Unconscious Bias: a concept that affects us all, in every aspect of life. As agency owners, it is crucial for us to understand our duty and responsibility to keep unfair bias out of our hiring decisions to ensure candidates of all backgrounds and identities are receiving an impartial hiring process. Many are not aware of the unconscious biases they hold which is why, by education ourselves, we are taking the first step to substantial change! In his educational, yet inspiring session, Mike Coffey will address an alternative duty that we can agree is just as important as releasing our unconscious biases: our ability to encourage diversity in children’s lives, freeing them from constraints in their worldview as they mature. Research suggests that children in culturally responsive educational experiences help to: build young children’s self-confidence and skills, increase children’s awareness, appreciation, and inclusion of diverse beliefs and cultures, and maximize children’s academic achievement and educational success. Pretty important, huh? By examining the difference between legitimate job qualifications and unfair bias, he will explore the ways in which agencies can build processes that limit the impact of unfair bias in hiring decisions. The better we are able to understand how our biases affect our interactions across differences – with domestic workers, nannies, agency owners, and administrative staff – the better we can impact our caregiving communities as well as our children’s futures.