The Inclusive Leadership program offers organizations in both the non-profit and for-profit spheres to engage in critical conversations, learning, and development as they relate to the cultivation of workplaces and working environments that are based in diversity, equity and inclusion principles.
Far from the run of the mill, one-off trainings that provide introductory understanding of complex terms, this series provides participants in-depth, challenging experiences that require active engagement, collaboration, and reflection. With topics from Empathy & Belonging to DEI Workforce Development Strategies, the Inclusive Leadership program’s primary goal is to provide tools and actionable steps to participants, to cultivate equitable and community-minded workplace environments across DeKalb County and beyond.
In Partnership With:
Diversity, equity and inclusion are difficult enough to define as separate terms; banded together into the acronym “DEI”, it’s understandable that some people have a hard time wrapping their heads around what it’s all about. The goal of this introductory workshop is to expose attendees to terms, definitions, and concepts that they may have previously avoided or been unable to engage with, in the hopes that they leave the workshop with a slightly more profound understanding of the multiple life factors that impact a person’s identity and world perspective.
In this session, participants will receive a quick overview of how DEI practices can be incorporated into the workplace, as well as definitions and examples of key terms such as racism, sexism, power and activism. Participants will engage in frequent small-group discussions with their peers about their own understandings of terms such as race, gender, and ability, and will also brainstorm ways to continue having similar conversations and events in their respective workspaces.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to define diversity, equity and inclusion as separate terms.
- Participants will be able to define and identify key terms such as: racism, sexism, ableism, heterosexism and feminism. They will also learn how they impact workplace culture and productivity.
- Participants will reflect on their personal identities and the degree to which they are able to freely express those identities in their workplaces.
- Participants will be presented with scenarios that help them put the theory of DEI principles into practice.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
The goal of this training is to provide tools, strategies and skills to employers/employees who are hoping to improve the ways in which colleagues interact with and work with one another. While empathy is often reduced to the notion of placing oneself in another’s shoes, this training hopes to dive deeper into a conversation that centers on dialogue, shifts in perspective and the establishment of a work culture derived from shared values.
In this session, participants will be asked to reflect briefly on their learned methods of communication and interaction, and to challenge any biases that may prevent them from having a successful work experience.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will have an introductory understanding of empathy, belonging, identity and cohesion.
- Participants will learn several strategies in conflict resolution and employee-focused HR policies.
- Participants will brainstorm how to cultivate community and camaraderie in the workplace.
- Participants will reflect on their learned behaviors and beliefs, and how they impact participants’ ability to practice empathy toward others.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
The goal of this workshop is to provide participants with the tools and strategies necessary to foster a workplace standard for verbal and non-verbal communication, to ensure that all employees utilize communication strategies based in compassion, mutual respect, and camaraderie.
In this session, participants will gain a better understanding of how to promote working environments that prioritize transparency and openness.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will diversify their skillsets in verbal and non-verbal communication.
- Participants will learn strategies in creating work environments based in collaborative decision-making.
- Participants will make plans to review their workplace’s electronic communication strategies.
- Participants will work with their colleagues to establish agreed-upon norms for interpersonal communication.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
This workshop will provide an understanding of what implicit bias is and how it develops. There will be strategies of how to recognize implicit bias in oneself and others. The workshop will conclude with best practices on how to lessen implicit bias in the workplace and prevent it from negatively affecting workplace culture.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
This workshop helps attendees understand how culture and identity impact our behavior and understanding of the world. Participants will learn how to develop a working environment that celebrates cultural differences, as well as how to implement practices and policies that address and mitigate bias and discrimination.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
This workshop provides participants with an understanding of what sexual harassment in the workplace is and how to identify behaviors that can constitute sexual harassment. The workshop will conclude with information on prevention and how to evaluate and establish policies to reduce incidents of sexual harassment.
This course is offered asynchronously with self-paced modules, or virtually/in-person led by an instructor. Course materials and online resources are included.
Asynchronous
1-Hour Training
Virtual/In-Person
2.5-Hour Training
The Inclusive Leadership Certificate series offers organizations a unique workshop experience that is specialized and catered to the specific needs and contexts of the partner organization. With a total of 10 contact hours, this certificate series encompasses all the major topics and strategies discussed in the stand-alone workshops, while also incorporating pre- and post-work exercises to ensure that participants have ample opportunity to apply their new learning directly to their work and workplace environments. As such, this series is ideal for organizations that are in search of an all-day or multiday workshop facilitation.
Upon completion the workshop, as well as the pre and post work, participants will receive a certificate of completion that will be stamped and certified by Northern Illinois University’s division of Academic Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Participants can register for workshops individually on the open-enrollment dates listed or through the asynchronous option. For in-person workshops, please contact Pettee Borissova at pborissova@niu.edu for more information.
We offer 2.5-hour live, virtual workshops via Zoom.
At NIU, we value diversity and practice inclusion. Whether you’re a student, employee or visitor to campus, we’re dedicated to providing the accommodations you need to have a positive experience at NIU.
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which is a movement across workplaces that seeks to establish policies, practices, and regulations that foster healthy, welcoming, and productive workplace environments.
If your employer registers you for one of ADEI’s workshops, you will receive professional development credit. If you’re registering yourself under your own volition or interest, it will be up to you to confer with your employer as to whether they will count one of the workshops as professional development, based on their respective PD criteria.
Attending one or all of the workshops ADEI offers will provide you tools and strategies to affect positive changes throughout your workplace, particularly as it concerns:
- Decision-making and transparency, from the top down
- Collegiality and workplace camaraderie
- Work-life balance and productivity
- Conflict mediation and prevention
The workshops provided by NIU’s Division of ADEI (Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) are dynamic, participatory and catered to the respective workplace contexts of the participants and/or partner organizations. Each of the content creators and facilitators of the workshops come with a wealth of diverse and varied knowledge about the topics discussed in the workshops, based on their professional experiences as educators, researchers, social workers, case managers, and more. Participants will find that these workshops differ greatly from other variations, due to the participants themselves having much more agency in taking control of their own learning.
If you are interested in signing up as a group for this course, please contact Ahmed Olagunju at aolagunju1@niu.edu.
