Gery Paredes Vásquez will be YWCA Madison’s New CEO and Registration is Open for the 2024 Racial Justice Summit!
Madison, Wisconsin – July 15, 2024 – After completing a national search and selection process, the YWCA Madison Board of Directors and Selection Committee has unanimously decided to name Gery Paredes Vásquez as the permanent CEO of the organization. YWCA Madison’s Board President Angela Arrington and Vice President Monica Mims together stated, “Gery Paredes Vasquez has displayed a deep commitment to YWCA Madison and its mission for many years. Gery's commitment deepened over the last four months as Interim CEO in which she has brought refreshing leadership that will continue the advancement of the organization’s ideals and the communities it serves.”
Gery Paredes Vásquez started her journey with YWCA Madison in 2012 as a volunteer racial justice facilitator, then coordinator, and manager in the Racial Justice Department, eventually leading to her appointment as Race & Gender Equity Director in 2018. During her tenure, Gery built on and deepened the department’s offerings informed by her commitment to holistic learning, unlearning, and collective healing for racial justice. She spearheaded numerous collaborative initiatives with a diverse range of individuals/organizations in Madison and across the country for workplace equity and intersectional movement building. As she led the co-creation of the Race & Gender Equity team’s offerings, she has also been a crucial contributor to the internal work within YWCA Madison to align practice with values.
The Staff of YWCA Madison are enthusiastic about the ways that Gery will build on the legacy and foundation laid by Vanessa McDowell-Atlas, continuing what she has already seeded for during her directorship and over the past four months as Interim CEO. Gery’s commitment to transformation through collaboration and her extensive lived experiences as a social justice educator, ongoing learner, and facilitator of collective change processes make her uniquely suited to lead YWCA Madison into its next chapter.
“It was experiencing the multidimensional beauty of our collective work and impact that inspired me to accept this role. I feel grateful, humbled, and excited for what we can bring to life collectively by embracing the gift of our interconnectedness across communities and organizations committed to race and gender equity, collective healing, and liberation in Madison, Dane County, and beyond,'' Gery shared.
Among Gery’s significant contributions over the past six years is her leadership in the co-creation of the Racial Justice Summit which has become one of the largest multiracial, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary community gatherings in the United States annually. It is therefore meaningful that this announcement of Gery’s confirmation as the new permanent CEO of YWCA Madison comes as registration for the 2024 Racial Justice Summit opens!
Building on YWCA Madison’s collective values of Humanity, Community, Growth, and Restoration, the 2024 Racial Justice Summit will invite us all to Reflect, Connect, and Create New Worlds with the kaleidoscope as our guiding metaphor.
YWCA Madison is collaborating with national authors, activists, and movement builders at the leading edge of racial justice such as Ijeoma Oluo, Ruth King, Autumn Brown, and David Dean to bring inspiring virtual keynotes and robust in-person institutes to Summit attendees. The Summit is also co-created with local practitioners, educators, artists, facilitators, and community organizers who curate virtual and in-person sessions that engage participants in community dialogue, practice, and action-envisioning. These experiences aim to support attendees in understanding the role that their personal racial justice learning, unlearning, healing, and practice have in shaping relationships and cultures in all areas of their lives.
The Summit will take place from September 25 - 27, 2024. The first two days will be virtual, and the third day, Friday, September 27, will be held in-person at the Monona Terrace in Madison. Various ticket options to attend virtually and/or in-person are available as well as discounted tickets for Youth (grades 9-12) & Chaperones and Young Adults (ages 18-27). Registration will close on August 26, 2024.
The Summit experience is distinctive in many ways. It offers opportunities for multiracial and intergenerational community dialogue and collective visioning across areas of practice and movements for intersectional racial justice including restorative justice, gender justice, healing justice, immigration justice, disability justice, climate justice, economic justice, organizational change for equity, and more. We also are committed to engaging youth and young adults as key members of the community and amplifying their insights and vision in shaping the future.
Attendees often share that the Summit feels like a family reunion; like a celebratory experience of community that exemplifies the world we want to build together. The in-person day will also feature an art exhibition, a pop-up featuring BIPOC creators and Justice Initiatives, and will end with a Rooftop Party at the Monona Terrace Convention Center.
Join us as we Reflect, Connect, and Create New Worlds centered on intersectional racial justice, collective healing, and liberation on September 25 - 27, 2024.
Visit https://ywcamadison-racialjustice-summit-2024.eventbrite.com to learn more and to register.
For more information, contact Libby Tucci at ltucci@ywcamadison.org.
To receive updates about the Summit, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YWCAMadison, Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ywcamadison/, or Twitter at https://twitter.com/YWCAMadison.
YWCA Madison is on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, dignity and justice for all. YWCA Madison is part of an international movement serving over 2 million in the United States and 25 million worldwide. For comprehensive information about this important work, go to www.ywcamadison.org and www.ywca.org.
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