Series Sessions
- Session One: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Reflecting on the Legacy of Civil Rights and Affirmative Action: Out of the past into the future! - Session Two: Friday, March 7, 2008
Grappling with Immigration: Re-envisioning Americans - Session Three: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Struggling with Religious Diversity: Rekindling Respect - Session Four: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Colliding over politics: Are we so divided? - Session Five: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Challenging Concepts of Race & Ethnicity: Transforming identities - Session Six: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Confronting Global Diversity: Imagining a Wide Circle of Inclusion
Session Six: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Confronting Global Diversity: Imagining a Wide Circle of Inclusion
Patricia Digh
David Robinson
While economic barriers are coming down around the world in the 21st century, cultural barriers are going up. In other words, people vehemently hold on to what they know when pressured to change or another country's culture is imposed on them. The forces exerted on cultural identities by the global economy often become sources of conflict and drive fundamentalist tendencies.
As we navigate the imposition of U.S. cultural values on others through our economic models, questions of global ethics arise. For example, in journalist Thomas Friedman's "flat world," as he calls it, can business become a catalyst for cultural change and social justice as much as it forces economic gain? If so, what moral and ethical dilemmas does this new role pose for us? There is evidence that culture matters more, not less, in our global marketplace.
Does globalization require us to rethink our diversity paradigms?
In this interactive session we will engage the following questions:
- What values lie underneath our U.S. assumptions about diversity, and more importantly, can they, ought they, be exported into non-U.S. contexts?
- Why should all diversity be defined in global terms even if your company only does business inside the U.S.?
- What roles do we play in the global marketplace and how is the quality of our relationships largely defined by the limits—the "toast rules" as we call them—that we place on ourselves and project onto others?
- What can we learn from global mongrels and global nomads? What is global diversity and how did it evolve?
Purpose of this session:
To provide information and tools so managers and employees can
- understand and communicate effectively about the impact that diversity causes — on people and the health of organizations — in a global economy, and
- explore new potential approaches that might be developed for this dynamic future that awaits us.
Session outcomes:
As a result of attending this session, we intend that participants will:
- Understand globalization trends and their impact on the diversity work that we do inside organizations.
- Gain insights about the beliefs and assumptions underlying our diversity work in the U.S. and how it might impede global diversity efforts.
- Spark creative dialogue within your organization about global diversity.
- Identify and move beyond the "toast rules," those limitations that impede dynamic global partnerships.
Presenters
Patti Digh and David Robinson, co-founders of The Circle Project, with offices in Asheville, NC & Seattle, WA. Co-author of Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures, named a Fortune magazine "best business book" (Simon & Schuster, 2000), and The Global Diversity Desk Reference (Wiley, 2003), Patti's next book, LIFE IS A VERB, is due out from Globe Pequot Press in 2008. Patti and David's new book, TOAST RULES: 50 ways to burn your company (and yourself), is also forthcoming in 2008.
Session One: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Reflecting on the Legacy of Civil Rights and Affirmative Action: Out of the past into the future!
James Gregory
Trevor Griffey
Mic Crenshaw
Civil Rights? Affirmative Action? What do 1960s laws have to do with diversity and inclusion in 2008? Isn't Affirmative Action passé by now? Why were Civil Rights laws enacted anyway?
Turn the clock back 40 years — welcome to "Segregated Seattle" — where the ship canal draws a color line designating where whites and people of color can live, where jobs are offered or not according to race, and where bigotry flourishes in some areas.
"But, that's the past — it's all changed now — hasn't it?" We invite you to come to this session to engage some of Seattle's history you may not know about, the conditions that spawned the Civil Rights Movement, Seattle's Civil Rights activists who called for social justice, and the pioneering work of the City of Seattle's Office of Human Rights. With this context, you'll be able to consider the origins of affirmative action and why it was (and still is) controversial.
Fast forward to 2008: Have we achieved equal opportunity? Has discrimination been eliminated? Do we need Civil Rights and Affirmative Action? Or should there be a new approach to ensuring equal opportunity and inclusion as America changes?
