Cross-Cultural Dialogue: Strategies for Navigating Communities as a Guest (Non-CE)

Overview

This webinar invites participants to deepen their understanding of how cultural narratives and personal and collective histories shape the ways we see ourselves and others. Together, we will explore how these forces can reinforce “us-versus-them” dynamics and contribute to inequality within institutions and communities. Participants will also be encouraged to reflect critically on their own social location, including experiences of othering and areas of privilege, as a way to build greater self-awareness. Through this process, this session aims to support the development of more thoughtful, responsible, and justice-oriented approaches to engaging with clients across diverse cultural contexts. This webinar will be presented in an interview-style format and will cover the cultural competency requirement for LCSW/LSW and LCPC/LPC licenses in the state of Illinois.

Objectives

1. To learn to understand clients within the context of cultural narratives and personal and group histories, and to recognize how these histories and narratives produce and sustain us-versus-them dynamics and inequality in institutional and community contexts
2. To critically examine your own social location, experiences of othering, and areas of privilege to strengthen self-awareness and cultivate justice-oriented practices.
3. To learn how to use your knowledge of identity, privilege, and social context to engage clients thoughtfully and responsibly across cultural differences.

Registration and CE Information

• This listing is for those not needing CEs.
• Please see the CE version if you need CEs for this event
• The live webinar will be held May 22, 2026, from 10:30pm - 12:00pm
• Once registered, you will be able to access the course site to complete the Zoom registration to receive the link for the webinar.

Presenter: Katie Shumway

Katie Shumway works in community engagement at the University of Illinois School of Social Work and has been with the Community Learning Lab (CLL) since 2014. In her role, she is interested in building reciprocal, meaningful partnerships between local community organizations and university resources. Her work centers on service-learning project matching, while also supporting other collaborative, community-engaged initiatives.

Presenter: Dr. Antonio Pizarro

Dr. Antonio Pizarro holds a Master's degree in Christian Ministry and Restorative Arts and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching, where his research focused on prophetic preaching for social justice within predominantly white churches. Dr. Pizarro is an itinerant prophetic preacher.

He is the founder and owner of Kintsugi LLC. Through Kintsugi LLC, he creates teaching and learning spaces that encourage individuals to embrace their full selves and recognize their brokenness as a valuable asset. A proud Baltimore, Maryland native, Dr. Pizarro embodies the transformative journey of turning brokenness into beauty.

Dr. Pizarro serves as the Program Manager for Illinois Humanities' Envisioning Justice statewide initiative, adjunct professor with Lewis University's Higher Education in Prison bachelor's degree program, and the co author of Inside-Out: Journeys of Transformation.