Growing up as a white child in Kansas City through fifteen years practicing law with Kaplan, Strangis and Kaplan PA, Margery Otto felt a need to understand the racism she saw at work in the world. Her experiences taught her that she could best come to this understanding, and could best develop meaningful responses, if she were in relationship with Peoples of Color.

So when the NAACP challenged the resegregation of Twin Cities public schools, Otto volunteered her legal services on the case.  And when the Mendota M’di-wakanton Dakota community strove to protect local sacred sites, Otto offered to join the effort.

At the same time, Otto helped create an antiracism team for her denomination, began participating in antiracism training program and kept examining her own white social location and behaviors. It was while serving on the denominational antiracism team that Otto’s efforts met with those of her co-award recipient, Herbert Perkins.

From the chance introduction at a South Minneapolis worship service, Otto and Perkins forged a friendship and professional partnership that began with shared work on the antiracism team, led to classroom collaborations, resulted in Otto being the first white co-facilitator of ASDIC Circles and ultimately became the powerful catalyst of change known as the ASDIC Antiracism Study-Dialogue Circle program.

Otto now devotes full-time efforts to the ASDIC program as its Administrative Director as well as co-facilitating ASDIC Circles and other workshops. Otto also serves as the Volunteer Coordinator for In the Heart of the Beast Theatre.