The Council for Women’s Concerns announces the annual Women of Color Luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, October 3, in the Mountainlair Ballrooms. The luncheon is an attempt to inspire the campus and the community. This year, the luncheon will welcome WVU alumna Ifeoma Ike as the keynote speaker. Tickets will go on sale on Monday (August 13).
Ike is a co-founding Principal of Think Rubix, a social impact strategy firm transforming lives through creative problem-solving, policymaking and political strategies. Her professional résumé includes serving as Deputy Executive Director of NYC Mayor's Office Young Men's Initiative; Senior Policy Advocate for the Innocence Project; and Civil Rights Counsel on the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Ike has championed several equity strategies to improve the lives of those on the margins, including co-drafting the City of New York's Mental Health Council Executive Order; authoring and successfully advocating for the passage of improved law enforcement practices in West Virginia and advocating for youth of color who also experience gender, LGBTQ and ability bias as liaison for the nation's first Young Women's Initiative.
She was selected by the American Bar Association to research statewide collateral consequences of incarceration--one of the databases former Attorney General Eric Holder utilized to create the Obama Administration's criminal justice platform. In response to the Haiti earthquake and cholera crisis.
Currently, Ike is organizing with communities in Michigan to address civic engagement and the Flint water crisis, and is the designer and lead strategist for New York City's African-American mental health equity strategy.
The Women of Color Luncheon is one of several events during WVU’s annual Diversity Week, held this year from Sept. 30–Oct. 6 and sponsored by the Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Tickets for the luncheon are $18 per individual, and reservations can also be made for tables of eight or 10. Limited seating is available. The event has sold out the last three years. To purchase tickets, visit our website.
To learn more about the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns, visit our website.