These are the questions for dialogue, which is the next step in our learning process. Mic Crenshaw, hip-hop artist and social activist will offer his unique interpretation of the current state of social justice, and he will introduce the dialogue groups. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to dialogue with others and a dialogue group leader about what you've heard, the questions you have, and what you think is the future direction for ensuring equality and inclusion in your work environment.
Session outcomes
- To understand the conditions, tensions and values that sparked the Civil Rights Movement in Seattle and the origins of affirmative action, and be able to talk about them with others knowledgeably and respectfully.
- To gain knowledge and insight about how these issues enter into the current diversity and inclusion conversation, and how they affect you and your organization.
- How to use dialogue as a tool to foster understanding and to spark creative and innovative thinking with co-workers and leaders about equal opportunity in the future.
Presenters
Professor James Gregory, University of Washington History Department, and Trevor Griffey, Graduate Student, creators of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, and Mic Crenshaw, Educator, Activist, Hip-Hop Artist, Portland, Oregon
Who should attend this session?
Diversity champions and change agents, members and leaders of Diversity Councils and Employee Resource Groups, Human Resource managers and specialists, organizational change agents, Diversity managers and trainers, and anyone that manages people or leads business units or departments. We especially encourage members of the Gen X and Millennial (Gen Y) generations to attend.
Session Two: Friday, March 7, 2008
Grappling with Immigration: Re-envisioning Americans - with special guest: Pramila Jayapal, Founder and Executive Director, Hate Free Zone
Steve Miller
Pramila Jayapal
The subject of immigration is fraught with tension. The debate is hot - you can hear or read about it almost daily.
And the comments are strident: "America is for Americans." "Why don't they go back where they came from?" "They're taking our jobs." "Why don't they speak English?" "They drive down wages." "They are a burden to our cities." "We need to enforce the laws."
"Immigrants are the face of change that people see in their daily lives," says Steve Miller, presenter for this session. "Our world tomorrow isn't going to look like the world I grew up in, I will live among a mix of people that look differently, sound differently, and may even dress differently than I am accustomed. This kind of change is unsettling, especially if it happens quickly, and it has," he emphasizes.
According to Steve, the United States is in the middle of the third "great wave" of immigration. "The Pacific Northwest is a magnet for new immigrants for a number of reasons," he adds.
Why do people come to the Puget Sound Region? Where do they work? Are they filling jobs that Americans really don't want or is there a shortage of workers? How does immigration affect your workplace and organization? How does immigration affect you personally?
The purpose of this session is to help employees, managers and leaders understand immigration as it applies to business and the organizational environment - the issues, the challenges, the opportunities
With more than 15 years experience in the intersection of immigration and business, Steve will explain why companies and organizations actively seek and recruit immigrants, how immigration is connected to the larger forces of globalization, how greater enforcement of immigration law may impact your organization, what to do when you discover a valuable employee does not have valid status, and how the New Americans Initiative, soon to be launched by the government of Washington State, will impact both organizations and individuals.
Participants will gain a survey of the immigration landscape, both nationally and for the Puget Sound Region. You'll learn about today's immigrants, why they come to the United States and to our Region, who is legal and who is undocumented, and how to approach the complicated subject of "immigration status." You will also have the opportunity to dialogue in small groups about some of the immigration issues presented.
Steve poses thoughtful questions in preparation for our dialogue: "We have to understand the choices and options that we have, as a nation, as a community, and as organizations, and we have to be clear about the consequences of what we decide to do." What kind of climates do we foster in our communities and in our workplaces? Do our climates welcome people of diverse nationalities and backgrounds? Can we accommodate and work with their language differences? Do our climates inspire trust or induce fear? As the new Americans and the international workforce come into our midst, are we prepared to include them?
Session outcomes:
As a result of attending this session, we intend that participants will:
- Gain knowledge about how current and past waves of immigration have contributed to the workforce and economy of our country and the Puget Sound Region.
