If you have been actively working for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or for racial justice and human rights in your workplace, you are cordially invited to Subduction Consulting & El Porvenir Services’ Requiem for Equity.
In this 3-part community convening, we will celebrate the achievements, mourn the losses, and document the lessons learned over the past decade of DEI, while envisioning how to evolve our strategies and tactics in response to an increasingly hostile political and legal landscape.
Please join us!
Thursdays, September 5, 12 & 19, 2024
10AM - 12PM, Zoom
Carlos Kareem Windham
Theresa Logan
Each session in the series will offer:
Expert facilitation by Carlos Kareem Windham of El Porvenir Services and Theresa Logan of Subduction Consulting.
Prompts and time for self-reflection.
Small and large group discussion.
Access to a virtual whiteboard for collective brainstorming and note-taking during, between and after sessions.
All registered participants will also receive:
Links to view the recordings of the large-group portions of the live sessions, in case you can’t attend them all live.
Complimentary membership in Strategy & Solidarity, our brand new online community & course platform, where we will be continuing the conversation and building community between & beyond the sessions in this series.
Part 1 - DEI is Dead?!
Thursday, September 5th
10AM-12PM PDT
Zoom
Corporations largely defaulted on their 2020 commitments to fund and support anti-racism efforts, the national legal landscape has become increasingly hostile towards affirmative action and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programming, and Critical Race Theory, “wokeness” and DEI have been co-opted and weaponized as conservative bogeymen. Given this current reality, many are claiming “DEI is dead.”
Session participants will be invited to reflect and share their perspectives on the current state of workplace DEI, racial equity, and racial justice efforts.
What have “Equity” and “DEI” initiatives accomplished in the past decade?
What have been the failures, barriers and challenges of DEI initiatives, framing & strategies?
What ground has been gained that we cannot afford to lose? How can we hold it?
Part 2 -
Did DEI have a soul?
Thursday, September 12th 10AM-12PM PDT
Zoom
Moral guidance, spiritual sustenance, grounding, centering, and strategic leadership were often provided by organized religion in previous incarnations of the racial justice movement. As a dispersed, secular trend located in the public & social service sector, the “DEI” efforts of the past decade have largely failed to develop the core components of a true social movement, such as a solid philosophical foundation with clear goals; effective organizing of strategic collaborations between institutions; and proven & refined strategies and tactics.
Session participants will be invited to reflect and share their perspectives about the moral grounding, values, and leadership of current and future workplace racial justice efforts:
What has been the “soul,” “north star” or guiding principles of DEI efforts thus far?
What role can/does spirituality play in guiding & sustaining the work of individual practitioners, activists, and leaders of workplace racial justice efforts?
How can we create more grounded, centered, sustainable, powerful & strategic collaborations without a shared spiritual framework?
PART 3 -
A phoenix from the ashes?
Thursday, September 19, 10AM-12PM PDT Zoom
From abolition to desegregation, from civil rights to multiculturalism, and from diversity to equity and inclusion, the workplace has always been a site of struggle for racial justice in the US – precisely because anti-Blackness and white supremacy were developed explicitly to uphold an economic system fueled by chattel slavery.
Our goals and language have shifted in response to context, culture, wins, losses and, honestly, to narrative out-maneuvering by conservative strategists intentionally seeking to roll back our gains in advancing human rights. The language and vocabulary of DEI is currently being villainized and weaponized by those seeking to protect, uphold and further cement fundamentalist white supremacy.
Where do we go from here?
Participants in the 3rd session of Requiem for Equity will be invited to reflect and share their perspectives about our collective strategies for next steps:
What should our top 3 priorities be moving forward?
What evolutions in language and strategies might help us clarify and achieve our immediate and long-term goals?
What is our proactive plan to take the movement “underground" in advance of possible anti-DEI legislation at the local, state, or federal levels?
Registration Options
Registration includes:
Live participation in all 3 Requiem for Equity community conversation sessions.
Opportunities to discuss these issues with other dedicated professionals in a structured small-group setting.
Recording links to view the large group portions of each live session.
Access to a private Requiem for Equity discussion & resource work space to connect with other participants between & beyond sessions.
A complimentary membership to Strategy & Solidarity, Subduction Consulting & El Porvenir Services’ new online community.
ACCESSIBILITY & FAIR EXCHANGE
Based in our dual values of community access and fair exchange for labor, we are offering this series on a sliding scale of $45 - $300.
If your employer is paying your registration fee and is a PWI (predominantly white institution), please ask them to pay the full amount.
If you are an individual paying for your own registration, or your employer is a BIPOC-led and/or community-based organization with limited resources, please consider the following questions before deciding how much to pay:
What is the potential value of your participation in this series to your personal and professional development?
What is fair exchange for the decades of professional expertise and lived experience being offered by the workshop facilitators?
What can you actually afford to pay?
And, ALL ARE WELCOME regardless of ability to pay – please email scholarship requests to the email address below by September 1, 2024.