Minnesota has been touted as one of the best places in the nation to live it terms of affordability, health, opportunity and wealth. At the same time, reports consistently emerge demonstrating that people of color in Minnesota experience significantly higher than average rates of poverty, lower high school graduation rates, low rates of home ownership, significant racial income gaps and higher involvement in the criminal justice system. In our child welfare system, American Indian and African American children have the highest rates of contact with the child protection system, are more likely to be assigned to a family investigation, have higher out of home placement rates and higher re-entry rates and are more likely to enter guardianship. As professionals who care deeply about children in Minnesota, we have the knowledge, passion and desire to understand these disparities and work towards addressing them. Join us to learn about the disparities that overwhelmingly impact African American communities, how these disparities came to be, the role of implicit bias and to discuss advocacy around these issues so that we, as passionate professionals, can work towards change. Note: Participants will be asked to take an online quiz as a part of this session, to fully participate please bring your phone, tablet or a laptop. This is not required to attend the session.