark conversations, share resources, and build connections rooted in shared interests. Meet-up spaces has the potential to create pathways for continued relationship-building, coalition work, and solidarity that extend beyond the two days of the Summit.