The Washington State Interagency Committee of State Employed Women (ICSEW) hosted a virtual workshop on Tuesday titled “Transforming White Women’s Leadership.”
The 90-minute session, held from 10:30 a.m. to noon, aimed to help participants “name their racial equity values and put them into their leadership practices” by unpacking stereotypes, institutional power, and white privilege, specifically among white women leaders.
The website explains:
“This 90-minute workshop will support participants to deepen awareness of the combination of institutional power, privilege, and stereotypes white women leaders both hold and perpetuate, supporting them to become more compassionate anti-racist managers and supervisors. Using case studies, personas, and real workplace examples, we’ll provide space for interactive small and large group discussion. Participants will leave better able to name and take responsibility for putting racial equity values into our leadership practices.”
The workshop was led by Ilsa Govan and Tilman Smith, co-founders of Cultures Connecting and authors of the book What’s Up with White Women? Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice.
The 2021 book is meant to be a “guide” for white women to “step up and undertake deep reflection on their role in systemic racism and take concrete actions that support equity and justice for all people.”
The popular X account “Libs of TikTok” blasted the event as taxpayer-funded anti-white racism and reported that a source confirmed to them “that the presenters complained how white women are ‘complicit’ in upholding ‘systems of oppression.’”
LOTT wrote, “The Washington State Department of Health is reportedly promoting a seminar called ‘What’s up with White Women,’ focused on ‘unpacking sexism and white privilege in pursuit of racial justice.’ A source who attended the event told us that the presenters complained how white women are ‘complicit’ in upholding ‘systems of oppression.’”
The account added, “Your tax dollars are funding this trash.”
TAXPAYER FUNDED ANTI-WHITE RACISM
The Washington State Department of Health is reportedly promoting a seminar called “What’s up with White Women,” focused on “unpacking sexism and white privilege in pursuit of racial justice.”
A source who attended the event told us that the… pic.twitter.com/5FYGVEDozd
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 23, 2025
ICSEW, a state advisory body focused on policies affecting state-employed women, operates under the Washington State government, meaning this ridiculously racist event was funded by taxpayers.
Similar sessions by Govan and Smith have been offered through Cultures Connecting, including versions in 2024 and earlier in 2025, framing white women in leadership as inherently problematic due to “intertwined sexism and privilege.”
The duo’s “Transforming White Women’s Leadership Workshop 2025” was promoted as helping “participants to deepen awareness of the combination of institutional power, privilege, and stereotypes white women leaders must navigate and can perpetuate.”