Frequently asked Questions
Registration
Do I need to register for the summit?
YES. ALL ATTENDEES, BOTH STUDENTS AND ADULT CHAPERONES, MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND
When I tried to register, it said that registration had closed. Is there a waitlist I can get on?
Unfortunately, we are unable to have a waitlist for the summit. Registration is capped at our capacity plus 30 percent, which takes into account the substantial number of no-show attendees on the day of the summit.
I forgot to register/registration is closed. Can I just show up to the summit?
Only registered students will be guaranteed admittance to the summit. If an unregistered student shows up on the day of the summit, they will be required to wait in the will call area until all registered students have been processed. In the event that there is still space available after all the registered students have been admitted, unregistered students will be admitted in the order that they arrived. After we have reached capacity, any remaining unregistered students are required to leave the campus for liability purposes.
Attendance
Why can’t middle school aged students attend?
Although we have allowed 8th grade students to attend in previous years, the summit is now reserved for high school students only for the following reasons:
Maturity level: The planning committee strives to bring presenters and topics to the summit that speak to current events and issues important to young students of color. As many of the topics discussed revolve around the dense and multi-faceted issue of social justice, many middle school students do not have the comprehension level needed to both engage in, and respect, this dialogue.
Behavior: Attending the summit requires students to have the strong personal responsibility and critical listening skills that are more common in older students; we simply do not have the staff or the ability to continuously monitor individuals who need to be reminded consistently to behave appropriately.
How long is the summit?
The summit is an all-day event, from approximately 8:00am to 4:00pm.
What if I arrive late?
We cannot facilitate late arrivals. Our registration and check-in tables open at 8:00 am sharp and close promptly at 9:15 am when the keynote speaker begins. IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 9:15 AM, EVEN IF YOU HAVE REGISTERED, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE SUMMIT.
Cost, Location, and Programming
How much does it cost to attend?
The summit is FREE to attend.
Where is the summit?
The student summit is located in the Student Union Building (Bldg 8) on the Highline College campus, with adult chaperone programming located in Building 7. Individual student workshops are held in various classrooms on campus; students are escorted by summit volunteers to and from these classrooms.
Do I need to bring my own food?
No. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided for you.
What workshops will I be attending?
Workshops will be assigned as students are processed through the registration table the day of the summit.
I want to see a particular workshop presenter. How can I ensure a seat in her specific workshop?
To ensure equal workshop sizes, students are assigned a workshop. Students are not able to choose their workshops. However, workshop presentations are thoroughly screened by the Y.E.L.L. Planning Committee to ensure each workshop is equally informative, engaging, and impactful.
For Adult Chaperones
I’m an adult chaperone for a school/organization but I don’t know which students I’m bringing yet. Can I just hold some spots?
No. All attendees (both students and adults) must be registered individually to attend. We can NOT hold spots under any circumstances.
I’m a chaperone and some of the registered students I was supposed to bring can’t come. Can I substitute different students in their place?
No. If a student or adult has registered but is unable to attend, they cannot substitute another individual.
As a chaperone, will I stay with my student throughout the day?
No. Adult chaperones/attendees and students are on different activity tracks in different buildings. The summit is for the students and part of the impact of the summit comes from being able to have real, open dialogue. Please respect this space and understand that you will be reconnected with your students at the close of the summit.
I’m a chaperone who is bringing multiple students. Can I send you a list of the students attending instead of registering them all?
We greatly appreciate attendees or adult chaperones registering themselves and/or their students. Having attendees or chaperones directly enter their information increases accuracy, so we politely ask that you register attendees individually.
I want to see a particular workshop presenter. How can I ensure a seat in her specific workshop?
As the summit is geared focused and created for high school aged females, chaperones are not permitted to sit in on these workshops; adult chaperones are able to view the keynote speeches remotely but have a fixed adult chaperone agenda in an adjacent building.
This is a valuable, transformative event that I want to be a part of. How can I get involved?
If you would like to volunteer at this year’s or a future Summit, please contact Tanisha WIlliams or Rickitia Reid.
My students received a t-shirt/lanyard/giveaway item. Do adult chaperones also receive giveaway items?
