Keynote Speaker

The ARIE conference provides attendees will have the opportunity to network with a community of change agents; share research, transformative practices, and resources to advance inclusive excellence; and amplify the visibility and impact of the cutting-edge research, scholarship, and creative activities led by the Mason community and other national scholars, researchers, and practitioners.

The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu is a dedicated human rights activist, renowned educator, and Episcopal priest. She has served as the program coordinator for programs in  race and gender and gender-based violence in education at the African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town. In her role overseeing the Race Relations Institute at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., she was part of the institute’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

Her upbringing as the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu presented both opportunities and challenges. Determined to forge her own path, she embraced her vocation in her 50s and is currently a priest associate at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Ga.

Tutu is the founder of Nozizwe Consulting, dedicated to fostering understanding and unity among diverse groups. Her mission includes leading truth and reconciliation workshops for communities grappling with various conflicts.

Her work has contributed significantly to racial and economic equity, and she is the recipient of four honorary doctorates from U.S. and Nigerian institutions, She has served as a curate at Christ Church Cathedral and as a Canon Missioner for Racial and Economic Equity and Kairos West Community Center at the Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville, N.C.

Nolan L. Cabrera is a professor of educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona. He has given hundreds of lectures, keynote addresses, and trainings throughout the country on challenging racism through unconscious bias, creating inclusive college campuses, and the expansion of ethnic studies programs.

Cabrera is an award-winning scholar whose numerous publications have appeared in some of the most prestigious journals in the fields of education and racial studies. He completed his graduate work at UCLA in higher education and organizational change and earned his BA from Stanford University in comparative studies in race and ethnicity, with a focus on education. He is a former director of a Boys & Girls Club in the San Francisco Bay area, and is originally from McMinnville, Oregon.