Advancing Racial Equity

Diversity Dynamics in Systems
Gain an understanding of the influence of diversity dynamics in teams and organizations and their influence on both individual and organizational performance. You’ll get introduced to a model of organizational change to help you think systematically about the integration of diversity and inclusion into your organization. The various ways we can think about diversity dynamics, including race, will be discussed.

Understanding the Benefits of Diversity in Teams
There has been a great deal of research that demonstrates the benefits of diversity in decisions made by groups and the costs of working in homogeneous teams. In this session, participants get equipped with the necessary logic and data to make the case in their own organizations for the importance of leveraging the diversity of teams.

The Role of Unconscious Bias and Stereotypes in Organizational Life
You'll learn about diagnostic frameworks that provide insight into how reliance on stereotypes results in gender and racial disparities in leadership positions. You'll also learn how a mismatch between stereotypes of characteristics required by jobs and stereotypes of individuals result in bias. Key questions that will be addressed include: How might stereotypes be playing a role in decisions I make when working with others? How can leaders combat these stereotypes in working with others?

How Individuals Contend with Stereotype Threat in Organizations
Stereotype threat is the expectation that one will be judged or perceived on the basis of social identity group membership rather than actual performance and potential. We shed light on the conditions that lead to the experience of stereotype threat at work, learn about strategies that people use to contend with stereotype threat at work and evaluate the costs and benefits associated with these responses for them and their organization. We will discuss ways that leaders and organizations can intervene to minimize the effects of stereotype threat as a barrier faced by women and people of color as they progress into leadership roles.

Diagnosing Diversity Dynamics in Teams and Organizations
Get equipped with a tool to develop “x-ray vision” to see covert dynamics operating beneath the surface. By linking overt behavior with covert dynamics, participants will learn how to diagnose diversity dynamics and develop a systemic perspective of team and organizational life. Developing a more comprehensive diagnosis of diversity dynamics and thinking systemically will help participants achieve more effective interventions in service of inclusive environments.

Creating Inclusive Climates
Research shows that employees who work in more inclusive climates report higher levels of commitment, satisfaction, perceived organizational support, willingness to engage in citizenship behaviors, and a lesser likelihood to leave the organization compared to employees working in less inclusive environments. You will be introduced to tools that will help you assess the extent to which your organization is inclusive and anti-racist. Understanding how organizations implement employment practices and make decisions can help participants identify where your organization can promote greater inclusion and equity. We will discuss the importance of how this work is undertaken so that longer-term changes to the organizational climate can occur.

Enhancing Your Intercultural Competence
While diversity focuses on the “who” (the mix of differences and representation) and inclusion focuses on the “what” (feeling valued and engaged), intercultural competence focuses on the “how” (making diversity work). In order to enhance intercultural competence, participants will consider their own cultural programming. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in individual and small group reflection focused on individual, team, and organizational implications.

Authentic Leadership for Inclusion and Racial Equity
Participants will think about how the intersectionality of their own multiple identities contributes to what aspects of their identities will show up at work. We then use this self-knowledge to facilitate participants' understanding of the complexity in others that they work with. Participants learn the importance of being curious about others’ unique multiple identities without seeing them through the narrow lens of one identity. Participants also learn the importance of sharing their own journey with their team to help create conditions of psychological safety that have been shown to have a positive effect on creating an inclusive climate and workplaces that support racial equity.