State College Borough
Proud partner of PA Dignity Day

Leading with Dignity in Divided Times

When: Wednesday, October 16, 2024, noon–5:00 p.m.
Where: The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center, 215 Innovation Blvd, State College, PA 16803

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Penn State and State College Borough are partnering once again and will host PA Dignity Day on Wednesday, October 16, as part of the international celebration of Global Dignity Day. This year’s event will feature a free half-day conference that includes a keynote speaker, interactive workshops, and community discussions, where you can share your insights about fostering dignity in our communities with fellow community members.

Everyone attending the whole conference can enjoy a delicious buffet lunch and will have the opportunity to network with fellow attendees, exchanging ideas and experiences. By sharing our ideas, listening to each other, and working collaboratively, we can transform our communities into places where every individual feels safe, seen, heard, and valued.

The emotional volatility associated with having our dignity honored or violated cannot be overstated. When people feel that their value and worth are recognized in relationships, they experience a sense of well-being that enables them to grow and flourish. If, in contrast, their dignity is routinely injured, relationships are experienced as a source of pain and suffering…. Why is this knowledge important for leadership? If we are going to lead people, we better understand them.

—Donna Hicks, Ph.D., Leading with Dignity

Featured Speakers 

Keynote Speaker: Rosalind Wiseman

We are pleased to welcome Rosalind Wiseman as this year’s keynote speaker. Rosalind’s work is centered on understanding power and social dynamic and how that relates to the concepts of dignity and respect. She is a bestselling author and thought leader on dignity, principled leadership, conflict, youth culture, education, and partnering. Her work challenges us to understand the power of dignity in building courage, connection, and community.

Rosalind currently serves as a senior leadership consultant for the U.S. Department of State’s Office for Overseas Schools, which serves more than 195 schools throughout the world, and is a consultant at the Texas Science Behavioral Science and Mind Institute. Rosalind’s work and research has led to authoring nine books, including the recently released Courageous Discomfort and her New York Times best-selling book Queen Bees and Wannabes, which inspired the movie and Broadway musical Mean Girls.

Project Unite Team

The Project Unite team will educate, train, and empower all PA Dignity Day attendees to use the Dignity Index. This eight-point scale is used to measure how we talk to each other when we disagree and is designed to ease divisions, prevent violence, and solve problems by focusing on the speech being used in conversations, not the speakers.

Registration

Contact Information

For inquiries about PA Dignity Day, please contact us at padignityday@psu.edu.

What Is Global Dignity Day?

Global Dignity LogoGlobal Dignity Day is a celebration of unity in the belief that everyone deserves to live a life of dignity. First observed in 2008, Global Dignity Day is held on the third Wednesday in October in more than 80 countries. It was founded by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway; entrepreneur John Bryant, CEO and founder of Operation HOPE; and Professor Pekka Himanen, author and philosopher.

What Is Dignity?Dignity means that we all matter equally.

Dignity is a feeling in your core.
A belief in your own worth.
A belief in the worth of others.
With dignity, we lead lives of hope, optimism and compassion,
Guided by a universal ethical compass.

Dignity is the belief that our basic humanity
Is shared with every other person on this planet.

Definition courtesy of globaldignity.org

Take the Dignity Pledge

I pledge to join with others to create a world where compassion, understanding, and love triumph over intolerance, injustice, and inequality. I pledge to be kind and open-minded, honoring the unique gifts and value of others.

Register your Dignity Pledge here