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DEI Community Conversations: Interrupting Bias and De-Escalation Techniques for Equestrians

Posted: October 2021
Length: 00:00
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About This Video

This webinar, which took place on October 25, 2021, is part of US Equestrian's DEI Community Conversation series. 

This conversation explores what people can do if they see or hear an instance of bias through the lens of equestrian sport. However, these tools can be applied in any environment, regardless of it is at a competition or in the barn. Panelists include Hadley Zeavin, Dr. Caroline Prijatel-Sutton, and Ashland Johnson. Learn how to address instances of bias and use de-escalation techniques and other communication skills related to tough conversations in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

About the DEI Community Conversations Series:

US Equestrian’s DEI Community Conversations series will serve as a forum for raising awareness about the various experiences and issues affecting equestrians from under-represented or under-served communities. The series aims to lift traditionally marginalized voices from the equestrian community, and beyond, while building community across the broad network of horse sport enthusiasts. The series is an initiative of the DEI Action Plan’s comprehensive marketing plan strategy, one of 10 strategies to advance DEI in the sport over the next three to five years.

About The Expert

Hadley Zeavin (San Diego, Calif.) is the Director of Service Learning and Experiential Education at La Jolla Country Day School. A sociology and women’s and gender studies major at Vanderbilt University (B.A.) and sport and exercise management graduate of the Ohio State University (M.A.), Zeavin worked in college and professional athletics before transitioning into a career in independent schools. Her work focuses on building empathy and relationships and using those skills to contribute to communities. Zeavin has three horses, Griffin, Winston, and Miss Pig. She is an amateur hunter rider competing on the “A” circuit and serves on the United States Hunter Jumper Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Committee.


Dr. Caroline Prijatel-Sutton (Moorpark, Calif.) competes in the hunter discipline and holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is the Executive Director of The Coalition for Family Harmony, an agency dedicated to supporting victims of family abuse, and previously served as the organization’s Child and Elder Abuse Hotline Director and Crisis Response and Intervention Supervisor for the Rape Crisis Program. Prijatel-Sutton has also worked as a counselor for Children of War in Northern Ireland; as an advocate for Egyptian refugees with The World Relief Organization; and in the Mental Health Program at the Carter Center.

Ashland Johnson (Washington, D.C.) is an attorney, equity and inclusion strategist, and former Division I athlete. Johnson, Founder of The Inclusion Playbook, has over a decade of civil rights experience working with social justice communities, advising sports leaders, and serving in leadership roles in advocacy organizations. She has worked with major sports leagues and associations, including the NBA, NCAA, NFL, USOPC, and various national governing bodies to strengthen their social responsibility programming, policies, and platforms at the intersection of inclusion, race, gender, and the law. Learn more about Johnson by following The Inclusion Playbook on Facebook and Twitter.