An IRELA CLE Webinar

We Need To Talk: Navigating Challenging Conversations about Diversity

Julia Roundtree Livingston

MCLE tentative for 1-hour Diversity & Inclusion CLE credit

Registration is Free for IRELA Members
Non-Members ~ $50*

Since 2020, the murder of George Floyd has prompt people to have difficult conversations regarding race. However, little constructive guidance was given regarding how to have these conversations. As a result, although some people engaged in these conversations and were catalysts for change, other people had conversations which may have done more harm than good, and other people simply tried to avoid having these conversations at all.

The reality is that many people struggle with having honest and productive conversations about diversity. These conversations require people to discuss potentially sensitive topics … to speak and listen with empathy … to be open to accepting constructive criticism … to be willing to ask questions with an open mind … and to risk potentially saying the wrong thing. As a result, some people try to avoid ever having these conversations.

This course explores how professionalism and civility can provide you with skills to facilitate difficult conversations regarding diversity and help you to be leaders in creating more inclusive environments. 

Julia Roundtree Livingston

Julia Roundtree Livingston is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Manager at the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism where she leads the Commission’s education and advocacy initiatives aimed at promoting DEI in Illinois’ legal and justice systems. She joined the Commission in 2023.

Prior to joining the Commission, Julia was Executive Director of Macon County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), which provides court-appointed volunteers to advocate for abused, neglected, and/or dependent children who are involved in the Macon County juvenile court system. She was appointed to this role in 2018 after serving as CASA’s Director of Development.

At CASA, Julia led a sustainable nonprofit organization with multiple streams of funding while educating the community on the need for CASA’s services. This included working with local lawyers and judges to organize trainings for CASA volunteers, regularly communicating with legal and judicial professionals about CASA’s capabilities, and presentations to the Decatur Bar Association on CASA’s work.

Julia grew the organization’s impact by increasing the number of community volunteers who became advocates as well as the number of children that CASA serves. In 2021, Julia led Macon County CASA in expanding its services into a second county, DeWitt County.

Julia was also a member of the Illinois CASA Equity Task Force, the Illinois CASA/Children Advocacy Centers Task Force, and the CWEC (Child Welfare Advisory Committee) on Racial Equity led by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services.

Before joining CASA, Julia was the Director of Development at Baby TALK, an educational non-profit in Decatur, Illinois, and an English professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Florida State University, and Richland Community College.

Julia received an ABD (all but dissertation) in African American Literature and U.S. Literature Since 1865 from Florida State University and a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she was a 4-year letter winner in cross country and indoor/outdoor track.

She is a member of the Diversity & Education Leadership Team at the Maroa-Forsyth School District and founder of Discourse on Racial Difference: A Macon County Book Club, which has 600 members statewide.

In December 2023, Julia was named chair of the Untold Stories Committee, a Macon County community engagement program led by the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation which is charged with promoting a fuller understanding of history as a contribution to conversations about racial equity and social justice

Julia lives with her husband and three children in Forsyth, Illinois. As a family, they enjoy board games, watching sports, playing basketball and soccer, and traveling.

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