The Division of Inclusive Culture & Belonging is delighted to announce that the keynote speaker for the 2024 CU Social Justice Summit, hosted at UCCS on October 8, will be Brandon Kazen-Maddox, an American Sign Language (ASL) artist, choreographer, director, dancer, actor, acrobat and activist.
This year’s keynote is aligned with the theme of Inclusive Leadership and Belonging, which centers each campus’s commitment to fostering inclusive learning and work environments.
This biennial, systemwide summit event will include engaging discussions alongside leaders, educators, researchers and advocates dedicated to fostering inclusive leadership and belonging across our communities.
The summit will explore four areas of focus:
- Social Activism and Community Engagement
- Equity in Research, Teaching, and Scholarship
- Mental Health, Wellness, and Self-care
- Advocacy, Safety, and Transformative Justice
For the full schedule of sessions and session speakers, visit the summit webpage.
The event is open to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, university staff and frontline employees from CU Boulder, CU Denver, UCCS, the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and the CU system office in Denver. Alumni and other community members are also welcome to attend the summit. The in-person event will take place in the UCCS Ent Center for the Arts, but there will be a virtual option available.
Registration is now open; the planning committee recommends that participants register early as in-person spots are limited. Registration closes Monday, September 30.
About the Keynote
Brandon Kazen-Maddox (they/them) is an American Sign Language Artist and Grandchild of Deaf Adults (GODA), growing up from birth in a culturally Deaf household. As a third-generation heritage signer, it is Brandon’s passion and responsibility to carry on their generational birthright and lineage of ASL Artistry.
As an ASL Artist, choreographer, filmmaker, dancer, actor, acrobat and activist, Brandon has spent the last 10 years as a professional ASL interpreter in the mediums of activism, performance, politics, film, television and theater, providing access to, and facilitating communication between, the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and hearing communities.
Brandon creates work with and for the Deaf and Disability communities, and highlights and empowers BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ artists, building bridges among people of all backgrounds and abilities. Recent keynote appearances have included NASPA Conference, Fidelity Investments Conference, MAS Event+Design, California Faculty of the Arts and A Day of Unreasonable Conversation at the Getty Museum for the social impact organization Propper Daley.
Brandon was a featured storyteller on the 100th episode of Stories From the Stage on PBS and they were named as one of Gucci’s Chime for Change 22 for ’22. Brandon is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award, New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Production Grant, the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation Grant and the New York State Council on the Arts grant. Brandon is also a member of the Circle of Advocates for RISE Theater Directory, curated and supported by the Miranda Family Foundation. Brandon’s television credits include guest appearances on High Maintenance and The Good Fight. Their work has been profiled by The New York Times, ABC World News, ABC/Disney, CNN and The PBS NewsHour’s “Brief But Spectacular” series.
Brandon holds an MFA in Dance and New Technology from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is a co-founder of Up Until Now Collective, an arts and media company that focuses on developing and producing radically inclusive interdisciplinary work.