BAYCC’s primary motives are harboring cultural connections and building bridges between communities, known as “dialogue” for short. The Civic Engagement Seminar and Workshop in Malibu, which took place at the Pepperdine University campus, was a brilliant gathering of fellow interfaith and cultural organizations across West America, featuring the Pacifica Foundation, MOSAIC, BAYCC, Emerald Hills Institute, and Sema Foundation. From May 11th to 12th, this two-day seminar was a time for different institutions across the western region of the USA to share their best practices in pursuing dialogue. Nurdin Kaparov, Enes Sen, Dilara Sarigoz, and Esra Altun from BAYCC presented their topic during the seminar.

Beyond a rich selection of lecture and workshop topics, attendees also got to experience the beautiful campus of Pepperdine University. Team-building activities and ice-breakers took place throughout the seminar, allowing attendees from different backgrounds to connect and share their experiences and expertise in pursuing dialogue. Lecture topics varied from navigating controversies to avoiding microaggression to utilizing Gen AI. The annual Civic Engagement Seminar will return next year, and our community members are encouraged to be on the lookout to benefit from this experience.