Montco Community College To Host Symposium On Diversity

Press release from the Montgomery County Community College:

Eric Devlin

December 11, 2023

Montgomery County Community College is proud to announce the 2024 Presidential Symposium
on Diversity will be held Feb. 13-16 on the College’s campuses in Blue Bell and Pottstown
and online.

This annual capstone event advances and facilitates ongoing public dialogue on diversity
and inclusiveness among students, employees and the community. It will include four
days of learning and discussion designed to engage our campuses and communities.

“This is a four-day event, themed “Transforming Lives: Breaking Barriers and Empowering
Change,” is a nod to our 60th anniversary tagline ‘Transforming Lives and Communities,’”
said Dr. Stephanie R. Allen, Director of Equity, Diversity and Belonging. “This year’s
symposium is a family-friendly event, meaning there are events and activities for
all ages and stages of life.”

The keynote speaker for the 2024 Presidential Symposium on Diversity is Dyana Williams,
award-winning on-air personality and trailblazer in broadcasting, music activism and
celebrity media strategy. She will deliver an empowering and uplifting keynote address
about her journey in media over the last 50 years.

Williams began her career in broadcasting first in radio in 1973 under the pseudonym
Ebony Moonbeams working for stations in New York and Washington, D.C. and later in
TV. In fact, she was the first Black rock DJ in New York. She eventually moved to
Philadelphia in 1980 working as a DJ for WDAS 105.3-FM, where she continued to pioneer
a trail for Black women in broadcasting to follow for decades to come.

Williams is CEO of Influence Entertainment, working as a media consultant with some
of the music industry’s biggest stars including pop stars Justin Bieber, Pitbull,
Rihanna and Usher, to rappers T.I., and ASAP Rocky, as well as rock groups Dave Matthews
Band and The Zac Brown Band. Williams helps her clients navigate fame and their image
in the media.

Outside of her work, Williams has helped found the International Association of African
American Music Foundation and the National Museum of African American Music. Dubbed “The Godmother of Black Music” by Ebony Magazine, she also helped to establish June as Black Music Month.

In 2011, News One listed Williams as #7 on the "Top 20 Black Radio Jockeys of All Time" and RadioFacts.com recognized her as #8 on the "Top 30 Black Women in Media." In 2014, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, presented a proclamation to Williams for her efforts to augment the Philadelphia slogan: The City of Brotherly Love, adding Sisterly Affection, acknowledging the inclusion of women.

Her message to students during this year’s symposium will be to pursue the best versions
of themselves.

“It’s about living a life of fulfillment,” said Williams. “I want to pass on to students
that life is about absorbing. I want to talk to students about actualization, realization
and accomplishing your goals.”

All events during the symposium are free and open to the public, though registration
is required for certain presentations. Virtual sessions do not require registration,
though links to each session will be available via the Presidential Symposium on Diversity
homepage.

Dr. Allen encouraged students in the High School Dual Enrollment, Upward Bound, Montco's Partnership on Work Enrichment and Readiness (POWER), and Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS), program to have a presence at the Presidential Symposium on Diversity.

In addition, the 2024 Presidential Symposium on Diversity’s service project will be
collecting gently used instruments to donate to Girls First, a Norristown based after school program for young people.

For full details about the 2024 Presidential Symposium on Diversity, visit the home page or contact the office of Equity, Diversity and Belonging.

This press release was produced by the Montgomery County Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.