“Changemakers in a Changing World: Lessons for the Next Generation” was the second in an annual series that focuses on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Moderated by AU president Sylvia Burwell, the panel discussion featured broadcast journalist Maria Elena Salinas; Citizen University founder and CEO Eric Liu; former national security adviser and United Nations ambassador Dr. Susan Rice and Dr. Ibram Kendi, professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center.
Being a changemaker and being resilient are intertwined, panelists told an audience of students, faculty, administrators and guests assembled in the atrium of the School of International Service.
Liu said changemaking involves civic empowerment and citizenship, explaining it in an equation: power plus character equals citizenship.
“You must be literate and fluent in power and it must be tethered to a moral core and global citizenship,” he said. “That’s important to any notion of changemaking.”
Resilience is “vitally important,” Rice agreed, but added that it “can’t be taught. It comes out of experience. Yet it’s absolutely critical to making change and having impact.”
Changing the status quo means changing the environment and the minds of those around you, which is not easy, added Salinas.
