Leading DEI Conversations
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 facilitation 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 facilitate 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.
Over the course of five interactive facilitator-led virtual sessions, 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 a hold 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 more how these topics intersect in the workplace and impact employee experience
- Want to learn more about gaining buy-in from senior leadership to support DEI initiatives at their organizations
- Want to learn 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 core facilitation skills to support you in navigating difficult conversations related to DEI in the workplace
- Gain greater awareness of how identity, privilege, and difference impacts 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:
DEI-related topics can be challenging to discuss, especially when you don’t have enough support and the right resources or skills needed to facilitate 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.
Over the course of five 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:
- Five 2.5 hour live workshops via zoom
- Certificate of completion and badge for your LinkedIn profile
And more is included with your program enrollment:
- Post-Session interactions
- A dedicated space for participants to communicate with each other, share resources and/or ask questions through our community platform, Mighty Networks.
- Toolkits – Individual guides containing all of the topics we’ll be covering during each session
- Video Library- All sessions will be recorded and uploaded for inspiration and guidance
- Resources- Our hand-picked list of DEI-related foundational readings, videos, newsletters, etc.
- Participants are eligible for 10 SHRM re-certification professional development credits (PDCs) upon successful program completion
Welcoming Community
Be in community with like-minded professionals who are looking to enhance their DEI facilitation skills while also learning from and with each other through access to our DEI Practitioner space on Mighty Networks upon completion of the program.
Scripts and Scenarios
Scripted language on ways to respond to difficult questions, statements or behaviors. Participants will receive this document at the end of the program.
Program Fee
$2,500 per person. Please check out our FAQs below for more payment information!
Program Agenda
Over the course of five 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-2:30pm EST.
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July 11 - Session One: Foundations of DEI Facilitation
In this session, we’ll review the program’s structure, the basics of leading group discussions, and what it means to guide DEI-related conversations. You’ll have an opportunity to assess your current leadership skills and begin learning about core competencies that are needed to guide DEI discussions effectively.
Topics include:
- Your role as a discussion leader
- Leading discussion in the DEI space
1
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July 18 - Session Two: Recognizing, Addressing, and Leveraging Privilege and Power
In order for you to be effective in leading discussions, it’s important to know where you hold privilege and power, where you don’t, and ways to leverage them without harm in the workplace. We’ll go over key terminology and concepts and begin building our facilitation muscle through a few practice scenarios.
Topics include:
- Defining Key Terminology
- Leveraging Privilege and Power
- Practice Scenarios
3
July 25 - Session Three: Holding Space for Self and Others
The key to effective facilitation is being able to know 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? In order to begin answering these questions, we’ll practice the art of holding space through role-playing.
Topics include:
- Physical, Emotional and Psychological Safety
- Supporting Yourself and Colleagues During Difficult Moments
- Frameworks and Methods
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August 1 - Session Four: Facilitation Practice and Skill Building
In this session, you’ll build on the skills you accumulated in the program so far with practice conversations. You’ll give and receive peer-to-peer feedback to build on your abilities and competencies in leading DEI conversations in your workplace. Through this feedback, knowledge gathering/sharing, and group coaching, you’ll improve your skills and gain confidence in navigating challenging moments as a DEI lead or facilitator of DEI-related conversations.
Topics include:
- Peer-to-peer Feedback
- Knowledge Gathering/Sharing
- Group Coaching
5
August 8 - Session Five: Practicing Accountability in a Holistic Manner
Not all DEI-related conversations feel comfortable. When this happens, it’s important to have intentional and strategic self and collaborative care practices in the workplace so that you can be in a better position to lead difficult conversations at work. In our final session, we’ll review ways you can support yourself and how others can help 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 begin implementing at the end of the program.
Topics Include:
- Being Accountable
- Self, Communal, and Structural Care
- Action and Commitment Plan
5
Your Facilitator
Kia Rivera is passionate about all things grounded in community and equity. She has extensive experience in DEI spaces in both Higher Education and Corporate spaces. As a facilitator Kia believes in the power of storytelling and building community. She uses these tools when facilitating because she believes that when stories are shared and community is built that is when we do the deepest learning. PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
Since this program will be open to a limited number of attendees, we encourage you to enroll as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and the application will close when all seats are filled, or by June 30, 2023. 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 two people per organization. If you’d like to train a team of people from your organizations, please contact Rachel Murray at [email protected] 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 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.
- You’ll receive:
- Intentional and compassionate guidance from one of our expert facilitators who will lead you through five 2-hour sessions of top-notch, guided content
- A 30-minute question and answer session every week with your facilitator to ensure you understand the material and get clarity on what you discussed that week
- The opportunity to practice real-life scenarios with others in a welcoming space
- A toolkit that includes what we’ll cover during each session in addition to reflection questions
- Complimentary readings and videos that will provide you with a deeper understanding of the content
- Participants are eligible for 12.5 SHRM recertification professional development credits (PDCs) upon successful program completion
- Certificate of completion and badge for your LinkedIn profile
- Private access to your cohort-based space on our community platform, Mighty Networks, along with access to the wider SGO Mighty Networks community
There are five weekly live sessions.
There are five, two and a half-hour long 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 that has registered for this year’s program. If you have any questions or concerns about the sessions being recorded, please contact us.
When you are accepted into the Leading DEI Conversations program, you will receive a link to complete your payment on the SGO Website.
If a payment plan will make this program more accessible for you, email us at [email protected]. Please note that you will still need to be accepted into the program before payment is due and final payment will need to be received by or on the program launching on July 11, 2023. If you are in need of financial support, please fill out this form and a member of the SGO team will reach out to you.
If you are employed by a Massachusetts based company, we have partnered with the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Program and their Express Program which subsidizes the cost of skills-based training via reimbursement grants for organizations. Eligible Massachusetts businesses with 100 or less employees will receive a reimbursement grant of up to 100% of the cost of training. Eligible businesses with more than 100 employees will receive a reimbursement grant of up to 50% of the cost of training. This express program covers up to $3,00 per person, per course, up to $30,000 per calendar year. More information on this program including how to apply can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact us.
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!
The program will be hosted through our platform at risetogether.shegeeksout.com. Weekly sessions will be conducted via Zoom through links in the platform, and all supplemental content will be posted there. We’ll also be using this platform for asynchronous communication in between program sessions.
Yes, all sessions will be recorded and shared in the platform 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.
You’ll have access to all resources, and group discussions once the program ends. You’ll receive a scripted guide with statements, questions, and actions you can use during challenging conversations in the workplace. You’ll also have access to both your private cohort space as well as the DEI Practitioner space and the rest of the SGO community on our platform!
Rise Together is designed to break through barriers faced by people with marginalized identities in the workplace and support those who want to abolish inequity in the workplace. It’s a mix of professional development, coaching, and networking opportunities, all with the kind and geeky vibe we’re known for.
If you request a refund, it will be processed within 5-7 business days. Please note that any refund requests after June 30, 2023 will not be accepted.
No problem! Contact us and we’ll do our best to respond within 48 hours.