Clients
Note: This is a partial list.
350PDX
501 Commons
8 Limbs Yoga
ACLU
Alexander Hamilton and Friends
Amazon
American Booksellers Association
American Red Cross
Annie Wright School
Antioch University
Arts Corps
Associated Recreation Council
Association of Legal Administrators
Auburn School District
Bainbridge Island School District
Bank of the West
Bastyr University
Bates Technical College
Bellarmine Prep
Bellevue College
Bellingham Technical College
Bellwether Housing
Bethel School District
Big Brother Big Sister
Bonneville Power Administration
Bryn Athyn Church School
Calvin College
Camp Nor’wester
Capitol Hill Housing
Carnation Farms
Carnation Farms
Cascadia College
Centerstone
Central Area Motivation Program
Central Branch Preschool
Chicago Public Schools
Child Care Resources
Childcare Director's Assoc. of Greater Seattle
Children’s Home Society
Children’s Response Center
Church by the Side of the Road
City of Hillsboro
City of Portland
City of Renton
City of Seattle
City of Tacoma
City of Tukwila
Clackamas County
Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence
Community Day School Association
DCFS Children’s Administration
Department of Social and Health Services
Delta Dental
Diversity Best Practices
DNA Seattle
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Downtown Emergency Service Center
Early Learning Network
Early Learning Public Library Partnership
EarthJustice
Eastern Washington University
Edmonds Community College
Edmonds School District
Emerald City Bible Fellowship
Everett Community College
Everett School District
Evergreen Treatment Services
FACES
Fauntleroy Children’s Center
First Place School
Franklin Pierce Schools
Friends of Youth
Girl Scouts of Western Washington
Goodwill
Green River College
Group Health
Group Health
Head Start
Helsell Fetterman LLP
Hewlett-Packard
Highline Community College
Hillcrest Early Childhood Center
Holy Names Academy
Homeschool Resources
Homestead Community Land Trust
Housing Development Consortium
IFPTE SPEEA Boeing
Imagine Housing
Intel
Intercommunity Mercy Housing
International Code Council
Issaquah School District
Japanese Presbyterian Church
Jefferson County Public Library
Justice for Girls
JustServe Americorps Program
Kaiser Permanente
Keller Rohrback LLP
Kent Police Department
Kent School District
Kent Youth & Family Services
KEXP
Kidder Mathews
Kimball Elementary
King 5 News
King County
King County Housing Authority
King County Library Systems
Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Lake Washington Girls Middle School
Lake Washington Institute of Technology
League of Education Voters
Life Center Northwest
Lifelong
Lifewire
Limeaide
Links
LMN Architects
Lower Columbia College
McMicken Heights Elementary
Mercer Island School District
Mercy Housing
Metropolitan Development Council
Microsoft
Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP
Moss Adams
Mt. View Elementary
Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Mud Bay
Mukilteo School District
Multnomah County Community Justice
Mutual of Enumclaw
Navos
Neighborhood House
New Beginnings
New Engen
NHL
Non-Profit Staff Development Coalition
North Seattle Community College
Northshore School District
Northwest Center
NW African American Museum
NW Center Kids
Office of Administrative Hearings
Office of Governor Jay Inslee
Office of Minority and Women’s Business Ent.
