A summit coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio, the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, the Ohio Asian American and Pacific Islander Advisory Council, and the Columbus Community Relations Commission.
What’s the big idea?
connecting communities
Join us to learn how our agencies are helping New Americans and their communities understand and use civil rights laws that protect them from unfair treatment and discrimination.
After listening to folks in New American communities statewide, we are bringing together leaders to talk about your rights on your job or when you look for work, when you rent or buy housing, when people suffer or are threatened with violent hate crime, and in your dealings with police, sheriffs and other law enforcement. We will educate, communicate, and collaborate!
Our goal is to bring together those who have immigrated to Ohio from places all over the world to understand their rights, learn best practices, and work together to create better communities for all.
What are civil rights?
You have the right to equal justice and equal opportunity under U.S. and Ohio laws. You cannot be discriminated against because of your national origin, race, color, religion, whether you are married or have children, sex, or disability.
Laws that cover national origin make it illegal to discriminate based on a person’s birthplace, ancestry, culture, or language. This means people cannot be denied equal opportunity because they or their family are from another country, because they have a name or accent associated with a national origin group, because they have limited English ability, or because they participate in certain customs.
The federal, state, and local agency representatives can answer questions and find the right government and community agencies to help you protect those rights.
The Agenda
1-1:55pm: Protecting Civil Rights: Know Your Rights & Responsibilities
Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio
Juliet K. Choi, Chief of Staff & Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights
Michael Payton, Director of Ohio Civil Rights Commission
2-2:50pm: Track 1 – Knowing Your Employment Rights
Nelson Hewitt, Equal Opportunity Specialist, CRC
Keith McNeil, Director of Operations/Regional Counsel, Ohio Civil Rights Commission
Cynthia Stankiewicz, Acting Director of the Cleveland Field Office, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Track 2 – Knowing Your Language Rights
Julia Arbini, Board member, Ohio Hispanic Coalition; commissioner, CRC
3-3:50pm: Track 1 – Knowing Your Responsibilities: Addressing Hate Crimes
Kenneth L. Parker, Chief of Criminal Division of U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Ohio
Rebecca Nelson, Bias Assessment and Response Team, The Ohio State University; member, OAAPIAC and CRC
Track 2 – Knowing Your Responsibilities: Addressing Domestic Violence
Tonia Lake, Training and Technical Assistance Director, Ohio Domestic Violence Network
Inna Simakovsky, immigration attorney
4-4:50pm: Track 1 – Protecting Civil Rights: Police Misconduct and Racial Profiling
Cassandra Robinson, Senior Community Safety Specialist and Iris Roley, The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati Community Police Partnering Center
SSA Eric Thomas, FBI
Track 2 – Protecting Civil Rights: Knowing Your Housing Rights
Lisa Hasegawa, Executive Director, National Center for Asian Pacific Islander Community Development
Eduardo Gesio, Equal Opportunity Specialist, Chicago Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development
5-6pm: Where do we go from here?
An invitation to an optional coalition-building meeting, led by Ron Katsuyama
Protecting Civil Rights Town Hall Meeting
April 23
1 to 6 p.m.
The Riffe Center
77 S. High St.
1 to 6 p.m.
April 23, 2013
South Room B & C
The Riffe Center, 31st floor
77 S. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Register here for this free event!
