We already know that Mindfulness, the ancient practice of being aware of the present moment, is a powerful tool for health/wellness and stress-reduction. More recent research shows that Mindfulness practices can also reduce our implicit/unconscious biases. With over 20 years of experience as an award-winning educator focusing on culturally inclusive leadership development, I have begun to incorporate mindfulness into my keynotes, workshops, and training. I am thrilled to offer this newest online series that combines self-paced and virtual classroom-style options. See which options work best for you to make your organization one in which every member feels like they belong and are valued!
Key Features of this Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
- All Online: the entire DEI program is offered virtually
- Use this time to focus on learning how to build DEI in your organization
- All content created by Dr. Dena Samuels, an award-winning tenured faculty member, now full-time consultant, with over 20 years of experience
- Created for public and private organizations that want to be leaders in DEI
- Hands-on skill-building activities
- Report-tracking to ensure completion
- Certificate of Completion provided
- Uplevel your DEI programming and exceed your strategic goals!
Outcomes of Solution-Focused Training Sessions
Solution-focused sessions:
- Provides specific, applicable strategies for understanding and recognizing bias at both the personal and organizational levels; and how to effectively intervene
- Teaches how to respond to challenging situations rather than react to them
- Uplevels communication skills to lower bias, increase connection, and build stronger relationships, especially across social differences
- Provides techniques for increasing cultural inclusion and belonging in your organization, which fosters a feeling of safety, leading to increased creativity and innovation
Transformation for your Leaders
Mindful Inclusive Leadership Development Training helps organization members:
Which leads to:
- reduce stress
- increase their sense of belonging, trust and safety
- increase their ability to remain calm under pressure
- increase their resiliency and creativity
- increased health/wellness
- fewer sick days for a healthier bottom line
- better, more inclusive decisions
- innovative solutions
- more effective leadership
Online Mindful Inclusive Leadership Training Program Includes:
- Online Mindful Inclusive Leadership Training Series
– Delivered online and includes a Certificate of Completion - Optional Virtual Reality Practice Simulations
- Optional Book Club with the Author
CALL for special discount pricing for booking all 3 for a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion program
1. Online Mindful Inclusive Leadership Training Series
- Includes a choice of delivery format: (a) all 8 sessions scheduled for live online classroom via Zoom, (b) 6 of the 8 sessions are available as pre-recorded trainings for a self-paced format, or (c) a combination of (a) & (b)
- Available for entire workforce
- Certificate of Completion provided after finishing all chosen sessions
- Pick and choose which sessions will work best for your organization, or choose them ALL for a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion program
Training Series Session Descriptions
Click on any title below to view the full description
This training is a great starting place to consider and discuss the personal and organizational dynamics and consequences of social inequality. Unlike standard introductory diversity trainings, this session offers a deep dive to consider systemic inequalities and how social conditioning teaches us to unintentionally include some and exclude others. Rather than using shame or blame tactics, it offers a gentle exploration and self-reflection of social identities and their connection to social inequities. This training is intersectional in that it takes into account not only race, but also gender, sexuality, social class, and other social identities. Gaining an understanding of the legacy of institutionalized discrimination allows us to make different, more inclusive choices. Hands-on strategies to build cultural inclusion better equips organization members to create a more effective organizational culture. Deliver: scheduled live digital classroom.
Mindfulness, or present moment awareness, has been shown to increase: health and wellness, resiliency, employee satisfaction and productivity, and decrease stress and sick leave. This session provides the opportunity to learn more about Mindfulness, engage in a few mindfulness practices, and leave feeling calmer and with some practices that can be used again and again. Delivery: scheduled live digital classroom or pre-recorded/self-paced.
More and more employees are working from home and are relatively new to the world of virtual meetings. As it turns out, virtual meetings can be even more culturally inclusive and engaging, if facilitated well. This session provides the background to understand why virtual meetings can minimize bias and offers specific strategies for making virtual meetings more engaging and inclusive where every attendee feels like their voice is heard. Delivery: scheduled live digital classroom or pre-recorded/self-paced.
Based on leading-edge research in bias mitigation, we know that the most effective anti-bias training incorporates strategies on both the personal and institutional levels. DSC training provides solutions in both. This session asks participants to consider their own biases and the consequences of thosebiases, and provides strategies for ameliorating them. It also offers options for mitigating bias in policies and practices within the institution to create a more culturally inclusive organizational environment. Delivery: scheduled live digital classroom or pre-recorded/self-paced. Optional added Virtual Reality Simulation practice (see below).
Microaggressions are unintentional slights, invalidations, or other behaviors that cause an exclusionary environment, especially for people who experience systemic discrimination. This workshop offers insight into some of the behaviors that might have negative unintended consequences. Through interactive skill-building group work, we discuss how to effectively challenge microaggressions when they arise, and how to become agents of change as we strive to create more culturally inclusive spaces.
