FOR PROSPECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS WHO WANT TO MOVE BEYOND DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION TO CREATE AN ACTUAL COMMUNITY OF BELONGING.

This is for you if your organization is asking the hard question of "What Is Ours To Do?" This is an invitation to address diversity and inclusion in your organization by NOT filling out quotas but actually becoming a true community of belonging that addresses systems of oppression and dismantles hidden inequities within.

ARE YOU READY?

Presenting an virtual learning opportunity with
Iyabo Onipede

Facilitator|Speaker|Consultant

Iyabo Onipede is a seasoned intercultural development and race equity facilitator and consultant with a global perspective. A self-described “recovering attorney,” she brings a blend of her personal experiences, education and spirituality to all of her workshops. She designs customized, high touch experiences to navigate people through the choppy waters around exploring their identities, healing old racial and cultural wounds and creating new possibilities for communities of belonging.

Learn how to release old mental paradigms, become adaptive and confident when it comes to thinking, talking and acting about Race and Culture in this 7 module class.

Expanding Dignity:
unpacking culture and race

Dates: Class meets every week For 7 sessions. Each class is two hours long
TEAM SIZE: minimum of 15 people and maximum of 25 people.
COST: Inquire for quote

Hope is my work. Compassion is my method. Liberation for all and Justice in community are the outcome.

This is “the work my soul must have.” ~ Alice Walker

Why this class?

Developing intercultural competency has long been one of the top four priorities of excellent leaders and influencers. Given the current social climate, it has become more urgent for organizations to factor race into not just their intercultural competency but also their world view.

How do we do the difficult work of empowering people to explore their racial and cultural identities, create change and influence their family members, workplaces, small businesses and communities? How do we create safety and do no harm? How do we transform our small businesses into thriving, productive expressions of our deepest held beliefs around racial and cultural equity?

We do that by learning in community! This offering is a 7-module class which will create a brave and exciting community of practice where participants will be empowered to stop harm and create more human dignity for self and others. As we dismantle racism within ourselves and in our work or businesses, we will deepen our understanding of our impact and align our values with a cause greater than each of us. The class will bring together a mix of critical race theory, identify formation and community building using the The CARA Model™, a proprietary integrative liberation framework that moves learners through an exploration of Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppression intentions to an activation of the capacity to become Liberation Practitioners.

Once the group is formed, we will take an assessment that will locate us on a spectrum of behaviors. It will help us distinguish between where we are and where we want to be. It will help us identify our group identity in terms of culture and race. We will do a group debrief of our collective assessment. Then we will begin the task of transformation of self as we create healthy communities of belonging. We will explore the impact of living in dominant cultures of oppression and end with the possibilities of building communities of transformation. We will develop tools, reflect together, learn together, challenge each other and most of all, breathe together even in a virtual learning space.

This is not a journey, but a pilgrimage. When you take a journey, you must leave home. A pilgrimage requires no physical movement but a spiritual, emotional and cognitive shift in consciousness. We do this work in a brave learning community together.

Come join us!

By taking this class, you will:

Dignity invites Belonging!

Watch this invitation about creating cultures of belonging in our organizations

Module one

Why Is It Necessary to talk about race and culture?

We know that the deeply embedded racism in not just the United States, but the entire world, is turning the world on its head right now. Many of us are processing extremely high level of emotions right now. The ground feels shaky. The world as we have known it is irreparably changed. How can we develop confidence and courage to remain engaged and effect powerful change in a swirling, changing world? By taking an assessment that grounds and locates us so we move forward with a compass and with wisdom.

Module two

What is the role of identity in this work?

We often think racism is happening to other people. We are not racist, right? What are some of the ways that Black and Non-Black people perpetuate a cultural climate of racism? Where do you stand? What are the named and unnamed forces shaping us into a culture of oppression for some and dominance for others? This module is all about exploration. You have to know where you are starting from in order to create momentum in the right direction.