Unfortunately, adult chaperones are ineligible to receive giveaways. As Highline absorbs the entire cost of the summit, we decided to limit giveaways to students to increase the quality and quantity of items they receive.
Will all my students stay together if I bring a group of students?
One of the values of the summit is to encourage meaningful conversations and create new friendships. In order to facilitate this, students are assigned to workshops by individual rather than by school. Some students in you group may end up in the same workshop by chance, but it is highly unlikely that you student group will stay together for the entirety of the summit.
keynote speaker
Linda Sarsour
Linda Sarsour is one of the country’s leading voices in the fight for racial, economic, gender, and social justice. The Brooklyn-born Palestinian Muslim American community organizer and mother of three is globally-recognized for her award-winning intersectional work on key civil rights topics, including the impact of domestic policies that target Arab and Muslim American communities, mass incarceration and criminal justice, Middle East affairs, immigration policy, and voter registration.
Linda served as national co-chair of the Women’s March, helping to organize one of the largest single-day protests in U.S. history. She is the former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, co-founder of Muslims for Ferguson, and co-founder of the first Muslim online organizing platform, MPower Change, a grassroots movement of Muslim Americans working to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people. She is also the co-founder of Until Freedom, a national racial justice organization focused on direct action and power building in communities of color.
Linda is the author of two books, We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance with a forward by Harry Belafonte who writes, “While we may not have made it to the Promised Land, my peers and I, my brothers and sisters in liberation can rest easy that the future is in the hands of leaders like Linda Sarsour.” She’s also penned an empowering young readers’ edition of her memoir, We’re in This Together.
Linda was honored by President Barack Obama as a Champion of Change for her work empowering Arab and Muslim Americans nationally through civic engagement, direct service, and advocacy campaigns. She was recognized as one of Fortune’s 50 Greatest Leaders and featured as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Still, she remains rooted in racial justice and civil rights organizing, inspiring audiences to get off the sidelines and raise their voices in the fight for equity and justice for all.
presenters
Y.E.L.L. DJ: DJ Nia
DJ Nia is a skilled DJ with top-notch equipment and an extensive music library. She can tailor her playlists to fit any occasion, from corporate events to intimate gatherings. With her expertise, she can capture the hearts of any audience and make your event unforgettable.
Y.E.L.L. Emcee: Kaitlen Taoipu
Kaitlen Taoipu is the proud daughter of Sasa’afamali’i Mativa Taoipu and Taloapatina Leapai Fetoa’i. She has roots planted in the islands of American and Independent Samoa, hailing from the villages of Pago Pago, Solosolo and Apia. Kaitlen graduated from Highline High School, and headed to Highline College where she has been a part of working with and supporting youth in the community for the past 6 years. She is now the new Director of membership for the YMCA, running and creating youth and family enrichment programming.
Diana Muuru
Diana is a Youth Director at Black Coffee Northwest Grounded. They've led a variety of youth internships and mentorships, facilitated youth panels, and led community events strived on youth development and leadership. Their goal at the nonprofit Grounded is to create a space where young minds can expand, become inspired to create and take charge in a safe space.
Bonita Lee
Bonita Lee is an author, community connector, educator, motivational speaker, and co-founder of Noir Preneurship. She has worked with schools and non-profits for over twenty years, focusing on individual, student, and family access through empowerment. Be sure to check out Bonita’s first children’s book: “Go on Lil’ Sista, Go On,” a poetic anthem to Black girls, everywhere.
Darnesha Weary
Meet Dar’Nesha Weary, the powerhouse behind Black Coffee Northwest in Seattle. With over two decades of nonprofit experience, she's not just serving coffee – she's crafting a caffeinated movement. As the CEO, recognized as the Seattle Magazine Changemaker of the Year and Alignable Business Woman of the Year, Dar’Nesha blends her passion for community service with a rich cup of coffee, turning sips into positive change. From leading the Northside Step Team to dancing with LIZZO(!), she's a coffee queen with a side of rhythm and a heart devoted to diversity and inclusion in the greater Seattle area. Every cup poured by Dar’Nesha is a sip toward community empowerment.
