Grappling with the Legacy of Whiteness
A six-session guided exploration of how to do DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) work meaningfully, plus one individual coaching session.
- Are you a leader in a predominantly white workplace?
- Are you someone who has read about DEI, but are not sure how to take the theory into practice?
- Are you at the helm of an organization that knows the value of DEI, but has yet to move beyond performative culture?
- Are you a leader who is frustrated with the depth and scope of DEI work?
- Are you a leader who is firmly on the path of doing DEI work, but is starting to run out of steam?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then this Learning Journey is for you!
What we know for sure is that DEI work is necessary, and that there is so much more to it than simply ensuring diverse representation on your team. There are issues of accessibility and belonging. There are systemic pillars to be dismantled. There are embedded policies that need to be rewritten if not entirely thrown out. Collectively we have inherited systems, policies, procedures, viewpoints that were and are rooted in whiteness. All of this can leave leaders feeling simultaneously excited and overwhelmed, interested, and impatient, wanting to do the work and simply unsure of what “doing the work” even looks like.
Join Gail Barker and Louise Pitre – coaches and DEI consultants – alongside other leaders engaged in a similar grapple, for a 6-week guided exploration of how to do this work meaningfully, sustainably, and effectively. During our time together, we will create a shared space for deep reflection and dialogue, peer learning, and coaching that will help participants:
- Distinguish between meaningful and performative DEI work
- Identify obvious and hidden obstacles to DEI work in the workplace
- Uncover personal challenges and fears around engaging in this work
- Share strategies for dealing with oversights and mistakes (because you will make them)
- Create workable action plans for beginning the process of doing DEI work in your specific space
- Learn how to stay engaged in the grapple, even when things get tough or energy wanes
“White supremacy won’t die until White people see it as a White issue they need to solve rather than a Black issue they need to empathize with.”
Dwayne Reed
Learning Journeys
Get the support you need to create a healthy, inclusive, and equity-driven workplace culture. Coaching packages are highly personalized to your needs, budget, and approach.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Are a White-identified leader
- Are struggling to figure out what to do when it comes to DEI
- Understand their leadership role in creating transformative change in the workplace
- Are ready to do their inner work
"I’ll help you to do the inner work required to shift your awareness, behaviours, and mindset so that you can build more connection and trust with your team and repair the power imbalances and inequities that exist in your workplace."
Build your capacity to lead from a place of resilience.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Are leaders or change-makers in the workplace, responding to crisis after crisis.
- Want to develop their personal power.
- Are ready to play with embodied ways or of learning.
- Want to learn in community with others.
"I feel transformed in my capacity to access my sense of my personal capacity, and my awareness of what it feels like in my body to really feel grounded and connected."
A six-session embodied learning journey for people in leadership who identify as women, transgender or non-binary to explore relationships to power.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Identify as women, trans or non-binary and are in leadership roles.
- Feel unsure of how to step into power in helpful ways.
- Want to radically reimagine power as transformative for self, organization and systems.
- Are interested in using positional power for equity and social justice.
“It was a life-changing experience, professionally and personally. As a visible minority immigrant woman in a leadership role, I used to doubt my ability to help level the power plane and let my voice be heard. The workshop gifted me a new lens to look at power and power dynamics, and it strengthened my courage and strategy as a leader and advocate for other newcomers and immigrants.”
Dialogues about where we've been, where we are now, and where we're headed in relation to the work of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, particularly through the lens of race.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Are in leadership roles and seek an open and honest conversation about doing DEI work.
In May of 2023, community leaders came together to be in conversation around issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Feedback from that morning was incredible and communicated clearly that more dialogue sessions of this nature would be welcome. So let's do it!
For White-identified leaders ready to do some inner work using theatre.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Are White-identified leaders.
- Want to meaningfully engage in DEI and anti-racism work.
- Are ready to investigate what keeps them stuck.
- Want to use embodied ways of knowing.
- Want to learn with and in community.
"The safety that comes through the combination of your presence and all whiteness is unusual and welcomed. I’m taking away a stronger commitment to understand the power I have in situations, and to move with it even more intentionally, slowly, firmly - somehow weaving reparations, uplift for all of us/generative, and seeing/being with the truth of history-steeped reality.”
A six-session guided exploration of how to do DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) work meaningfully, plus one individual coaching session.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Lead in a predominantly white workplace.
- Are unsure how to take DEI theory into practice.
- Want to move beyond performative culture.
- Are on the path of doing DEI work but are running out of steam.
"This program was the bridge I needed to help me move from awareness into action mindset. It built my courage and helped me to drop my armour. Being able to talk about our beliefs and barriers unlocked something in me as a white leader."
Coaching is a powerful space for transformation — but only if it’s accessible to everyone.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Coaches, coach trainees
- Recognize that they are uniquely positioned to influence systems
- Approach their work with humility
- Are ready to do the inner work necessary for equity literacy
“I can see more clearly now and have deeper insights, understanding and appreciation for incorporating a deep equity approach to coaching”
Trainings
A workshop designed to build your understanding of what unconscious gender bias is, how to recognize and counter it, and how gender bias intersects with age, sexual orientation and race.
See more detailsThis is for folx who:
- Want to understand how gender bias shows up at work.
- Need tools to mitigate bias due to gender or gender identity.
- Seek an open and honest conversation about gender bias – and what it means for your organization and people.
“…with the knowledge and guidance provided to us by Dr. AnnaLise Trudell and Louise Pitre, we were able to take a constructive first step along our journey towards building a more diverse and inclusive work environment.”
Looking for something custom?
I can develop a leadership workshop or learning series to suit your needs.
Start the conversation