DeKALB – NIU’s Department of Student Affairs and Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is set to host their annual Real Talk Conference to allow participants to engage in meaningful conversations and foster empathy.

The Real Talk Conference will be hosted from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Holmes Student Center.

The theme of the 2024 Real Talk Conference is “Opening Pathways to Embrace our Humanity” which focuses on the ability to enact transformative change through different measures such as access to opportunities for learning, according to the NIU events calendar.

The Real Talk Conference will have three keynote speakers – Asheli Mann-Lofthouse, an organizational anthropologist, Marisa Miakonda Cummings, senior advisor for the Administration for Native Americans in the Administration for Children and Families, and Ijeoma Oluo, a Seattle-based writer and speaker.

Prior to the Real Talk Conference occurring Oct. 25, the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development in collaboration with the divisions of Academic Affairs, Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Student Affairs will host a workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Altgeld Hall Ballroom.

The workshop will be focused on designing engagement for equity and will feature Jim Woodell, CEO of Venn Collaborative. The workshop is free to attend.

Attendees must register in advance for the conference. The Real Talk Conference is open for registration until Oct. 21. The conference is free to attend for NIU students, faculty and staff. The conference costs $99 for non-NIU students and $199 for non-NIU faculty, staff and community members.

For more information about the Real Talk Conference, students can visit the NIU website.