Yavilah McCoy
Yavilah McCoy, is the CEO of the Diversity consulting group DIMENSIONS Inc. Through Dimensions, Yavilah services an international portfolio of clients in the areas of Education, Philanthropy, and Social Justice. As an anti-racism educator and activist with an international platform, Yavilah provides training and consulting to numerous projects that span multiple identities and communities. Yavilah brings a uniquely intersectional perspective to the ongoing work of racial justice and collective liberation. She is a pioneer of the Jewish diversity and equity movement and an advocate and mentor for the empowerment of a transglobal community of Jewish Leaders of Color.
Yavilah is a trustee of the Irving Harris Foundation and has served on the steering committees of the Women’s March and many other large-scale national movement efforts. Yavilah was an inaugural recipient of the Spielberg Foundation’s Joshua Venture Fellowship and directed the launch of the “Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Project” for Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the Ruderman Family Foundation in Boston. Yavilah also directed the Bronfman Philanthropy’s Curriculum Initiative, where she provided educational consultancy to 600 prep schools across the nation. Yavilah is a renowned national speaker, educator, and spiritual practitioner. She is a certified coach for the Auburn Theological Seminary's Pastoral Coach Training Program and an inaugural fellow of their Sojourner Truth Leadership Circle.
Yavilah was voted one of “16 Faith Leaders to Watch” by the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC and is a recipient of the Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk Taker Award. In 2019 Yavilah was inducted into the “Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame.” In celebration of the musical traditions passed down to her from three generations of her African-American Jewish family, Yavilah is also the writer, producer and performer of the Jewish Gospel theatrical production “The Colors of Water.”
Presentations from Facing Race 2024
From Hope to Action: Building Multiracial Solidarity
Join us for From Hope to Action: Building Multiracial Solidarity, this closing plenary will address the critical role of solidarity in today’s world, shaped by both global and local conflicts and rapid demographic changes. As forces of inequality leverage these tensions to stall progress on racial justice, true multiracial solidarity requires more than affirming each community’s priorities—it demands active collaborative leadership to address and bridge tensions before they become tools of division.
This session will explore the practical strategies for resilience, unity, and engagement across differences that are essential for strengthening bonds within and between communities and their leadership. Through impactful stories, real-world examples, and tools from leaders experienced in conflict resolution, attendees will gain actionable insights to help leaders, organizations, and institutions of governance to thrive together through the most challenging of times.
More than just a discussion, this plenary is an invitation to imagine and build a future where solidarity itself becomes our most powerful shared purpose against forces undermining the advancement of racial justice in the United States.
Moderator(s): Eric Ward Speakers: Murad Awawdeh, Deepa Iyer, Erin Heaney, Don Ragona, Yavilah McCoyPresentations from Facing Race 2018
Uncovering our roots, exploding our binaries and embodying resistance in beloved community as we fight racism and anti-Semitism together
As rhetoric and policies continue to sanction White nationalism and make violence against our bodies and communities commonplace, Women of Color faith leaders are deepening their relationships and developing their resolve for standing together to resist the tropes and practices of white supremacy, uphold our connection to all movement people whose bodies, lives, families and futures have been put on the line, and grow beloved community and relationships, that hold the depth, honesty and commitments we know are necessary to secure our liberation together. Join Jewish Women of Color and Women of Color activists, across faith communities, to consider what is needed to decolonize our religious approaches to the work of ending racism and anti-Semitism. Explore activist work to dismantle racism and anti-Semitism intersectionally and consider what roles we can all play in building communities and power, across faith entry points, that address this work, deepen solidarity and strengthen our movement for the long haul.
Speakers: Yavilah McCoy, Lisa AndersonPresentations from Facing Race 2014
The Beautiful Struggle: Towards A Multi-Faith Movement for Racial Justice
It's not taboo to talk the stuff of religion, politics and race here! In small and large group conversations, participants of diverse faith traditions and spiritual commitments will:
• Connect with each other as racial justice change agents
• Share stories of racial equity struggles and victories from within their particular faith traditions and spiritual communities
• Identify inter-faith racial justice victories happening across faith traditions and spiritual communities
• Imagine an activated, culturally relevant, multi-faith movement for racial justice across the U.S.
Come contribute to this interactive conversation space to help forge a creative new path forward for a racially just multi-faith movement for social justice.