Ohio State University
Olympia School District
Olympic College
Oregon Building Officials
Oregon Metro
Pacific NW Assoc. of Independent Schools
Parents Connect
Passages Northwest
Penguin Random House
Philanthropy Northwest
Pierce County Juvenile Court
Pike Market Child Care & Preschool
Plymouth Housing
Port of Seattle
Portland Bureau of Technology Services
Portland Parks and Recreation
Portland Police Bureau
Portland Public Schools
Portland State University
Premera
Progress Alliance of Washington
PRR
Puget Sound Assn. of Legal Administrators
Puget Sound Clean Air
Puget Sound Community School
Puget Sound ESD
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Rain City Rock Camp for Girls
Rainier Valley Rowing
RecTech
Renton School District
Renton Technical College
School's Out Washington
Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt
Seattle Central College
Seattle Chamber Music Society
Seattle Children’s Hospital
Seattle City of Literature
Seattle Early Learning Network
Seattle Food Committee
Seattle Girl’s School
Seattle Housing Authority
Seattle Music Partners
Seattle Nativity School
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle Parks and Recreation
Seattle Prep
Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Tilth
Seattle University
Seattle Works
Seattle YMCA
SEIU 775
Senior Services
Shoreline Community College
Snohomish County
Soccer Across Washington
Solid Ground
Sound Child Care Solutions
Sound Mental Health
South Puget Sound Community College
South Puget Sound Diversity Institute
St. George School
St. Therese School
Stand for Children
SunTrust Bank
Swedish
Tabernacle of Praise
Tacoma School District
Taproot Theatre Company
Teach for America
TEAM Englewood H.S.
The Annenberg Foundation
The Arc of King County
The Bush School
The Emily Program
The Evergreen School
The Exploration Academy
The Martinez Foundation
The Meridian School
The Mockingbird Society
The Overlake School
The Pocock Foundation
Treehouse
Trillium Employment Services
TriMet
Tukwila School District
Tumwater School District
Unilever
Union Gospel Mission
United Way of King County
University Baptist Church
University of Georgia
University of Missouri
University of Washington
University Unitarian Church
Valley Cities Counseling
Visions for Early Learning
WA Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs
Washington Center for Nursing
Washington County Sheriff’s Office
Washington Dental Foundation
Washington Education Association
Washington Low Income Housing
Washington MESA
Washington Minority Bar Association
Washington Roundtable Strategies 360
Washington State Arts Commission
Washington State Bar Association
Washington State Comm. Action Partnership
Washington State Democrats
Washington State Dept. of Early Learning
Washington State Dept. of Health
Washington State Dept. of Licensing
Washington State Dept. of Revenue
Washington State Dept. of Transportation
Washington State Hospital Association
Washington State Mentors
Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus
Washington Student Achievement Council
Wellspring Family Services
West Pierce Fire and Rescue
Western Washington University
White Center Community Development Assn.
Wilderness Awareness School
WithinReach
Woodland Park Zoo
Working Mother Media
WorkSource
Young Child Academy
Youth Eastside Services
YouthCare
Zeno Math
Zillow
Zion Preparatory Academy
Testimonials
"Amazing! Mind blowing! Renewing! Challenging!"
Casey Lalonde
Evergreen State College
"I really appreciate both of you for reminding me of the beauty and art of great question-asking. And also the opportunity to practice. One of the most empowering things for me was a suite of tools to help me prepare for worst case scenarios rather than just being anxious about them. It’s work that is overwhelming to think through on your own, but now it feels like I have a trunk full of “just-in case” goodies."
Desirée Williams-Rajee
Equity Specialist, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
“Dr. Hollins gave a captivating keynote at the PNAIS Co-creating Inclusive Communities Workshop. She shared her personal and academic experience and as well as her own reflective writing, to deliver a powerful, thought-provoking and inspiring lecture. In the words on one attendee, ‘We could not have asked for a better keynote speaker."
Emily McGrath, MBA, CNPA
Director of Professional Development, PNAIS
“I am so glad we made the choice to go with Cultures Connecting for our all school faculty and staff training. It’s obvious that the trainers are well versed in the area of diversity and brought into focus issues that are often overwhelmingly complex. Prior to the training, they were generous with their prep time to ensure the materials were relevant to the Overlake community. Their delivery was a great balance of humor and seriousness that put people at ease but did not belittle the important message of diversity. I have since recommended Cultures Connecting to my colleagues.”
Mark Manuel
Director of Diversity, The Overlake School
“Cultures Connecting were outstanding collaborators with The Mockingbird Society in the production of our DVD, 'Biracial and Multiracial Identity Development.' They brought both their personal experiences and professional expertise to the project. Our audience, caregivers in the foster care system many of whom are caring for biracial and/or multi-racial children, reported the DVD excellent!”
