Challenge: Support the success of employee resource groups for top-down, bottom-up leadership and culture change
Impact: InclusionVentures provides strategic coaching on development and events for Salesforce's BOLDforce (Black Organization for Leadership Development). Working closely with the leadership of this fabulous Employee Resource Group, InclusionVentures designed and facilitated two Lunch n Learns, the first focusing on the why of diversity and inclusion, and the second focusing on the how entitled, "How to lead and speak with inclusion in mind." A participant said, "I am able to stay at this organization because of the work you are doing with us." InclusionVentures also provides resources and on-demand support for timely issues. The PacificForce Employee Resource Group asked InclusionVentures to moderate a panel at Dreamforce. The session received the highest rankings of any ERG session at the global conference.
Challenge: Infuse Create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable culture internally at the foundation, and apply that knowledge in service to the foundation's evolving mission and external work.
Impact: After conducting a survey and deep cultural interviews with staff, InclusionVentures used the data found to inform the design and delivery of an interactive, informative, and engaging one-day all staff retreat. Prior, InclusionVentures facilitated a two-hour session for the Leadership Team, coached a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning Committee to implement DiaLabs®, and trained a third of the foundation in facilitating challenging conversation on identity and community. Employee relations have improved, trust has skyrocketed, and people feel more valued and connected. Staff is already applying their learnings to their work with grantees and to their strategy and approach. The last portion of the engagement is focused on meeting with each team to infuse a DEI lens to the team’s internal culture and external work (e.g., grant applications, investment portfolios, and communications, etc.). One senior leader at Irvine said, “This work has not only drastically improved our organization practically overnight, it has changed my life.”
Challenge: Increase what employees can do as allies in reaction to Black Lives Matter.
Impact: InclusionVentures facilitated a tailored version of our popular "Woke-shop for White People." The session created a space for employees to increase understanding and capacity around identity, community, and power dynamics.
Challenge: Co-create Design for Worldview for the Stanford Design School.
Impact: This project combines design thinking + unconscious bias to create an innovative curriculum that enables leaders to make better decisions. The project explores: How might we create spaces where everyone belongs? The work turned into a TEDx Talk and workshops. Sessions are highly lauded: “[The design challenge outcome is increasing my] productivity. It's also making me extra grateful for and excited about my job.” “You gave participants a chance to really get to know each other--and themselves. I don't think I've ever felt that I'd learned so much about anyone, in this case my training partner, after such a short amount of time. That's impressive.”
Challenge: Develop executive and firm-wide strategy and implementation for becoming a more diverse, inclusive, and engaged workplace.
Impact: InclusionVentures created and implemented training at Arabella’s four office locations to increase awareness of the mission case for diversity, equity, and inclusion; equip teams with the vocabulary and comfort for addressing identity and culture; and infuse equity and inquiry into their services for donor advised funds. The project included interviews with employees at all levels, an Executive Team session, several Supervisor Sessions, training a cadre of staff how to facilitate, facilitating day-long sessions at each site, coaching and mentoring for staff, and strategy consulting.
Challenge: Create an Inclusive Leadership Cohort for Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP).
Impact: EPIP engages leaders in philanthropy across cities in the United States. A critical skill-set EPIP identified is for their leaders to be able to identify, analyze, and act on racial and social justice. InclusionVentures created an Inclusive Leadership Cohort for EPIP's city leaders to increase comfort and proficiency talking about equity, inclusion, and diversity; infuse these principles into grant-making; understand how implicit bias and power affect performance to the mission; and gain the skills to make change at their organizations. The cohort included an in-person kick-off, several webinars, one-on-one coaching for those accepted, in-person experiential deep dive, and peer partnering. Results included retention and engagement of participants in their jobs, increased agency, new practices for equity in grant making, and overwhelming requests for more time with InclusionVentures.
Challenge: Create and facilitate curriculum for World Economic Forum Global Shapers.
Impact: Millennials in 450 cities across the world can engage in curriculum that InclusionVentures created to promote gender parity and economic development (co-founded Global Shapers Women’s Caucus), and on how implicit bias affects one’s leadership effectiveness (co-founded After Ferguson Committee).
Challenge: Help Leaders Ask Big Questions.
Impact: InclusionVentures provides ongoing strategy and programmatic coaching and consulting for this highly-lauded initiative that enables leaders to learn to talk and work across lines of difference.