- Understand the tensions that surround immigration issues — both superficially and in depth, and why they exist.
- Explore the values that portray the United States as a "nation of immigrants," and what this means today.
- Gain insight into how and why immigration issues are important to Puget Sound organizations, to their diversity and inclusion efforts, and to individuals personally.
- Understand how current and future changes in immigration law and its enforcement will impact employers and more specifically what needs to be done to prepare.
- Practice using dialogue as a tool to explore and reframe immigration issues as a means to greater creativity in how we approach these issues, now and in the future.
Presenters:
Steven S. Miller is Partner at Cowan Miller & Lederman in Seattle. For the past 15 years, Steve has limited his practice to immigration law specializing in the needs of businesses and professionals serving many local corporate clients. He is currently President of the Washington Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He is also served recently as President of the Bellevue School Board and is currently a Trustee for Bellevue Community College. He is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Law School.
Pramila Jayapal is the founder and Executive Director of Hate Free Zone, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the fundamental principles of democracy and justice through building power in immigrant communities in collaboration with key allies. Since its creation, HFZ has grown into a leading voice for its courageous and ground-breaking work on behalf of immigrant and refugee communities targeted post-9/11. Under Ms. Jayapal's leadership, the organization has grown to be the largest immigrant rights organization in Washington State, and one of the most influential nationally.
Hate Free Zone has received several awards, including the City of Seattle's 2002 Civil Rights Award, the Washington Bar Association's Access to Justice Community Leadership Award, and the Ecumenical Leadership Award from the Washington Association of Churches.
Ms. Jayapal appears frequently on local and national radio and television shows and is a featured speaker around the country to diverse audiences on issues of immigrants and immigration. Her previous work includes over twenty years in both social justice and private sector fields. She served as the Director of the Fund for Technology Transfer for PATH working across Asia, Africa and Latin America, a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, and a nonprofit consultant. She has also spent several years on Wall Street in investment banking. Pramila has a Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and a B.A. from Georgetown University in English and Economics. She is a writer (author of Pilgrimage to India: A Woman Revisits Her Homeland, 2000), 2000), with essays and articles published widely. She was born in India, and raised in India, Indonesia and Singapore.
Who should attend this session?
Diversity champions and change agents, members and leaders of Diversity Councils and Employee Resource Groups, Human Resource leaders, managers, specialists, and anyone responsible for workforce planning, people responsible for conflict management or dispute resolution, Diversity leaders, managers and trainers, and anyone that manages people, leads business units or departments. We especially encourage members of the Gen X and Millennial (Gen Y) generations to attend.
Session Three: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Struggling with Religious Diversity: Rekindling Respect
Grove Harris
Religion might be as old as humankind itself and its impact on daily life today for millions is undeniable. It is the cause of some of the most deadly tensions in the world, yet it may also be a cause for hope and peace on a worldwide scale.
In many cases religion is the foundation of people's beliefs, attitudes and actions. That doesn't change between the hours of 9 and 5. Is it possible for an organization to seamlessly absorb employees with widely differing belief systems?
Questions abound:
- Can work teams function at fullest potential without honoring the diverse faith commitments that motivate and influence the members?
- How do we handle any tensions that arise if we openly acknowledge our religious differences?
- How can we be sure that our workplaces are free of bias towards obvious and more subtle religious differences?
"Curiosity is a quality we have to cultivate when we talk about religion," says Grove Harris, presenter for this session who consults, writes, and speaks about religious diversity in America and the interfaith movement.
In talking about religious differences, Grove explains that it is important to separate theological issues from practices. "It's the practices where we stub our toes in the workplace," she says. Grove explains that some employers are concerned with how customers perceive employees, so some religious clothing and hair styles are seen as threatening to corporate image. Other companies cultivate respect for religion as part of their competitive advantage in retaining the best employees.
"Companies have options for how they can approach religious differences in the workplace," she offers. Some companies have religious interest groups, and Ford Motor Company supports an interfaith network as an Employee Resource Group.
