NEW YORK—SUNY College of Optometry's Office of Continuing Professional Education will conduct another webinar in its three-year series designed to stimulate a national conversation on race and equity within the profession of optometry. Titled "Race in Optometry: Headwinds - Exploring Emerging Barriers to Success," the virtual session will be held Wed., June 28, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Noted SUNY, "The series has served as a measure of accountability and reflection in our journey to becoming a more equitable profession.

“This year's webinar comes at a time when there has been significant anti-DEI legislation at the state level and challenges to racially conscious admissions at the level of the US Supreme Court. Our sixth 'Race in Optometry' discussion will address the challenges, discuss the impact they have on our DEI initiatives and outline tools we can use to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in the face of these headwinds."

The panel will be moderated by Joy Harewood, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, chief diversity officer, Associate Clinical Professor, SUNY College of Optometry. The panel participants include:

  • Dr. Kathy Northern - associate dean for Inclusive Excellence, associate professor of Law

  • Dr. Ruth Shoge – director of DEIB, Berkeley Optometry

  • Wendy Ravitz - chief campus counsel for the SUNY College of Optometry

  • Dr. Adam Ramsey – founder, Black Eyecare Perspective

  • Dr. Larry Jones – president - National Optometric Association

  • Dr. Teri Gossard – trustee - American Optometric Association

  • Dr. Vondolee Delgado-Nixon – DEIB chair - American Academy of Optometry

  • Dr. David Heath – president, SUNY College of Optometry

  • Dr. Keshia Elder – dean, University of St. Louis at Missouri School of Optometry

  • Dr. Karla Zadnik – dean, the Ohio State University College of Optometry

Registration for the June 28 session is here.

SUNY Optometry noted there is a Zoom CAPACITY NOTICE: This webinar has a capacity of 1,000 attendees only. If you're not able to log on be sure to visit the SUNYCPE Facebook page to view the live stream.

The webinar will be recorded and made available afterward on the SUNY CPE website.

All of SUNY Optometry's prior DEI sessions are posted for those who want to catch up on the Race in Optometry series: