Leading DEI Conversations
You’re here because you’re ready to:
- be a trusted resource to support other people on their DEI journeys, but don’t know where to start
- take on leading internal deep conversations on DEI, but you’re not confident in your skills
- discuss complex issues with your colleagues, but you get frustrated with circular conversations that go nowhere
- get comfortable addressing pivotal DEI-related issues in your organization
DEI-related topics can be challenging to discuss, especially when you don’t have enough support or the right resources and skills needed to lead these sensitive conversations. It can be even more difficult when you’re not aware of your own identities, possible trigger points, and how you can take care of yourself and others when it matters most.
This is where our Leading DEI Conversations program can help! You’ll have an opportunity to connect with other individuals who are looking to address some of the most common challenges we see in the DEI space.
Over the course of four interactive facilitator-led virtual sessions (with an optional add-on practice session), you’ll gain support and tools that you can put into use when you’re navigating conversations related to identity, privilege, power, and organizational change in your workplace.
Who this program is for:
This program is a great fit if you hold a formal or informal role related to DEI in your workplace. This includes:
- leading DEI strategies
- having conversations with upper-level management,
- leading or serving on Employee Resource Groups (ERGs),
- holding and making space for DEI-related events and conversations at their organizations, and
This program is best suited for those who want to learn about:
- how these topics intersect in the workplace and impact employee experience
- gaining buy-in from senior leadership to support DEI initiatives at their organizations
- how to give feedback or respond to someone in a position of power during challenging DEI-related conversations
You should already have a foundational understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a committed desire to lead challenging conversations in the workplace. If you want to refresh your understanding on these topics, check out our online course on Unconscious Bias in the Workplace. While you might not be able to complete the full course prior to the program beginning, you can use the course as an additional resource during the program.
By the end of this program, you’ll:
- Feel more confident addressing and responding to difficult conversations regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in your workplace
- Learn about and use communication strategies to support you in navigating difficult conversations related to DEI in the workplace
- Gain greater awareness of how identity, privilege, and difference impact this work
- Be able to use tools and strategies that create and hold space for colleagues (including yourself!) in the workplace
- Develop a deep understanding of self, communal care, and accountability that you can practice and implement within your organization
What this program includes:
Over the course of four weeks, you’ll gain support and tools that you can put into use when you’re navigating conversations related to identity, privilege, power, and organizational change. To maintain the high quality of this program and ensure individual learning, there are a limited number of spots available.
What you’ll get:
- Four weekly two-hour live facilitated workshops via Zoom
- One add-on, optional session where you’ll spend time deep diving into case studies and practice the skills you learned in the first four sessions
- Program toolkit containing all of the topics we’ll be covering during each session
- Resources: our curated list of DEI-related foundational readings, videos, newsletter, glossary of terms, etc.
- Community: an opportunity to be in community with like-minded professionals who are looking to enhance their DEI communication skills while also learning from and with each other
- Eight SHRM professional development credits, ten SHRM credits if you participate in the fifth add-on session
- Certificate of completion and badge for your LinkedIn profile
Program Fee
$1,995 per person. Please check out our FAQs below for more payment information!
PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
Program Agenda
Over the course of four weeks, you’ll gain support and tools that you can put into use when you’re navigating conversations related to identity, privilege, power, and organizational change. To maintain the high quality of this program and ensure individual learning, there are a limited number of spots available.
All sessions take place virtually on Tuesdays from 12pm – 2:00pm EST.
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Session One: Understanding the foundations of DEI Conversations (April 30th)
In this session, we’ll review the program’s structure and what it means to lead DEI-related conversations. You’ll have an opportunity to assess your current skills and learn about the core competencies needed to engage in DEI related conversations effectively.
Topics include:
- Understanding Your Why
- Conversations in the DEI Space
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Session Two: Recognizing, Addressing, and Leveraging Privilege and Power (May 7th)
To be effective in leading DEI discussions, it’s important to know where you hold privilege and power, where you don’t, and ways to leverage one or both of these in the workplace. We’ll go over key terminology and concepts.
Topics include:
- Defining Key Terminology
- Leveraging Power and Privilege
- Practice Scenarios
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Session Three: Learning How to Hold Space for Yourself and Others (May 14th)
The key to having effective conversations is knowing yourself and your audience. You’ll explore questions such as: Which DEI-related topics am I sensitive about and why? How can I better support myself during challenging moments? How can I support others who are impacted by unintentional/intentional harmful statements or behaviors? To begin answering these questions, we’ll build upon your learnings from sessions one and two and practice the art of holding space through scenarios.
Topics include:
- Physical, Emotional, and Psychological Safety
- Supporting Yourself and Colleagues During Difficult Moments
- Frameworks and Methods
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Session Four: Practicing Accountability in a Holistic Manner (May 21st)
We understand that some conversations you’ll engage in won’t feel comfortable. When this happens, it’s important to have intentional and strategic self and collaborative care practices so that you can effectively lead difficult conversations. In our final session, we’ll review ways you can support yourself and how others can support you as you lead or engage in DEI-related topics. You’ll work with fellow participants to create communal commitments and a personalized action plan you can implement immediately.
Topics include:
- Being Accountable
- Self, Communal, and Structural Care
- Action and Commitment Plan
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ADD-ON Session Five: Practice and Skill Building (May 30th)
Role-playing in a supportive and welcoming environment will better prepare you for future situations that may come up when having DEI-related conversations, and group coaching is a great way for you to receive immediate support from your fellow participants. These activities will help reduce the gap between thinking and doing, and leave you feeling more confident about navigating difficult moments.
Topics include:
- Role Playing
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Knowledge Gathering/Sharing
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Your Facilitator
Rachel advocates for educational equity with the belief that education can start to break the cycle of generational poverty. As a former classroom teacher and school leader, she has worked with students at the middle school level with successful social and academic outcomes. Her skills include coaching educators who work with underserved student populations to develop positive rapport and implement trauma-informed practices in the classroom. By working with educators, she aims to reduce racialized trauma that BIPOC students experience in schools. In addition to her work in classrooms, she understands that children are also largely impacted by their communities and lived experiences. To combat this, she facilitates DEI conversations in the academic and corporate setting to mitigate the effects of workplace trauma that often follow parents back into their homes. This includes topics such as microaggressions, race and gender discrimination, inclusive interviewing and hiring practices, and performative allyship.
Since this program will be open to a limited number of attendees, we encourage you to register as soon as possible. Registration will close on April 23, 2024. Claim your spot now!
To maintain the high quality of this program, we cap our learning cohorts at 20. We want to make sure we’re able to cover all the intended content while opening the opportunity for meaningful conversations and answering questions.
Sure, however, we are capping it at four people per organization. If you’d like to train a team of people from your organization, please contact us for our private training opportunities.
You should already have a foundational understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a committed desire to lead challenging conversations in the workplace. If you want to refresh your understanding of these topics, check out our online course on Unconscious Bias in the Workplace. While you might not be able to complete the full course prior to the program beginning, you can use the course as an additional resource during the program.
There are four weekly live sessions with an optional add-on fifth session.
There are four, two-hour sessions that weave together educational content and practice opportunities. There will be readings, videos, and assignments for you to review before each session, so we encourage you to block off an additional hour on your calendar after each session in order to review any resources or follow-up items. Your full participation will allow you to gain the full benefits of this program. If you are unable to attend all five sessions, this might not be the right time for you to participate in this program. But not to worry, there will be other opportunities to participate!
Yes, the sessions are recorded. However, in an effort to balance the need between accessibility and confidentiality, the recordings will only be available 48 hours after a live session has ended. The recordings will not be shared with anyone else outside of the cohort who has registered for this year’s program. If you have any questions or concerns about the sessions being recorded, please contact us.
If finances are a barrier to you participating in this workshop, there are options available!
- If you are an employee of a Massachusetts company/organization, you may be eligible for the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Express Program. Information on how to apply can be found here. Please note that this grant requires a 21-day lead time.
- If you are ineligible to receive the Massachusetts Workforce Training Grant funds, please submit our Financial Assistance Form, and a member of our team will be in touch.
We got you! Check out the template for an email you can personalize and send your boss here. You can also share this blog post about the importance of professional development!
Weekly sessions will be conducted via Zoom.
Yes, all sessions will be recorded and shared within 24 hours of the session.
We offer closed captioning and transcripts for all sessions. Once you sign up, we’ll ask you to let us know if you have any further accessibility needs; we’ll do our very best to accommodate them! Please let us know here if you have any specific concerns.
If you request a refund, it will be processed within 5-7 business days. Please note that any refund requests after April 23, 2024 will not be accepted.
No problem! Contact us and we’ll do our best to respond within 48 hours.