Jim Theofelis
Executive Director, The Mockingbird Society
“Cultures Connecting brought understanding, insight and common ground when talking about understanding the African American culture at our historically Japanese American church. As our church has changed to be more culturally diverse we had to take a look at how we receive and can love one another for who we are. Their presentation kick-started us to move in this direction by opening up conversation about these very sensitive and personal issues.”
Julie Chee
Director of Children’s Ministry, Japanese Presbyterian Church
“AMAZING! This was honestly the best training I have ever been to. I’m leaving with a better understanding of myself. Activities were so rich and we were able to dive so deep! Loved it!”
Jessica Grout
Auburn Youth Resources and Empowered Living Therapy
“Cultures Connecting conducted a workshop for our staff on cultural competence training techniques. Our academic, professional and research staff found the presentation to be engaging, provocative and informative. I would definitely recommend them to others.”
Dr. Sarah Cusworth Walker
Division of Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy, University of Washington
“Cultures Connecting has been instrumental in helping our Race and Social Justice Committee successfully address challenging situations as we focus our mission within the Seattle Housing Authority’s Community Service Division. They led our committee volunteers through a strategic planning process in which we created a clear plan of action as well as a more productive committee process. As one of the volunteer co-facilitators of our Race and Social Justice Committee, I greatly appreciate the ongoing guidance and support through the difficult work of social change within a large organization.”
Joy Bryngelson, MSW
Community Builder, Seattle Housing Authority
“The Cultures Connecting training regarding racial micro-aggressions was highly informative, very thought provoking, challenging and also very enjoyable…”
Paula F. Frederick, MEd., M.S., LMHC, CDP
Director of Community Treatment Services, Friends of Youth
“Cultures Connecting took the time to develop a customized approach for my organization- especially as we are a majority people of color staff representing an extremely diverse neighborhood of White Center. We also were able to design workshops that took into consideration the different stages of cultural/ethnic identity and race/power construct that each staff member brought to the team. Being comfortable with both Caprice and Ilsa allowed our team to be comfortable- to trust the space in the room for tough conversations and to build ‘team’ while also learning about ‘self’.”
Aileen Balahadia
Former Executive Director, White Center Community Development Association
“Cutures Connecting’s facilitation of our management team retreat helped us reach consensus around work that we’d been trying to do for years. We were finally able to have the difficult conversations that we needed to have to move our anti-racism work forward. They took the time to get to know our organization and to understand the struggles we were having. As a result of this work, we were able to establish the trust and consensus needed to guide our future efforts in this area and to strengthen the sense of teamwork that we have as a group.”
Cheryl Cobbs
Former Executive Director, Solid Ground
“Two of our staff attended Cultures Connecting’s workshop on Facilitating Conversations about Race. They were so impressed; we invited them to be our trainers for our Multi-cultural Education Training. They brought depth and professionalism to the rich topic of cultural competency. They helped us to lay a solid foundation in the beginning, so we shared the same language, and then guided us through discussions to address the heart of the issues—including racism, classism, and other “ism’s”. The training was simple, effective, and to the point. This training was instrumental in pushing us to a higher level of cultural competence—it helped us better see where we are now (both individually and institutionally), and where we want to go. We got further as a group in one day of training than I could have imagined.”
Erica Nixon Mack
Former Program Analyst, Passages Northwest
“Our schools recently benefited from a training presented by Cultures Connecting. Ilsa Govan, the facilitator, was exceptional in this day long intensive seminar. Her knowledge of the material is obvious and passion for the subject matter equals her knowledge. If you value your employees, and value what they bring to your organization, this training is essential. If you desire to maintain an environment free of bias, but more importantly, if you wish to create a company or organization that has a strong understanding of racial awareness and cultural competency, I recommend you provide this course for your staff and administrators. It is a fabulous starting point for what should be ongoing discussions.”
