Workshop Facilitation

In this workshop participants learn to respond to acts of microaggressions when they commit, witness, or experience them in the workplace. Instead of focusing on intent, participants learn to lean in and become curious about their impact when they’ve committed them. When on the receiving end of a microaggression rather than avoiding or lashing out participants learn how to engage in courageous conversations. Participants will also learn strategies for becoming active bystanders who engage their colleagues when they witness them committing microaggressions.

In this workshop, supervisors and managers will learn eight strategies for engaging staff when challenging situations arise most commonly due to microaggressions. They will examine intent vs. impact, public vs. private, calling in vs. calling out, and other guiding principles that are necessary in directing their approach. Through vignettes, role playing, and large group discussion, participants will learn strategies and develop skills for leaning into the tension in ways that normalize healing, foster learning, and promote growth.

Racism has and will continue to have a devastating impact on PoC as long as White people don’t get active. Our nation will continue to witness disproportionality in its healthcare system, anti-Black, Asian, and Jewish sentiment, Indigenous women going missing, anti-immigration laws aimed at Muslim and Latine children and families, bias in our courts, etc., and our nation will continue to be polarized. Individual, systemic, and structural racism is a legacy that persists. Many White people who want to be supportive and interrupt are unsure of how to best show up as allies. Anti-racist allyship requires White people name what’s happening, challenge antiquated thinking, and educate each other. This workshop focuses on strategies necessary to becoming co-conspirators in the fight against racism. Note: although this session centers on the role of White people, PoC are welcome to participate.

Leaders play a significant role in shaping their organization into a workplace that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and where everyone feels a sense of belonging. The most effective anti-racist leaders are those who are intentional in their skill development by continually learning, critically reflecting, practicing, asking for help, and adapting their approach. In this workshop leaders will engage in the above exercises while learning qualities of an anti-racist leader and utilizing an assessment tool to gain insight and develop culturally responsive leadership practices

​This workshop examines and analyzes the nationwide movement to extinguish DEIB services in schools, government, and workplaces in post-pandemic America. We look at the roots of the anti-DEIB movement and the tactics it employs to malign and delegitimize DEIB efforts. We then consider strategies to counter these dishonest tactics and continue making America a more inclusive and just society.

Now, more than ever, equity leaders are needed to guide organizations towards a truly anti-racist culture. Unfortunately, many of these positions are newly created, and those hired are coming in without any clear direction. Equity leaders often feel isolated and can quickly become frustrated or feel overwhelmed. This workshop provides an opportunity for equity leaders to share strategies for organizational change, problem solve some of the challenges they face, and to network. Participants learn a model of multicultural organizational development and strategies for change we’ve identified over the past fifteen years in our work with hundreds of organizations.

W.E.B. Du Bois said, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” Given the most recent evidence of individual and systemic racism in our country, it is all too apparent we have not yet figured out lasting solutions to racism in the twenty-first century.

This interactive session provides a framework for developing an equity lens, provides language for discourse on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace, and deepens staff's understanding of the work involved in becoming contributors of positive change.

Whether you face challenges in outreach, developing culturally responsive job announcements, mitigating implicit bias in the interview process, creating the right interview questions, or retaining a diverse workforce, these issues are not insurmountable. This workshop focuses on developing an equity lens in one or more of the above areas and is designed based on your organization's specific needs.

In Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald write, “A quarter century ago, most psychologists believed that human behavior was primarily guided by conscious thoughts and feelings. Nowadays the majority will readily agree that much of human judgment and behavior is produced with little conscious thought.”  Through video, interactive exercises and story, participants will be invited to examine the impact of racial stereotypes. They’ll uncover how these unspoken, often unconscious stereotypes create barriers to genuine relationships and influence our attitudes, behaviors and beliefs about one another and ourselves. They will learn about the research and discover ways to mitigate their bias.

While white women struggle with experiences of gender oppression, we also benefit from white privilege. In what ways do these two phenomena work together to create misunderstandings, missed collaborations, and acts of supremacy? In this workshop, we will use a model to examine how our identities develop as we grow in our understanding of personal and institutional oppression. We use interactive processes to take a deep look at learned patterns of behavior and strategies to better collaborate in work for social justice.

Many organizations are talking about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). But some are unsure of where to begin or what direction to take. There are those who have made some progress but find themselves stuck as they encounter internal barriers. In this workshop, six stages organizations go through in becoming a multicultural organization are taught. Participants identify which stage their organization is currently in and the barriers they face, and then collectively identify action steps they can take to move their organization further along in its DEIBelonging journey. 

