CREED Call to Action Continuing to Build
Courage, Capabilities, and Community
to Advance Racial and Ethnic Equity

We held the first anniversary of the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Development (CREED) on Wednesday, February 22nd at 3:00 pm EST in Washington, DC and on Teams to celebrate our mutual efforts to advance racial and ethnic equity (REE) in development.

Program

  • Coffee & Registration (in-person): 2:30 pm
      Sponsored by URC
  • Main Program (hybrid): 3:00 pm
    • Welcome Address: Indira Ahluwalia, Founder/Chair CREED
    • Keynote: Clinton D. White, Counselor, USAID
        Sponsored by RTI
    • Panel discussion: Building, Operationalizing and Sustaining Racial and Ethnic Equity
      • C.D. Glin, Global Head of Philanthropy at PepsiCo and President, PepsiCo Foundation
      • Tonija Navas, Director, Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University
      • Ambassador Brian A. Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Affairs
      • Moderated by Muna Idow, Vice President, Diversity, Rocial Equity & Belonging, UNICEF USA
    • Closing Remarks
        Sponsored by Palladium
  • Reception (in-person): 4:30 pm

Bios

Welcome Address

Indira Ahluwalia, Founder/Chair CREED

Indira Ahluwalia has founded, led, and advised organizations and coached leaders to strengthen equity, effectiveness, and achievement. Indira leads KAUR Strategies to enable authentic and transformative growth through advisory and coaching services; and is also a Senior Advisor at Palladium. In 2021, Indira founded and chairs the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Development (CREED), which launched a racial and ethnic equity pledge for US-based international development organizations, and created a learning community to advance racial and ethnic diversity, equity, and belonging in the international development and humanitarian assistance sector. In 2021, Indira also published her memoir Fast Forward to Hope: Choosing to Build the Power of Self to share her journey from fear to hope as she faced stage IV advanced breast cancer. The book serves as a tribute to finding one's own power, and cultivating life's trajectory.

Keynote Speaker

Clinton D. White, Counselor, USAID

Mr Clinton serves as the Counselor for the United States Agency for International Development. He has more than 20 years of experience in the public sector and is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. His career also includes working with national and municipal governments as well as a range of private-sector and civil-society groups, including those representing women, youth, and marginalized communities, in their efforts to improve the lives of families, communities, and countries. A champion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, Mr. White has led partnerships between USAID and our nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, helping the Agency inspire purpose-driven engagement to tackle some of the world's most vexing development and humanitarian challenges.

Panelist

C.D. Glin, Global Head of Philanthropy at PepsiCo and President, PepsiCo Foundation

C.D Glin is the President of the PepsiCo Foundation and Global Head of Philanthropy for PepsiCo. In this role, Glin oversees the organization's social- and community-driven impact efforts and a portfolio of global employee engagement programs. He joined the PepsiCo Foundation in 2021 and has been instrumental in the launch and expansion of a variety of global PepsiCo Foundation philanthropic initiatives, including the Black Restaurant Accelerator program and the IMPACTO Hispanic Business Accelerator, two initiatives totalling S20 million dollars and providing 1,000 Black and Hispanic restaurant and foodservice owners with capital, technical assistance, and mentorship services. These programs, along with the Foundation's $40 million Community College scholarship programs, are cornerstones of PepsiCo's Racial Equality Journey. Prior to PepsiCo, Glin served as the President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation and as Associate Director for Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Panelist

Tonija Navas, Director, Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University

Tonija Hope Navas is the Director of the Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. She has over 19 years of experience in the international exchange, international education, and management fields. In addition to her role at Howard University, Ms Navas also serves as the Chair of the US Civil Society Committee of the US-Colombia Action Plan for Racial and Ethnic Equality (CAPREE), an initiative of the Colombian and US governments to address issues of racial discrimination and social inclusion in both countries. She has a keen interest in and passion for facilitating relationships between and among people of different cultures, and particularly for exposing young people from underserved communities, domestically and internationally, to opportunities for travel and education abroad.

Panelist

Ambassador Brian A. Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Affairs

Ambassador Nichols is the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Peru from 2014 to 2017, and to Zimbabwe from 2018 to 2021. In Peru, he pioneered strategies against illegal gold mining, illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, and environmental degradation–critical efforts contributing to building a strong economic foundation that meets Peru's marginalized and indigenous populations' needs. In Zimbabwe, he promoted democracy, rule of law and human rights, while managing multi-dimensional humanitarian crises brought on by corruption, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moderator

Muna Idow, Vice President, Diversity, Rocial Equity & Belonging, UNICEF USA

Muna Idow is the Vice President of Diversity, Racial Equity, and Belonging at UNICEF USA, where she leads the organization's anti-racism and belonging work. An equity and inclusion strategist, seasoned facilitator, coach, and award‐winning trainer with over 10 years of experience developing and implementing organizational change initiatives, Muna centers community in her work and leads from a place of deep empathy and truth. Muna has previously served in senior leadership roles at CARE USA and the City of Portland.

Champion Sponsors

CREED is grateful for their generous support of this event