We have all had some type of skill-building training on active listening; a critically important aspect of leadership development. This session uplevels that training. We take active listening skills and incorporate a mindful element that allows us to reduce bias, connect fully, and ultimately build deeper, more authentic relationships, especially across social differences. This definitely takes practice, and so this workshop provides the opportunity to do so. Delivery: scheduled live digital classroom only.
If left unchecked, strong emotion in the workplace can cause mental and physical stress, a breakdown in communication, and can hinder the learning process. We will discuss emotions, triggers, and how to reframe these uncomfortable situations as moments of potential growth and relationship-building in support of creating a healthier, more productive
When students feel like they belong in their classroom, regardless of the topic, they increase engagement and retention in the classroom and on campus/base. This session provides specific curricular and environmental strategies for creating inclusiveness to allow all students and faculty to expand their potential in the classroom and beyond. Delivery: scheduled live digital classroom or pre-recorded/self-paced.working environment.
2. Virtual Reality Simulation Practice
Virtual Reality (VR) simulations take Leadership Development Training to the next level! Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) skill-building trainings can be greatly enhanced with direct practice. Gaining hands-on experience increases the likelihood that participants will be willing, able, and confident to repeat the skills they have learned in their DSC trainings. DSC partners with Mursion, a global organization that specializes in VR live-action simulations that allow organization members the opportunity to get hands-on real-time practice of what they have learned from our training. Practicing skills with avatars has the added benefit of no harm done to real people while participants are still learning to implement their newly acquired skills. VR is the next frontier in DEI training.
First, through interactive, engaging DSC workshops, participants receive the knowledge and skills required to engage in inclusive practices (minimizing unconscious/implicit bias in interactions and hiring, effectively intervening when microaggressions occur in the workplace or classroom, among other skills). After the training, each participant signs up for a 30-minute individual V/R experience at a convenient time to practice their newly acquired skills. At the appointed time, participants engage in a live-action, interactive simulation with responsive avatars onscreen, run by live actors at Mursion. These simulations can provide practice and/or assessment of the skills they learned in the DSC training. The Mursion actors use a rubric (developed by DSC) to assess the participant’s performance implementing specific skills in the simulation. Each participant is provided a debrief and comprehensive feedback to improve their skills further.
3. Book Club
Many organizations are using my books to create communities of practice among employees to discuss and engage deeply in DEI concepts and practices. The Culturally Inclusive Educator: Preparing for a Multicultural World and The Mindfulness Effect: an unexpected path to healing, connection, & social justice are often used as an all-staff or all-organization read. (There is also an optional journal and practice planner that accompanies the book). Add two virtual book club discussions/Lunch & Learn Q&A sessions with me per book which can take place during and after your organization reads each book.
4. DSC Inclusive Leadership Development Certification (Train-the-Trainer) Program
Our online certification program for leadership development training provides an opportunity for self-reflection as well as best practices for delivering inclusive, interactive, and engaging training sessions. This program prepares participants to lead discussions on the sometimes challenging topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It provides specific strategies and skills based on Dr. Samuels’ more than 20 years of experience effectively engaging these topics with sometimes resistant audiences. Participants will leave the program with understanding, knowledge, skills, and some practice in leading Dr. Dena Samuels Consulting (DSC) trainings. Participants will be assessed and required to demonstrate effective training skills before the certificate will be awarded.
Instructor Bio
Dena Samuels, PhD, serves as a mindfulness-based diversity, equity, and inclusion author, speaker, leadership trainer, and consultant. As an award-winning tenured professor, Dr. Samuels taught at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs for 20 years while consulting nationally and internationally. She now consults full-time on mindful, inclusive leadership development. Her passions include inspiring people to raise their personal and social awareness to live more fulfilling, connected, and meaningful lives; and assisting organizations, campuses, and corporations in building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures.
A Denver-based, client-focused firm, Dena Samuels Consulting provides comprehensive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) services from strategic planning to leadership development consulting and training. With over 20 years of experience in both public and private sectors, at DSC, we concentrate on systemic change: assessing and transforming the policies and practices of the organization to build inclusive excellence. What makes our work different than other typical diversity firms is that we give participants the opportunity to reflect on their own attitudes, biases, and behavior in a welcoming, supportive atmosphere providing specific strategies for building culturally inclusive environments where every member feels like they belong. Being part of an inclusive community allows each member to bring their whole selves into their work, creating more robust solutions for problem-solving and innovation. Our goal is to assist you in the development of such a workspace for your organization and to become a world-class leader in this area.
Terms
It is recommended to reserve potential dates as soon as possible as our calendar fills quickly. Signed contract or signed invoice plus a nonrefundable $5,000 deposit reserves the training series start date and/or scheduled live digital classroom dates. Remaining payment is due when access to pre-recorded sessions is provided or on first date of live digital classroom, whichever comes first. A 3.5% processing fee will be applied to all credit card payments. Cancelation less than 2 weeks in advance of the training series start date will result in a $1000 penalty fee.
Play a sample video from the Minimizing Microaggressions Self-Paced Training