People of Color are often immersed in workplace cultures that center Whiteness. Advancing racial equity often requires intentionally and explicitly centering justice and equity over White cultural norms. This session is designed for Leaders and Staff of Color to discuss navigating Whiteness in the workplace, reflect on internalized oppression, and connect around strategies to lead change and sustain oneself in the process.

Our Listening Sessions serve two functions. Sometimes something happens in our nation or within your organization that triggers trauma or disrupts the emotional, psychological, social, and physical well-being of your staff. In these cases, Listening Sessions are an opportunity for staff to begin processing their experiences in order to heal or move forward. Other times, organizations see the need to pause in their equity journey and do a temperature check to uncover what leaders are doing well and areas of opportunity for growth so they can make necessary adjustments as they move forward.

When we engage in conversations across cultures, there is always the risk that what we say might offend someone.  Oftentimes we don’t even know why what we said was offensive.  But rather than risk offending, many people avoid cross cultural dialogue altogether or cling to “politically correct” terminology.  The tightrope we walk and the mental labor that ensues is exhausting and often leaves everyone involved feeling unheard or misunderstood. Participants will learn what microaggressions are, why people often react the way they do when they experience them, and their impact.

​Part of a series addressing the many myths connected to racism, this interactive workshop considers the belief that racism is a part of human nature. Through discussion and activities, we will analyze the roll of unconscious racial bias and the media in reinforcing the belief that racism, though unfortunate, is inevitable. We then consider the social impacts of this belief and how to compassionately challenge this belief when we encounter it in others.

People may think that racial profiling is a problem of “bad apples” in police departments. However, recent social science research suggests that the issue is far more complex and entrenched than many might think. This workshop provides an overview of racial profiling and looks at its several causes. We then cover the basics of the legal and Constitutional provisions that exist to protect people from unreasonable police behavior, including racial discrimination. We end with a discussion of how we might effectively address racial profiling in our communities.

Foreign born people are an essential part of American life and often face many challenges when adjusting to life in a new culture. Asylum seekers, refugees, migrant, and immigrant communities also face stigma, discrimination, and bigotry in the racialized culture of the United States. This workshop is designed to utilize an equity lens to help participants better engage and serve those newly arrived to this country and our communities by looking at different factors related to human migration, growing a capacity to anticipate core challenges newly arrived communities typically face, and offer skills to improve cross-cultural communication with newly arrived communities.

This workshop provides the opportunity for people of color who are actively engaged in racial justice work to come together to work deeply on their own issues of internalized racism. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the impact of oppression and racism on self and others and work towards healing their own wounds as well as aid in healing the racial divide.

This interactive workshop provides seven tools and strategies for how to have courageous conversations about race, power, and privilege. Participants adopt new norms necessary to create a space for difficult and empowering conversations with one another and the diverse communities they serve. Each will reflect on what is challenging for them and commit to action steps. In this workshop, participants grow in their ability to shift from othering to belonging as they collectively practice new ways of being in the workplace.

Recent research has shown that children have very complex understandings of differences and stereotypes. Far from being color-blind, most children are aware of how their own skin color is an advantage or disadvantage. They also judge their peers based on stereotypes that adults might like to believe they are unaware of. Because of this, it is important that children are given anti-bias messages, through actions and words, to actively counter what they are witnessing in the adult world. They also need to learn how to advocate for themselves and others. In this workshop, we explore how children learn and practice racism and privilege and strategies for counteracting bias.

There is no cookbook or manual for “how to” when it comes to diversity work. Engaging conflict is adaptive not technical in our approach.  However, there are some approaches that work better than others.  In this workshop Participants will learn strategies for how to engage when they experience, commit, or witness a microaggression as a way to move through the tension.

Training internal trainers is one of the best ways to create sustainability in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) work. Rather than solely relying on outside consultants, you develop a cohort of people who can facilitate workshops, book studies, lunch and learns, video discussions, etc. so that learning is ongoing for staff. Through engaging and interactive exercises, participants learn strategies and tips on how to successfully present sensitive information to a wide audience of learners. You will develop skills to take difficult conversations about race, privilege, and power to a deeper level and learn strategies for working with resistance. This session is accompanied by our book, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Strategies for Facilitating Conversations on Race.

This 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 in becoming 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.

When trying to practice multicultural inclusion, too often the focus is on fixing “the other”, that is, staff or clients of color, leaving white perspectives, culture and identity normalized and unexplored. Through storytelling, discussion, and experiential exercises this session shifts the focus to examine how white cultural norms and privileges can create barriers to equity. By bringing into focus the ways white privilege operates on a personal and institutional level in organizations, participants will be able to see how white allies and people of color can work together to reform systems and engage in culturally responsive practices.

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This session can be adapted from a beginner to advanced audience, inviting all people into the conversation about whiteness without shame or blame.