We live and work in frenetic times and rarely take the time for reflective, connected conversations. While companies often aspire to incorporate a social justice mission and promote a DEI agenda, the deeper conversations that lead to systemic change are often an afterthought. We need to engage in slow, thoughtful conversations to disrupt the status quo in ourselves and our communities.

This spring, consider joining a three-part session over the course of three weeks. Together, we’ll spend time unpacking whiteness in reflective and somatic ways. We’ll explore how our identities have been historically constructed and continue to evolve today and what it means to interrogate who we are and where we came from with compassion. We’ll make space to engage the questions we have as white people with antiracist goals. Most of all, together in community, we’ll explore what rich, depth-oriented dialogue about whiteness feels like and the ways it can shift how we show up in our daily lives as people and in our places of work.

Who might attend?

• Are you part of a DEI committee and frustrated by a lack of change?

• Are you someone with a commitment to antiracism and lack community at work to discuss things like whiteness?

• Are you hoping to engage white folks at your work in deeper conversations about race and whiteness?

• Have you experienced your own challenges around race in the workplace that have left you feeling confused, ashamed, or alone?

• Do you just enjoy connecting with others about identity and are excited to learn and grow in this area of your life?

While you won’t come away with a toolkit or list of solutions, you will come away with many ideas, learnings, and shifts in thinking that you can share with your workplace

Below are some workshop opportunities that can be tailored to match the needs of your company. Our goal is to partner with you to understand how we can best support you. Our work is not limited to the workshops below. We will work with you in designing a program that will achieve your desired results. Through an intake process, we will get to know your company and devise a strategy to support your company in achieving goals around anti-racism.

FAQs

1. How can I get white folks at my company to participate in this work?    

   As white people, we almost always have choices about when, where, how, and even if we want to participate in discussions about racism and whiteness. Some of us seek opportunities to engage in discourse about what it means to be white, but many of us are more comfortable standing on the sidelines. We will work with your company to plan the best approach to engage your white employees in these important conversations. Leveraging those who have experience talking about race and whiteness is always a great place to start. First and foremost, it is about building connections to form the best partnership with you and then determining the best path forward.

2. Isn’t having a group specifically for white people racist?

   Gathering in a white space can feel wrong for good reason. Our history of segregation has rightfully taught us to avoid such spaces. However, there are a few key reasons for such groups. First, it is important to acknowledge that most white people are unintentional white spaces much of the time. Second, as white people, we tend to avoid discussing issues of race in authentic and open ways when we’re in the company of our BIPOC colleagues and friends-and even when in white spaces. We’re so worried about saying the wrong thing that we avoid these conversations altogether. Meeting with white colleagues to examine our racial identity and its impacts allows us to push ourselves into these conversations without worrying about how we’re perceived and, more importantly, without causing harm to our BIPOC communities. Second, it’s important that we recognize that these spaces are just one piece of the puzzle. We don’t enter them to stay there but rather to learn and build our capacity to engage in cross-racial dialogue and to be better allies and co-conspirators. By explicitly articulating our reasons for meeting in a white space, we stay focused and accountable to the goals of working toward antiracism in ourselves and our workplace.

3. How is this work different from other DEI trainings? How will we know if it is effective?

   The DEI landscape is broad and complex. The role of a white, antiracist space is specific and just one part of this landscape. Our initial conversation(s) with you will allow us to consider how this piece of the puzzle fits into your larger DEI picture. A white, antiracist affinity space should not exist in isolation but rather be a part of the overall DEI goals of an organization. Being explicit about the role of white antiracist work within the broader context is something we feel strongly about. One of the most challenging aspects of DEI work is capturing its impacts. Unfortunately, many DEI workshops and opportunities follow an easy come, easy go trajectory. Many of us have sat through one-off training sessions, only never to be asked to return to them again. This is the nature of our busy schedules and, often, the impact of white privilege. In our work with white folks, we try to create compassionate accountability groups that ask participants to engage and then re-engage. We know this work cannot, and will not, be done if we take an individualistic or one-time approach. Our goal is to help companies create opportunities for connection and ongoing partnership in pursuing antiracism. We work alongside you to assess how our work might intersect and interact with your DEI program and believe that an ongoing partnership is the best way to implement and track real change in the day-to-day lives of all employees. For further reading on the effectiveness of DEI training, check out this article.

4. What about our BIPOC employees?

   Within your company's broader DEI landscape, we hope your BIPOC employees are cared for intentionally. While we do not work with BIPOC employees directly, we welcome questions and concerns. We can also provide recommendations for organizations that support BIPOC employees. We feel strongly that this work should always be happening alongside our work.