Welcome to NEPDEC!


NEPDEC’s goals are to create a more inclusive, dynamic culture in our region and to prepare for increasingly complex and diverse communities and workplaces. To achieve these goals, we:
  • Provide educational programming
  • Support member's diversity initiatives
  • Organize networking and social events for relaxed interaction and sharing
  • Build alliances among historically isolated groups
  • Use shared resources more efficiently & effectively
    • Through cooperation, we address regional diversity issues with greater impact and economies of scale.

    Understanding Gender

    What is Gender? For many people, the terms “gender” and “sex” are interchangeable. This idea has become so common, particularly in western societies, that it is rarely questioned. Yet biological sex and gender are different; gender is not inherently connected to one’s physical anatomy. Sex is biological and includes physical attributes such as sex chromosomes, gonads, [...]

    Hidden Biases: The Most Dangerous Enemy

    Have you ever noticed that the greatest dangers in life are those that you can’t see? A diagnosable disease may be nasty, but at least you can do more about it than a vague malaise that you hardly notice, but which is eating away at your health and well-being. Whether it be in my workplace [...]

    Meet Our Director

    Linda Trompetter, Ph.D.

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    Read Dr. Trompetter's Bio

    Featured Member



    Meet Our Board President

    Dr. Janis Wilson Seeley

    Janis Wilson Seeley is Professor and Chair of the Social Sciences/History Department at Luzerne County Community College. Dr. Seeley earned her MS in Family and Community Development from the University of Maryland, a Masters in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies with a focus on Adolescent Development from Penn State University. In addition to professional articles, she co-authored the book, The Psychologically Battered Child (Jossey- Bass, 1986).Prior to her academic career, Dr. Seeley counseled runaways and substance abusers.

    Read Janis Wilson Seeleys Bio

    Upcoming Program

    Mindbugs: The Ordinary Origins of Bias
    Monday April 8th 9-11pm

    Hawkins croppedConscious experience provides an immediate, compelling, and incomplete account of the mind. Much of perception, thinking, and action occurs outside of conscious awareness or conscious control.