The purpose of this session is to provide you, the participants with information, ideas and tools so that you don't feel you have to "struggle" with religious diversity at work. We'll address many tough questions:
- What does it mean to acknowledge religious diversity in the workplace?
- Why are there tensions around it? What can your organization do to help both managers and employees navigate this relatively new workplace terrain?
- How can you respect others' religious beliefs, requirements and values and at the same have them respect yours?
- How can you have conversations and dialogue about religious differences so that people feel respected and included?
Session Outcomes:
As a result of attending this session, participants will:
- Survey the landscape of religious diversity in Washington State relative to the rest of the country.
- Investigate how further developing a corporate culture of inclusion in regard to religious diversity could be good for business.
- Consider the benefits of respecting religious differences for yourself personally, and in your relationships with colleagues.
- Experience deep listening about the tensions and values inherent in religious differences in our work places and in our society.
- Practice using dialogue skills as a tool for respectful discussions about religious differences in the workplace — for now and for the future.
- Take away references for the legal framework, corporate strategies and current cases on religious differences in the workplace.
Who should attend this session?
- Managers of people and team leaders;
- Human Resource managers and specialists;
- Diversity champions and change agents;
- leaders and members of Diversity Councils and Employee Resource Groups or Affinity Groups;
- Chaplains and employee assistance personnel;
- people responsible for conflict management or dispute resolution;
- Diversity leaders, managers and trainers.
- We especially encourage members of the Gen X and Millennial (Gen Y) generations to attend.
Presenter
Grove Harris consults, writes, and speaks about religious diversity in America and the interfaith movement. She recently served as the managing director for the award-winning Pluralism Project at Harvard University, which documents the religious diversity of America and offers resources for educators on its website. She added atheism to the Project's research. She speaks regularly on religious diversity including presentations at Harvard Graduate School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston College and the U.S. State Department's international visitors meetings. Grove's report, Religious Diversity in the Workplace is available online. Her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School (1996) incorporated studies of organizational development and business management into the study of religion and ethics.
Read Grove Harris' complete bio
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Session Four: Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008
Colliding over politics: Are we so divided?
Carolyn
Lukensmeyer
Collisions over politics — we see them in the U.S. media everyday! In fact, the 2008 presidential election is adding diversity to the arena of political collisions: race, gender and age!
"What is exciting about this year's presidential campaign is that it is giving us the opportunity to reflect on how race and gender are still deeply embedded in our individual consciences and in the country's institutions," says Carolyn Lukensmeyer, presenter for this session and co-founder of AmericaSpeaks.
If your political conversations turn into collisions at work — and we know they sometimes do — how do they impact productive relationships and creating inclusive organizational climates? Join us and explore how your conversations are affected by this politically supercharged election year.
We decided to explore political diversity as part of the NW Diversity Learning Series this year because our definition of diversity refers to any mixture of differences, similarities and tensions.
And there's more to the diversity definition: "Inclusion requires leveraging these mixtures so that we create a welcoming environment where employees feel engaged and inspired to perform their best."
Can we create organizational climates where people with diverse political views feel welcomed and included? Can we talk about political issues in ways that move beyond the typical either/or, us/them, good/bad dichotomies?
The purpose of this session is for participants to have the opportunity to distinguish and communicate effectively about core values that underlie political issues, both on individual and organizational levels. Participants will also explore dialogue as an approach for bridging political differences in the organization.
Session Outcomes:
- Explore political diversity within the context of our diversity definition as any mixture of differences, similarities and tensions.
- Enhance your ability to distinguish between core values and political issues and to communicate effectively with colleagues based on these distinctions.
- Consider why it matters whether you are an engaged, active citizen and whether you pay attention to how your organization plays its politics.
- Practice using dialogue, in contrast to polarizing conversations, as a tool to respectfully discuss core values and political issues with colleagues.
Who should attend this session?
