What Does Mindfulness Have To Do With Anti-Racism?

Katharine Quince, MA, Quince Consulting

Katharine is a Social Justice Consultant and award-winning Diversity & Community Studies scholar. Committed to advancing equity and inclusion through relationships, she offers facilitation and coaching infused with 20+ years of mindfulness practice. Before becoming a Social Justice Consultant, Katharine spent over a decade in Portland’s social services sector. With a desire to address social inequities at their roots, Katharine obtained a Master’s degree in Social Responsibility & Sustainable Communities in 2018. She then joined the Implementation Team at the Center for Equity and Inclusion (CEI) in Portland, where she helped nationally recognized organizations develop and integrate comprehensive equity assessments, statements, filters, and strategic plans.

As a queer white cis woman, Katharine believes race and gender equity work require engaging in brave dialogue, practicing empathy and self-compassion, refusing binaries, making space for uncertainty, and orienting oneself as a lifelong learner. Her approach is always intersectional and grounded in positive regard. Katharine is certified in Executive Leadership. Her independent consulting practice, Quince Consulting, launched in June 2020 and has since served organizations in Oregon, Washington, and California. Katharine is also a published poet and a parent.
 

Erica Briggs, Nonprofit Education Specialist, NAO

Erica Briggs is a facilitator of learning, DEI consultant, community caretaker, creative artist and author. In each capacity she is a storyteller, sharing stories related to developing a more transparent and fluid identity, embracing culture, and aligning with nature to better heal, grow and sustain mental health and well being.

A native Oregonian, Briggs has lived and worked across the country and overseas. Currently, she serves as a Nonprofit Education Specialist at NAO; Facilitator of Learning for the Anti-Defamation League; and is the founder and CEO of a small arts and nature nonprofit based in Troutdale.  

As a single mother, she earned a BA in Communications at Mills College in Oakland, CA and a Master's in Africana Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where she studied the social construction of race in America. 

For over 25 years, she has served various roles in asset-based community nonprofits, and both traditional and alternative learning environments from elementary through college. When she is at play you will likely find her wandering in her garden, making a mess in her art studio, or hiking with her children to the nearest body of water.