Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificate
DE&I Webinar
Join us on 8/29/23
Fall 2023 Program Starts September 6, 2023
Spring 2024 Program Starts March 7, 2024
Learn to Build and Inspire a Culture of Belonging
To translate demographic and cognitive diversity into a culture of belonging, organizations must encourage, train, and inspire employees to take ownership of the organization's diversity and inclusion journey. Bentley's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificate Programs offer intensive, experiential programs that prepare participants as advocates to foster an inclusive workplace culture.
Participants will:
- Understand the business and human case for DE&I by exploring the latest data, and learn the fundamental vocabulary used in DEI work
- Gain insight into potential barriers to an inclusive workplace and actionable strategies to overcome these barriers
- Explore your own racialized experience, integrate the concept of intersectionality into that understanding
- Develop the ability to dialogue about race and identity and how to facilitate successful conversations about race and identity in multiracial and multicultural environments
- Develop an individualized action plan to move forward as a workplace advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Explore the foundations of transforming homogeneous organizations into multicultural organizations
- Learn about organizational systems and culture and how these contribute to organizational inequities
- Learn to identify and mitigate team and organizational inequities
Who should enroll
| Entry and mid-level professionals responsible for employee engagement, talent development, and other organizational development functions, and who need foundational knowledge in DE&I. Examples include: Talent Managers, HR Coordinators, Hiring Coordinators, DEI Coordinators. | DEI professionals, looking to increase their knowledge of developing team and organizational change initiatives. Examples include: DEI Managers, Chief Diversity Officers new to the role. | |
| Professionals interested in taking a more active role in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organizations but are at the beginning of their DEI journey and development. | Senior HR professionals with foundational DEI knowledge and engaged in personal DEI work, looking to expand their impact in this dimension. Examples include: Chief HR Officers with informal or self-directed DEI training looking to deepen organizational DEI expertise. | |
| Key HR decision makers in roles that require additional awareness of diversity and unconscious bias. Examples include recruiters, hiring managers, and HR business partners who need foundational knowledge in DEI. | Leaders of corporate employee resource groups with informal knowledge and experience with leading DEI efforts looking to expand their impact or move from group level impact to organizational change and impact. | |
| Recently promoted managers seeking to learn how to manage diverse teams. | Members of employee resource groups seeking to develop interpersonal DEI advocacy toolbox. |
Topics
Session 1
- Understand the business and human case for diversity, equity, inclusion (DE&I) by exploring the latest data
- Define foundational concepts including intersectionality, unconscious bias, and micro-inequities
- Understand key psychological processes that impede relations across difference and how to address them
- Learn how to identify individual biases and techniques to de-bias behaviors
- Explore how allyship, cultural humility, and an understanding of individual privilege can help leaders facilitate organizational transformation and help organizations uproot systemic barriers to inclusion
Session 2
- Explore a framework outlining different personal conflict styles and their role in group interactions
- Understand your default conflict style, and learn to recognize the conflict styles of others
- Leverage conflict style understanding to better engage others in discussions across difference
- Practice the skill of initiating and teaching others how to have courageous conversations across difference
Session 3
- Understand your own racialized experience by reflecting on early learnings about race and racism
- Integrate intersectionality into understanding your racialized experience
- Develop ability to dialogue about your race and a greater understanding of how to facilitate conversations about race in multiracial and multicultural environments
Session 4
- Explore and share your own commitment to DEI and develop your "why"
- Create an individualized action plan for moving forward as an ally and workplace advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion
Session 5
- Develop and share your inclusivity story
- Explore the competencies required to be an inclusive team lead
- Understand the stages of group development, and how to leverage this understanding to promote high-functioning teams
Session 6
- Examine the challenges and opportunities related to developing and leading inclusive teams
- Explore how to identify individual and group biases and delve into remedies to interrupt these individually and as a team
- Learn the foundations of transforming homogenous and white dominant organizations into multicultural organizations
- Investigate interventions to resolve conflict within teams while leveraging disagreements related to diversity of opinions, skills, and expertise
Session 7
- Explore the composition of organizational culture and organizational micro-inequities, and determine how to identify and tackle micro-inequities within your organization
- Examine the challenges of leading an inclusive organization with a diverse workforce and how to develop solutions that take into account intersectionality related to working with race, gender, sexuality, disability and other identities
Session 8
- Learn and apply a framework to develop DEI change initiatives regardless of your role or position in your organization
- Analyze and unpack a successful racial equity change initiative case
Session 9
- Initiate the development of DEI change initiative for your organization
- Collaborate with cohort members and practice giving and receiving feedback about DEI change initiatives
Session 10
- Create a plan to engage others in your organization with implementation planning of your change initiative
- Final takeaways, and group debriefing
Facilitators
Yaro Fong-Olivares
Yaro Fong-Olivares (she/her), M.S. – is an Afro-Caribbean and Chinese immigrant from the island of Hispaniola (now known as the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Washington Heights, and now living in Massachusetts. Her most salient identity is as a priest of Yemaya in the Lucumi spiritual tradition. She serves as Executive Director of Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business at Bentley University, an organization dedicated to advancing intersectional gender equity from the classroom to the boardroom.
Wiley Davi Ph.D.
Wiley Davi Ph.D., is professor of English & Media Studies at Bentley University. In addition, Wiley is a program facilitator for Bentley's Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business and for Erasmus University Rotterdam’s Erasmus Center for Women and Organizations. Wiley is co-author of the book Leading with Uncommon Sense (Springer 2019). Their teaching and research interests span the fields of writing, diversity and inclusion, gender studies, and leadership. Wiley holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University in Massachusetts.
Dominique Wilburn
Dominique Wilburn is the Director of Programs and Communications at the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University. Throughout her career, Dominique has been an advocate for equity and justice. After transitioning from careers in politics and marketing, Dominique found purpose in helping organizations cultivate a culture of inclusivity and institutionalizing their DEIJ initiatives. She enjoys applying an intersectional lens to theories and frameworks around change management, executive presence, leadership development, and mentorship.
Take Ownership of Your Organization’s Diversity & Inclusion Journey
Bentley Refund Policy
Bentley University will grant a full refund for cancellations received at least 30 days before the program start date. A 50% refund will be given for those cancellations made prior to fourteen days of the program start date. No refund will be granted for those cancellations received after that time.
Get More Info
We are happy to answer your questions and provide more details about the program.
Contact Laura Bentley at lbentley@bentley.edu.