Diversity champions and change agents; managers, team leaders or anyone that manages people, leads business units or departments, Human Resource leaders, Diversity Council leaders and members, people responsible for conflict management or dispute resolution, Diversity leaders and specialists. We especially encourage members of the Gen X and Millennial (Gen Y) generations to attend.
Presenter
Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer is founder and president of AmericaSpeaks: Engaging Citizens in Governance. AmericaSpeaks is a nonpartisan organization in Washington, DC whose mission is to reinvigorate American Democracy by engaging citizens in the public decision-making that most impacts their lives. AmericaSpeaks takes pride in its reputation as an honest and neutral advocate for public participation so that people can make up their own minds on any given issue. Carolyn served as Consultant to the White House Chief of Staff from November 1993 through June 1994. From 1986 to 1991, she served as Chief of Staff to Governor Richard F. Celeste of Ohio. She was both the first women to serve in this capacity and, at the time of her appointment, the only Chief of Staff recruited from the professional management field. She led her own organizational development and management consulting firm for 14 years.
Read Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer's complete bio
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Session Five: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Challenging Concepts of Race & Ethnicity: Transforming identities
Dr. W. Terrell
Jones
Dr. William E.
Cross
Professor, Ph.D. Program in Psychology/Social Personality and Urban Education
Race and ethnic identity - do we really grasp the meaning of these words when it applies to a flesh and blood person, one who seeks a job, offers innovative solutions, negotiates with a team, or seeks a promotion?
Do we assume that race and ethnic identity only applies to African Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans? What are the implications of this assumption?
"All of us have multiple identities, some of which we may identify with more than others", says Dr. Terrell Jones, co-presenter of this session.
And co-presenter Dr. Bill Cross adds, "Some differences or identities exact a higher and/or different price for the bearer in a particular societal, historical, or situational context."
The purpose of this session is to bring the practical and everyday experience of racial and ethnic identity to life. What happens to a person in the workplace when race and ethnicity come into play? And how do members of the younger generation make sense of this reality when their life experiences may have been so different than that of their parents and grandparents?
What was true in the past about race and ethnicity may or may not be true in the future. The next generations are arriving in the workplace with different concepts of self, bi-racial or multi-racial identities, and different expectations than their parents or grandparents held.
Session Outcomes:
As a result of attending this session, participants will:
- Compare and contrast: How individuals' racial and ethnic identity actually play out and live in the workplace—past, present, and future
- Explore identity shifts: How the next generations relate to underlying tensions and values associated with racial and ethnic identity
- Gain clarity: Why cultural identity matters in today's workplace
- Practice dialogue: A tool to discuss people's experiences of cultural identity in the workplace and ways to build more inclusive organizational cultures.
Who should attend this session?
Members and leaders of Employee Resource Groups (Affinity Groups) and Diversity Councils; Diversity champions and change agents; managers, supervisors, leads and anyone that manages people, leads business units or departments; Human Resource leaders and Diversity leaders. We especially encourage members of the Gen X and Millennial (Gen Y) generations to attend.
Presenters:
Dr. W. Terrell Jones is vice provost for Educational Equity, The Pennsylvania State University. Terrell has developed and conducted seminars on cultural differences, racial awareness, cross-cultural counseling, minority retention strategies and affirmative action programs. He has presented successful human relations training programs for industry, government, public schools and universities. He is a diversity consultant for several Pennsylvania school districts and private sector organizations and is a faculty member of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. He regularly presents workshops on racial and cultural identity.
Dr. William E. Cross, professor, Ph.D. Program in Psychology/Social Personality and Urban Education, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York. His groundbreaking book, Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity, is one of the most frequently referenced texts on black identity. His ideas have stimulated the growth of identity-development models for application to a wide range of groups, including gays and lesbians, Hispanic/Latinos, Asian Americans, feminists, and white European Americans.
Read Dr. Terrell Jones' complete bio
Read Dr. William Cross' complete bio
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All of us have multiple identities, some of which we may identify with more than others.
Some differences or identities exact a higher and/or different price for the bearer in a particular societal, historical, or situational context.