Module three

What are the invisible social contracts that determine our default settings?

We are shaped by invisible forces that we are conditioned not to name. The standard of “rugged individualism” lulls us into believing that we can achieve anything we want without paying attention to the larger systems in which we swim. This module will give us tools to identify and deconstruct such systems.

module four

How do you hold and respond to power?

How we relate to power informs how we value other people’s lived experiences. Power has to exist in community to form a cohesive whole. If we bring a scarcity mindset to power, we end up losing. This module will encourage us to adapt to more expansive forms of power and integrate it into our communities.

module five

How do you hold and respond to oppression?

What can one do to reclaim the fulness of personal dignity to operate as a person committed to the liberation of self and others? What does dignity in community look like and feel like? This module will help us apply tools to identity, isolate and deconstruct oppression as it relates to power in our spheres of influence.

module six

What is your unique meaning making process?

The process of centering inquiry allows us to explore the relationship between our values and theories that we make about the world around us. Are you aware of the frameworks you use to understand what is happening around you? This module will give us skills to move from our deepest held values into action and accountability.

module 7

What is your commitment to a new narrative?

As we close out this series, we will understand the power of a new narrative for ourselves and for our communities to create cultures of belonging. Establishing our personal agency, we will commit to the continuous expansion of our capacity to act in generative ways. What possibilities are we creating with a shared vision of a transformed community?

How Does It Work?

Become confident in taking action when it comes to race and culture in your personal life and in your business.

Assessment

You will receive and assessment called the Intercultural Development Inventory that will locate your cultural competency on a continuum.

Private coaching session

You will receive a private one on one coaching session with Iyabo to debrief on your personal assessment.

Community Building

You will co-learn alongside others and become a community of practice when it comes to ensuring that your business is an antiracist business

Trauma Informed

Each module is enriched with trauma informed practices that you can use on your own.

Trusted Knowledge

Each module is structured on evidence based information and thoroughly researched and proven strategies.

Interactive Engagment

This is not a prerecorded class. This is a live training. Portions of the training may be recorded as they occur but they will not be shared with the public.

Client Love

What people are saying

Iyabo asks the best questions! She asks just the right questions to always lead me to my own wisdom. In the midst of changing careers and starting my own business, she helps me clarify where I want to go and prioritize how to get there. I really appreciate that I leave every session with effective tools to help me stay on track and her experience and sharp insight have been invaluable in helping me move forward with this big change in my life.

My time with Iyabo unearthed various parts of my life so that I could see and review them with clarity. She helped me to see pieces of my own heart and stories in new ways, and held ample space for me to cry, laugh and come to my own conclusions about what my life wants to become. It is rare to find a place where you can be yourself, listen to your own soul and discover practical next steps to help you move forward in life with intentionality. I would highly recommend Iyabo for those who are looking to do new and deep work.

I worked with Iyabo as a co-facilitator for a number of gatherings at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta related to race, racism, and reconciliation. She helped me immensely in my own thinking about race and racism as well as the way I go about discussing it with other people. Her framing racial and intercultural awareness in terms of development creates important space for self-reflection and group exploration. In group sessions, Iyabo has an extremely disarming and inviting presence, even when she challenges participants to go deeper or critically evaluate their own formation in a racialized world. It is a true joy to work with Iyabo.

Are your problems starting to feel solvable but also like a sign on your back that you can't see? Iyabo is the person you call when you are ready to transform. Whether you are a newborn caterpillar or almost ready to emerge into your majesty from your cocoon, Iyabo will help you complete the challenging work of seeing and being the best and happiest version of yourself. Call her if you want to become. Even if you're scared that you're not quite ready.

Iyabo is the person who tenderly, yet directly, introduced me to my privilege. She is amazing at digging deeper into your story and worldview and finding the places where you can work toward growth most effectively. She also drops truth bombs that I love to turn around in my head over and over.