Most people agree that children need healthy, loving, supportive environments to thrive. But, as parents, family members, teachers, neighbors, and voters – how do our biases influence how we interact with the children in our lives and communities? How do those biases influence how children perceive themselves and what they will become?

This is the focus of “Bias and Kids: How Do our Prejudices Affect Our Children?” a free conversation with Verónika Nuñez and Kyrié Kellett at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 5 in Springfield City Hall located at 225 Fifth Street. This program is hosted by City of Springfield’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion and sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

Kyrié Thompson Kellett is the founding principal at Mason Bee Interpretive Planning in Portland, Oregon. She specializes in developing new exhibits, programs, and federal grants in collaboration with community partners. She is a National Association for Interpretation Certified Interpretive Planner with over twenty years of experience developing learning experiences for science museums, the National Parks Service, arboreta, environmental organizations, and outdoor youth programs. Her work focuses on the interface of science and culture, building on a bachelor of arts in environmental studies and physics from Whitman College and a master of arts in applied anthropology from Northern Arizona University.

Verónika Núñez is an artist and educator who lives in Portland, Oregon. She is originally from Venezuela, where she grew up and went to school. She specializes in creating programs, events, trainings, and educational experiences with an inclusion and diversity lens. She works for OMSI as a learning and community engagement specialist. Her focus is to work with communities that are not typically involved in science experiences. Through her work, she has participated in the co-creation of several exhibits and programs, including Sustainability, Designing Our World, and Eat Well, Play Well. She is also active in the theater community, where she has participated in more than twenty plays around the Portland Metro area in theaters like Milagro, Northwest Children’s Theater, and Lakewood. She is passionate about education, inclusion, and creating spaces for growth and the creative process. She is mom to Diego. They love soccer and board games.

Through the Conversation Project, Oregon Humanities offers free programs that engage community members in thoughtful, challenging conversations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our state’s future. For more information about this free community discussion, please contact Vahana Horn at 541.726.3671 or vhorn@springfield-or.gov.

Due to the sometimes sensitive nature of these conversations, we do request that prior notice be given if members of the media plan to attend so that we may prepare the participants for that possibility.

Oregon Humanities (921 SW Washington, Suite 150; Portland, OR 97205) connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information about Oregon Humanities’ programs and publications, which include the Conversation Project, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Public Program Grants, Responsive Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine, can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.