Tracy White
Former Director, Young Child Academy
“During late February of this year I had the pleasure of having Cultures Connecting provide a skills building, train-the trainer workshop for a group of veteran racial justice facilitators who work at Bellevue College. To a person, we all benefited from this opportunity to delve more deeply into the intricate details required to effectively lead and to compassionately facilitate conversations on race. The workshop was paced and organized to utilize the energies and experiences of the participants in ways that will contribute to the retention of these skills. I look forward to the opportunity to work with Cultures Connecting in the future as the skills set at the heart of the workshop are ones that require continued development.”
Dr. James L. Bennett
Vice President of Equity and Pluralism, Bellevue College
“As hosts to Seattle University’s diversity conference exploring undergraduate student experiences with privilege, race, and gender we found Dr. Caprice Hollins’ keynote address inspiring, informative, and empowering to our work. By engaging us with accounts from her own experiences and relating contemporary research of individual identity development, Dr. Hollins enthusiastically reaches participants from a variety of backgrounds all entering the conversation of privilege and anti-oppression at various stages.”
Sean McCreight
Co-President of Coalition for Education Equity, Seattle University
"Caprice D. Hollins and Ilsa M. Govan have created an honest and forthright, multiple perspectives guide for all levels of racial and social justice workshop facilitators. From how to organize and maximize the physical space and create a productive, engaging atmosphere, to methods for redirecting those who attempt to control the conversation, this guide offers direction for engaging in honest, critical dialogue. Authors offer ways to scaffold prior knowledge, defuse intercultural conflict and engage in the introspective reflection required to be successful in social justice activism. A welcome addition to the field."
Eddie Moore Jr., Ph.D.
Founder, The White Privilege Conference
"The hot buttons have been a great way to initiate dialogue with students, specifically surrounding microaggressions. We consistently use them for training, workshops, and presentations. Our students love them!"
Jenae Harrington, MURP
Program Specialist, Multicultural Student Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University
"I just wanted to let you know that we held two sessions at our All College Day. One was a general discussion about diversity and what it is. The other was using your stereotypes activity. Even though we only had 45 minutes for each, they were wildly successful and popular. In fact, we’ve been asked to do training for a state-wide meeting. Thank you so much!"
Jennifer Barber
Diversity Committee Chair, Grays Harbor College
“Cultures Connecting has been guiding our staff and board through some very insightful trainings and processes as we seek to become a culturally competent organization and understand how racism and able-ism intersects for the communities we serve. Their thought provoking trainings and facilitation of our processes has been invaluable to us all as we venture down this path of discovery and change. I highly recommend them.”
Sylvia Fuerstenberg
Former Executive Director, The Arc of King County
“The training with Cultures Connecting was a great way for us to get some dialogue going between staff and to open the door for discussions around cultural sensitivity, accountability and awareness. Our staff arrive at the table with many different perspectives … and when one of them who is from Ethiopia said, “I enjoy that we are talking about this because where I come from … they just have civil wars!” How nice it would be if we could all just be committed to talking and opening up our minds to celebrate the different things we each bring to the table! My thanks to Cultures Connecting for helping us re-ignite that process and for challenging us to keep it going!”
Katie Parker
Regional Director of Resident Services, Intercommunity Mercy Housing
“Cultures Connecting presented a powerful 3-hour workshop on Cultural Competence as part of our Leadership Development Program. During the workshop we dug deeper into the causes and roots of the issue of race, leaving the surface behind. We learned how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and to ask if we don’t know how to behave. Cultural understanding is critical to the work of housing and community development and this workshop provided the opportunity for us to build new skills.”
Lee Murray
Leadership Development Program, Housing Development Consortium
“Cultures Connecting and Highline Community College have created an authentic relationship and both are committed to social and cultural awareness. Caprice has shared valuable information through her presentations and creative workshops. She is a dynamic speaker and teacher. Highline is thrilled to have made this connection.”
