Who, in this day and age of divisiveness and fear, has the response ability to facilitate dialogue around Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging (DIE&B)?

For that matter, what are the skills and traits that one must possess?

How do we activate them?

Course Overview: Veritas Culture presents Diversity and Belonging Facilitation Certification Prep! This is a 3-day course delivered by Certified Master Facilitators and Certified Diversity Executives who have facilitated more than 5,000 culture sessions. What is more, they are frequently called upon to facilitate national level incidents and crises. This includes the Ferguson aftermath, the Charlottesville Race Riots, and the aftermath of the George Floyd killing. In other words, they are credentialed and experienced.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging are, and have always been important topics that are difficult to navigate. In an age of social media, 24-hours news cycles, heightened sensitivities, and increasing division, the difficulty level has increased significantly. As such, organizations are looking for people who are adept at facilitating dialogue in a way that:

• Illuminates authentic thoughts and feelings

• Helps people make connections between what they say and what they mean

• Moves groups from disagreement and division to understanding and respect

• Reveals root concerns and solutions

This course focuses on reaching these and other goals by way of the 7 Tenets of Culture Facilitation through the specific lens of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

7 Tenets of Culture Facilitation: 1. Listening to Understand; 2. Challenging Assumptions and Generalizations; 3. Connecting People and Ideas; 4. Remaining Neutral; 5. Eliciting Authentic Trust and Dialogue; 6. Checking In Throughout; and 7. Distinguishing Symptoms from Root Causes.

Additionally, students will learn about the social justice archetypes, the different approaches being taken to address movements, and the underlying human factors that influence how we receive and respond to communication and messaging.

This course will be delivered in an immersive, interactive way that enables the instructors to model facilitation while they are teaching it. Students will spend a lot of time facilitating and receiving immediate feedback.

Bonus: Students who attend the class will receive access to business development materials to include real proposals, rate sheets, and capability statements.

Logistics: This class has a maximum of 12 students to maximize the attention and learning experience of each student. It will be delivered via Zoom.

Certification Information: This is a preparation class for Diversity-to-Belonging Facilitation Certification. Taking this class does not preclude students from applying for the certification and paying the application fee ($575).

Students taking this course are NOT REQUIRED to apply for certification.

Diversity-to-Belonging Facilitation Certification applicants are NOT REQUIRED to take this course.

Instructor Information: This course will be taught by Chris Armstrong and Vince Brantley. Chris is a 2-time Culture Executive at two large (10,000+) organizations. He is also 1 of 50 Certified Master Facilitators in the world. As well, he is an ICF Certified Coach and an IDC Certified Diversity Executive. Vince is a former Culture Executive as a large (10,000+) organization. He is also a trained Master Facilitator and trained Diversity Executive.