2025 SENT Seminar: Embodying God’s Dream For Justice, Belonging, and Flourishing

NBA’s Social Entrepreneurship program recently hosted the 2025 SENT Seminar. This year’s theme was “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion: Building Impactful Futures.” Throughout the two-week event a variety of experts discussed challenges that social enterprises face—  particularly those serving historically marginalized communities— and offered tools and strategies to incorporate and maintain DEI into their social enterprise, even in the midst of the current environment.

“SENT Seminar 2025 was both timely and necessary, offering encouragement and practical insights for leaders serving communities that have become increasingly politicized,” said Rev. Darnell Fennell, NBA’s Director of Social Entrepreneurship. “My hope is that participants left reminded that DEI work remains vital and equipped with concrete action steps to help their organizations build impactful futures grounded in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.”

During the first week, attendees heard from experts on how to launch a DEI Initiative in their organization, building DEI into hiring practices, developing programming with a DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) lens, cultivating relationships that are inclusive, and supporting DEI-focused organizations.

Rev. Rebecca Jackson of Love Seed Practice, together with the Week 1 speakers, shared valuable lessons from her professional experience in discussing DEI during the week 1 livestream event. She emphasized the importance of ensuring everyone has a shared understanding of the basics and developing the skills needed to engage in meaningful conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. She also stressed the need to move at the speed of trust, not harm, despite the temptation to resolve situations urgently.

Week 2’s experts spoke about diversity in relation to constructing a board and in marketing your organization, examining federal funding opportunities in the midst of a changing environment, and how the legal system landscape is shifting regarding immigrants and LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Hillary Carey of Just Visions was the second week’s livestream keynote, joining the week’s speakers to discuss a concept she developed called Social Design Dreaming, which uses futures thinking, social justice practices, and design practices to help people share visions of what a better future can look like. This method doesn’t aim to predict trends or get ahead of the most current technology available, but rather works be describing what belonging looks like in specific and vivid detail to offer excitement to the futures that are being built.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s livestream event! If you would like to check out the Week 1 and Week 2 livestream events, you can do so at NBA’s YouTube page.