ADI continues coalition building with systems design workshop at Roger Williams University School of Law

July 2025—In early May, the Antiracist Development Institute (ADI) at Penn State Dickinson Law held a systems design workshop at Roger Williams University (RWU) School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island. The daylong event continued the ADI’s critical work of providing tools and information to help dismantle structures scaffolding systemic racial inequality, oppression, and intersectional injustice across the legal profession and the legal academy.

The workshop drew participants from 12 law schools across New England, expanding the coalition to more than 75 law schools and law-adjacent organizations nationwide that have participated in or hosted ADI workshops or contributed to the ADI-shepherded book series Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession. ADI partner University of California Press will publish the series.

The workshop included a video overview of the ADI’s mission accompanied by remarks from Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway, the ADI’s executive director, as well as an introduction to design thinking presented by RWU Law Professor and Assistant Dean for Curricular Innovation Nicole P. Dyszlewski. The day wrapped up with a conversation between Conway and RWU Law Dean Gregory W. Bowman, who are close friends and decanal colleagues.

Conway encouraged those in attendance to consider how to embed antiracism into their daily work. “Teaching, writing, and service are all scholarship in support of that work. If you can think about antiracism one minute per day, you have done the work. Then do it again tomorrow and the next day and talk about it with others,” said Conway, pointing to the iterative nature of design thinking.

‘Joining together in coalition with the ADI’

Dyszlewski, an ADI systems designer and co-editor for the University of California Press book series, illustrated the design thinking basics. She used a local example that is unfortunately well-known to New England residents—the 2023 closure of the George Washington Bridge due to structural deficiencies accidentally uncovered by an engineer. Attendees discussed the incident and its aftermath by employing the five stages of design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test).

Participants had the opportunity to ask questions, break into small groups to complete design thinking exercises, and reflect on what they learned before the workshop ended with the conversation between the deans.

Everything throughout the day was done with intention, from serving food representing different cultures to the location chosen for the event, a law school where Dyszlewski and fellow faculty members Diana Hassel and Monica Teixeira de Sousa recently published a textbook entitled Race and the Foundations of American Law.

“We experienced an incredible level of energy and engagement at this workshop. Seeing all these people committed to antiracism, hailing from a dozen different law schools across New England and joining together in coalition with the ADI, fuels our resolve to continue this critical work,” said ADI Program Manager TaWanda Hunter Stallworth.

An approach providing tangible, actionable steps

As associate director of admissions and diversity at Suffolk University School of Law, Randolph Ceballo frequently attends events related to diversity efforts. Many focus on offering support and emotional resources, which he appreciates. But he said he found something new at the ADI workshop.

“Today's experience was a really fantastic change of pace. It felt like something tangible that could be implemented in any sort of office or position. It focused more on the process and how you can take a more equitable approach to decision-making or planning,” said Ceballo. “I am a former teacher, and any seminar that allows audience participation and workshopping in small groups tends to be so much more effective than listening to someone speak for six hours. It does make sense that a workshop about systems design would be designed well.”

Dr. Bridgette Baldwin, professor of law at Western New England University School of Law, signed up for the workshop after meeting Stallworth and Dyszlewski at the Annual Meeting of Law School Diversity Professionals (AMDiP) earlier this year. “When I spoke to TaWanda and Nicole at AMDiP, I realized ‘these are my people who I did not even realize existed.’ So, I was very, very interested in attending this workshop,” said Baldwin.

She felt invigorated by what she learned about systems design. “To come here and to be in a space to learn something that I had not learned before was very valuable to me,” said Baldwin. “I appreciated the connectivity to law and then to nonlaw matters to help us understand how the process works.”

She immediately marked the dates for the ADI’s Third Annual Convening in October on her calendar. “I have never had the opportunity to be in spaces where people who did this kind of work collaborated in a way that my school would support,” said Baldwin. “Everything I have ever written intersects with race, so I am thrilled to find like-minded folks I can talk to, get information from, and collaborate with. It is a warm environment.”

Jorgelina Uribe, assistant director of academic advising and operations at Northeastern University School of Law, attended the workshop hoping to find valuable information about antiracism that she had not heard elsewhere. “It was eye opening to learn how we jump to solutions, oftentimes without asking, ‘What does the participant or the person directly impacted by this want to see, and what is their experience?’” said Uribe, who is in a PhD program focused on racism, equity, and access to higher education. “I think everyone who works in a legal education system should receive this type of training. It is really important because we are not taught to empathize with people within the education system or school.”

Participants left the workshop eager to incorporate the design thinking process into their work going forward and continue in coalition with the ADI.

“This workshop experience was really powerful for me personally, and moving forward, it will be important for me professionally. I look forward to implementing this process into my work,” said Ceballo.