Dr. Joan King
A national Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) conference presenter and consultant, Dr. Joan King has a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, an MA in English, and a
Doctorate in Education. She is a published author and former high school teacher for Washington state. Her articles regarding Asian American voices have been published in TinyBeans.com, Mochi Magazine, Memoir Magazine, and Writerly Magazine
Sala Sataraka
I am a mother, educator, student, and advocate born and raised on O'ahu, Hawai'i. I have lived in South Seattle for the last 13 years, where I raise my daughter and dog. For the last 8 years, I have worked at University of Washington as a Senior Manager for an AmeriCorps-funded program, Jumpstart, and now as the inaugural interim Community Liaison & College Navigator for the College of Education. In this role, I continue to support the advancement of the early learning education field by advocating for systems and policy changes in higher education spaces. I am also a full-time graduate student in the Executive Master of Public Administration at the UW Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, where I get to strengthen my racial equity lens and build my leadership skills.
Cecelia DeLeon (Mousy DeVilla)
Seattle born, White Center raised, Cecelia DeLeon is a multidisciplinary public artist working under the alias Mousy DeVilla. Often switching back from digital works using Procreate, Adobe Software to acrylic paintings, mixed media arts and collage artworks. She draws inspiration from the neighborhoods, cities she’s lived in and continues to serve her community as a Teaching Artist, working with Arts Corps, Urban Artworks, Creative Justice and Coyote Central. The social justice themes explored in her bold and colorful work weave in the conversation around welcoming immigrants, uplifting BIPOC communities, and paying homage to Washington where she was born, while celebrating her cultural identity as “Chicana”, the hyphen in Mexican-American. She’s created artwork for traffic boxes around King County, a mural for Food Lifeline, and has had work shown at the Tacoma Art Museum.
Donny Brock
Interdisciplinary creative with experience in graphic design, paid media, branding, and art direction.
Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson
Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson is a social and behavioral researcher, author, speaker, podcaster, educator, and cultural identity advocate. Born in the Middle East to an Arabian father and Italian mother, Jasmin has lived the intersectionality of her identities though challenges and triumphs as the product of the first generation of bi-cultural children and a female in a conservative and isolated Saudi Arabia of the 1970s/80s and from which she successfully escaped in 1999, as she highlights in her Memoir, The Last Sandstorm. Jasmin’s areas of expertise are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), social identity, social/cultural oppression, multi-cultural perspective, global DEI, feminism, leadership, and social/professional bias.
Heba Qatrani
Heba Qatrani is a student leader at Green River College, pursuing a career in law. She serves as President of the Arab Student Association, President of the Speech and Debate Society, and is an officer of the Muslim Student Association. With a passion and dedication for discussing current and cultural events, Heba works to foster connection and cultural awareness in her community.
Jessica Ramirez
Jessica Ramirez is a Higher Education Practitioner with ten years of experience in Student Life and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Jessica holds an Associates of Arts from Centralia College, a Bachelor’s of Arts in Communication Studies with a Minor in Diversity in Higher Education from Western Washington University, and a Master’s of Science in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University. She seeks to share the theory of Cultural Wealth to students so they can realize the wealth that they bring with them into the spaces they occupy on campus. Jessica will share her own experience as a first generation, immigrant child, being Mexican American who grew up in rural America. She will also speak of the experience of navigating her experiences in the education system to the full circle of working in higher education.
Samora Covington, PsyD
Samora Covington, PsyD, is a Clinical Psychologist, Psychology Professor here at Highline College, and Founder of Liberated Radiance Restorative Healing Services. With a passion for utilizing the creative arts to promote healing and liberation, Dr. Covington’s philosophy of care integrates expressive arts with liberation psychology. Creating decolonized, culturally affirming, and liberating spaces for healing are amongst her core values and goals. These frameworks align with her view of people as intrinsically linked and relational beings striving for meaningful awareness, balance, and connection in life. Through various modalities and healing practices, she works with individuals and organizations to help folks access their higher selves and delve into their personal narratives. Dr. Covington also serves as a mental health expert on a participatory action research team that developed THRIVE—a theater-based mental wellness program to build social emotional learning skills for middle and high school students. Lastly, Dr. Covington is a nationally certified Mental Health First Aid facilitator, having trained hundreds of community members in recognizing and supporting folks living with mental health challenges.