Rashad C. Norris
Director of Outreach Services, Highline Community College
“The Cultures Connecting workshop was powerful, thought provoking and fun! Our community felt safe to voice their perspectives and to work through their ideas and beliefs; this safety can be attributed to the respectful and gifted facilitators. This workshop has infected our community with a wonderful virus; several work groups are following up on how they can impact institutional change. This work builds a good foundation for our college community to strengthening our campus culture where everyone feels valued and honored.”
Dr. Patricia McKeown
Interim President, Bellingham Technical College
"We asked Dr. Hollins to deliver a keynote speech on cultural competence to a group of about 700 experiential educators. While the group consisted of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines, she was able to deliver a powerful message that resonated with all of them. We especially appreciated the specific connections she made to our association’s mission and values. She obviously did her homework. Our attendees consistently commented on how they walked away with specific new tools to use in their efforts to create more inclusive learning environments. I was also very impressed with the time and attention she gave to the dozens of people who lined up to speak with her afterwards. In short, she knocked it out of the park!"
Dan Miller
Association for Experiential Education
“Cultures Connecting offers wonderful, engaging presenters who involve the entire group in their presentations. They have a way of making tough subjects accessible to participants. Our group was 100 percent positive about the presentations. The group walked away feeling that cultural competence was something applicable to their work as professionals, and were more confident in their ability to work effectively with diverse students across campus. We will look for the first opportunity to have Cultures Connecting back on our campus!”
Eileen Yoshina
Director of Diversity and Equity, South Puget Sound Community College
“It was pleasure to have Dr. Caprice Hollins as our main presenter at our annual School of Education faculty and staff retreat. She is an excellent presenter, open to varying ideas and skilled facilitator when addressing the topic of cultural competence. Her breadth of knowledge and insights were helpful in allowing participants to reflect on their own level of cultural competence.”
Dr. Rick Eigenbrood
Dean of School of Education, Seattle Pacific University
“The Cultures Connecting workshop was incredibly thought provoking because it allowed our school and community partners to have difficult and meaningful conversations around culture and race. The instructor facilitated in-depth conversations that provided a greater understanding within the participants to reflect on their own biases and stereotypes. All participants agreed that this workshop was needed in their own professional development and that it was only the beginning for them in developing a culturally competent framework.”
Michelle Nicholson
Family Support, Franklin Pierce School District
“Dr. Hollins gave the keynote address at our opening days event this fall. She spoke about issues such as social justice, race and privilege. These topics can often be difficult to discuss, but Dr Hollins was able to engage the audience in a professional, responsible and non-blaming manner while not avoiding the elephants in the room. The result was a very effective event that set the stage for our community to work on its organizational identity development.”
Dr. David Mitchell
President, Olympic College
“The workshop led by Cultures Connecting was relevant and worthwhile; leaving everyone wanting more. Cultures Connecting facilitated an opportunity for staff to reflect on issues related to race and culture in a safe environment. While the work was challenging, the facilitator was engaging and clearly knowledgeable about the content.”
Shannon Harvey, Ed.D.
Principal, Cascade Elementary
“Ilsa Govan at Cultures Connecting facilitated a 3-hour long workshop with community and technical college librarians in Washington State for a librarian professional conference during spring 2017. The workshop was titled “Unpacking White Privilege in College Libraries” and honed in White Privilege and White Supremacy ideas that come to play in our library spaces and practices. Ilsa was very well prepared for the workshop and brought lots of materials and baskets of fidgety items for everyone to play with during the workshop. The workshop went so quickly, yet we all had the opportunity to dig in and confront our own implicit participation in racism as a system of oppression. Lots of questions came up during the session that sought to get around the issue of racism and Ilsa navigated all of these questions beautifully and with grace. I often find these conversations to be tricky with adult learners and higher education faculty/librarians, but I was blown away by the content and structure of the presentation and our ability to get through all of it with a solid foot in doing more of this work moving forward. I cannot recommend Cultures Connecting enough. I have attended several workshops facilitated by Ilsa Govan and/or Dr. Caprice Hollins and I consistently walk away with a deeper awareness and a plan for action.”
Heath Ray Hayden, MLIS, MA
Bellevue College

