Minnesota is at a crossroads relative to understanding systemic racism and marginalization of people based on skin color (and a host of other things). This talk will briefly dive into glaring skin-color based disparities in Minnesota as a way to explain why radical change/systemic deconstruction is critical for the state to move forward.

In 2009, when she was a civil trial attorney in Cedar Rapids with 100+ trials, Ellen (Ellie) Krug transitioned from male to female; she later became one of the few attorneys nationally to try jury cases in separate genders. The author of Getting to Ellen: A Memoir about Love, Honesty and Gender Change (2013), Ellie has trained on diversity and inclusion to court systems, law firms, Fortune 100 corporations, and colleges/universities on more than 800 occasions. A hopeless idealist, Ellie has presented her inclusivity training, Gray Area Thinking®, across the country. In 2016, Advocate Magazine named Ellie one of the "25 Legal Advocates Fighting for Trans Rights" and in 2019, OutFront Minnesota conferred Ellie its Legacy Award. She is also a monthly columnist for Lavender Magazine and a weekly radio host on AM950 radio. Her monthly e-newsletter, The Ripple, reaches 9,300 readers and can be found at www.elliekrug.com. Ellie presently lives in Minneapolis and is the founder and president of Human Inspiration Works, LLC (www.humaninspirationworks.com).