Diversity and Equity Leadership Institute (DELI): Facilitation and Design Skills 2012
Nov 6 – Nov 9, 2012
Tue 7:00 PM – Fri 1:00 PM
$675.00
“If you work in diversity and equity and can only attend one workshop this year, this is the one.” ~ Craig H, Children’s Aid Services Diversity Supervisor
“This course makes me feel whole; that there is a real and urgent need for ‘all of who we are’ to step forward, to be present in our roles as leaders, educators…. especially if we are to transform our communities in healthy and holistic ways.” ~ Indy Batth, Program Manager, Centre for Intercultural Communication, UBC
“The activities were excellent and useful to take back… Incredibly useful. I can’t say enough good about these amazing 2 days!” ~ Kim MacKenzie, O.C.I.S.O.
“I know that what I learned in terms of being present, checking in, building inclusive communities up front (as a form of “prevention”) will stay with me and inform my teaching and research practices as will the emotional intelligence piece and how this is connected to equity work.” ~ Susan Walsh, Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University
“A wonderful weaving of the emotional, the spiritual, the political, the communal, intellectual. Great!” ~ Njeri-Damali Campbell, Peel Diversity Roundtable
Neuroscience research over the last decade reveals that our day-to-day behaviour is dictated – contrary to popular belief—by how we feel rather than what we think. Emotions, invisible and controlling, are rooted in the unconscious mind and frequently impact our actions without our awareness. Developing greater emotional intelligence (EI)—self-awareness, empathy and relationship-building—is widely recognized as the most important personal competencies for leaders to possess. The terrain of emotions raises important and profound question for facilitators designing and delivering diversity and equity trainings:
What is the role of emotions in our interactions with people from backgrounds different than our own? ? How do we uncover our personal “blind-spots” that reside in our unconscious mind in order to create truly inclusive, welcoming environments? What is the role of unconscious bias and emotional triggers in how well we handle conflict that involves issues of difference (i.e. race, gender, class or sexual orientation)? How EI skills be leveraged in order to reduce “resistance” to equity issues in training sessions?
The Diversity & Equity Leadership Institute (DELI) seeks to answer some of these questions. The DELI is an award-winning** professional development opportunity grounded in adult pedagogy and layered with cutting-edge information from the fields of neuroscience, social psychology, anti-racism and bias research. Anima Leadership has developed a unique Diversity Intelligence (DI) framework, a deeply holistic approach that balances intellect with emotions, and internal factors with external forces in order to tackle racism, discrimination and foster true inclusion in the workplace.
This training is for facilitators and educators who are interested in a methodology that is compassionate and relational in orientation. The DI framework nurtures personal growth through a process of both learning—as well as unlearning—through the use of various theoretical lenses without being confined to a singular ideological position. We will explore workshop structure, frameworks, rationale as well as teaching choices that increase buy-in and decrease resistance using the DI principles, in order to maximize the ability for organizations to tackle the difficult terrain of systemic discrimination and nurture inclusion. In small and large groups, you will work with trained facilitators to further enhance your own skills and knowledge base to become more effective trainers in the areas of discrimination, emotional intelligence and conflict transformation.
* Although facilitation techniques will be discussed in the training, basic experience is a pre-requisite as this is not a beginner’s facilitation course.
** Anima Leadership was honoured with The Award of Excellence for Best Practices in Diversity Training, a national award presented bi-annually by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, an arms-length federal government agency with a mandate to fight racism in all its forms.
Program Cost: $675 ($520 tuition+$155 meals/accommodations)
Please register at least 2 weeks in advance to secure your spot in this program.
Leadership
Shakil Choudhury
Shakil Choudhury is Senior Partner with Anima Leadership and also a diversity and leadership consultant with 15 years of experience working nationally and internationally. Shakil is an award-winning equity educator and author, he has a background in anti-racism, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence. He has been leading and building teams for almost 15 years in a variety of work contexts including the education, health and non-profit sectors. He uses his experience to design high-impact, empowering training sessions.
Amanda Reddick
Amanda Reddick, Program Resource Group (PRG) facilitator. Amanda is a counselor at New Start in Halifax where she works with men who have been abusive in their intimate relationships. Her educational background in Peace and Conflict Studies compliments her passion for community building and social justice. Amanda is a certified Dialogue For Peaceful Change Mediator and is interested in processes that lead to healing and building an Afri-centric approach to counseling and diversity work.
For more information please visit the website.