Our guest speaker for this month is Lisa Whited, who is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Development and Change at Fielding Graduate University, author of Work Better. Save the Planet, and a TEDx speaker. With more than 35 years of professional practice, she has helped organizations and communities create environments where people can do their best work and collaboratively shape their futures. Her current doctoral research examines how participation can influence and transform the systems it is intended to serve. Her presentation will examine how democratic engagement can be strengthened through intentional participation design, including thoughtful decisions about who is included, how dialogue is structured, how spaces are configured, and how community input is translated into action. Participants will be invited to consider how organizations, communities, and institutions can create conditions that foster authentic dialogue, shared understanding, and durable change rather than simply collecting input.
What is the difference between having a voice and having genuine influence?
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026
Time: 3pm – 4:30pm
Location: Zoom or join us at 9400 4th Street N., Suite 100, St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
Learn more atcommunities.excelsior.edu
Faculty, students, partners and interested public are cordially invited to join July’s session of the Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series (DEDS). This is a session that invites to reflection and open conversation.
The DEDS series and this session are facilitated through a collaborative partnership among the Excelsior University Center for Social Justice, the Democratic Engagement Rope Team, Fielding Graduate University, the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, the Underground Railroad Education Center, the St. Petersburg Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center, the Pinellas County Hispanic Outreach Center, and the New York State Division of Human Rights Hate & Bias Prevention Unit.
