A Relearn
Location
New York
Industry
Non-Profit
Challenge
National and Local staff training need
Action
Customized training delivered to staff in cross collaboration
Results
Chomp and chats integral to team culture
The organization had committed internally to be an antiracist organization. New York based local and national staff were siloed in their respective corners of the office. One indicator of antiracist orgs is that staff are skillful at engaging in conversations around race. The training modules would be delivered monthly at lunch catered by diverse restaurants attended by local and national staff.
I designed the training and worked closely with my colleague who identified as an AAPI gay man to develop a training curriculum that would meet the teams’ needs. Training objectives were determined and content developed to meet those objectives. Following review and approval of the content by ED (Executive Director) and VP of People and Equity (HR), the program was designed and customized to follow company branding.
We selected a fun name to settle the angst many colleagues reported experiencing at the thought of conversations and training around race. A facilitator from the national team was added to the team to center cross collaboration. Group agreements and norms around engagement and understanding of whiteness and intersectionality grounded the curriculum. The response to the training was so positive that staff volunteered to facilitate sessions, giving feedback around content and format. Chomp and chats went viral in the organization extending from 1 chapter to 4.
