Workshops: Our Most Popular Format & Topics

Are you looking for a more in-depth workshop or training series that includes small group discussion and other interactive elements? Particularly for clients looking to train staff members, these programs can be a great fit. The following are just a few of the topics we cover.

Racism As Trauma Workshop

Over the past 30 years, educators, mental health, social service and other helping professionals have been introduced to the evolving theory and practices of trauma-informed care. Treatment tends to focus on facilitating an individual’s or family’s recovery and resilience. But what if the very country you live in is traumagenic? This talk explores the 400- year history and impacts of the USA’s racial hierarchy, its implications for all Americans, and what helping professionals can do to make a difference.

This program includes multimedia presentations, interactive polling, breakout room discussion, and an introduction to NDP’s racial trauma awareness tool, the ID-ACEs: Identity-based Adverse Collective Experiences Inventory. This program can last anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours depending on your needs, and the content is tailored to meet the specific needs of your audience. We often present to social workers, foster parents, teachers, the general public and other groups, each with slightly different material and emphasis.

Equity Fundamentals: a Professional Development Series

For organizations looking to train their staff on equity issues, this series is a great way to cover a lot of important ground:

Part 1: Unconscious Bias: Can We See Our Own Blind Spots?
Incorporating fun, interactive exercises, we explore how our normal brains “prime” us for unconscious bias. We see how this phenomenon has played out over US history, the ways it affects us all today, and whether something that difficult to see can be managed.

Part 2: How Did We Get Here? The Challenge of Racial Disparities
What kinds of racial disparities do we see in our own local area? What accounts for the disparities of wealth, health, and life chances among different populations? Can anything be done?

Part 3: Hiring and Retention: Jamaal, LaTonya, Lakshmi, Jesus, and Chia: What’s in a Name?
Despite our best intentions, bias can creep into hiring and retention. What are world- class municipalities, companies, even small towns now doing to assure a diverse workforce – and why?

Before presenting to your group, we get to know your organization’s unique needs and tailor the material with examples and information relevant to your industry and needs. Some organizations also find that they prefer to select topics from our menu of lectures for their staff training.

Custom Programs & Facilitated Dialogue

We are taking a brief hiatus from designing fully custom workshops and dialogue programs for clients, in order to focus on developing some other new services. This hasn’t changed our commitment to customization overall; the programs on this page and our lectures are both still tailored for the specific audience every time we do them. If you were hoping to book a custom-designed workshop or dialogue program, please consider the following options:

  • Work with Reggie to plan a customized lecture within his areas of expertise (as differentiated from a workshop); common topics are here
  • Join our mailing list so you hear about new services as they become available
  • Contact us and ask to join the waitlist for custom workshops or dialogue programs

Workshops: Our Most Popular Format & Topics

Are you looking for a more in-depth workshop or training series that includes small group discussion and other interactive elements? Particularly for clients looking to train staff members, these programs can be a great fit. The following are just a few of the topics we cover.

Racism As Trauma Workshop

Over the past 30 years, educators, mental health, social service and other helping professionals have been introduced to the evolving theory and practices of trauma-informed care. Treatment tends to focus on facilitating an individual’s or family’s recovery and resilience. But what if the very country you live in is traumagenic? This talk explores the 400- year history and impacts of the USA’s racial hierarchy, its implications for all Americans, and what helping professionals can do to make a difference.

This program includes multimedia presentations, interactive polling, breakout room discussion, and an introduction to NDP’s racial trauma awareness tool, the ID-ACEs: Identity-based Adverse Collective Experiences Inventory. This program can last anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours depending on your needs, and the content is tailored to meet the specific needs of your audience. We often present to social workers, foster parents, teachers, the general public and other groups, each with slightly different material and emphasis.

Racism as a Public Health Crisis

Learning Goals – Participants will:

  • Expand their understanding of racism as a costly & long-standing pre-existing health condition in the US, a social determinant of health that casts a shadow over all other social determinants of health in the USA.
  • Build their awareness of how cultures change and of the benefits of and practices in taking a public health approach to this challenging socio-cultural problem
  • Increase their capacity for communicating this knowledge to others in their sphere of influence & incorporating it into their work

An engaging multimedia slide presentation, which includes short videos, images, infographics, and animation as well as text. The presentation, customized to the sponsoring organization’s field of practice, region and/or community, may include information and data about issues of race/ethnic issues in child and family welfare, social services, education, mental health, medical and healthcare, and more – nationally, regionally, and locally .

Equity Fundamentals: a Professional Development Series

For organizations looking to train their staff on equity issues, this series is a great way to cover a lot of important ground:

Part 1: Unconscious Bias: Can We See Our Own Blind Spots?
Incorporating fun, interactive exercises, we explore how our normal brains “prime” us for unconscious bias. We see how this phenomenon has played out over US history, the ways it affects us all today, and whether something that difficult to see can be managed.

Part 2: How Did We Get Here? The Challenge of Racial Disparities
What kinds of racial disparities do we see in our own local area? What accounts for the disparities of wealth, health, and life chances among different populations? Can anything be done?

Part 3: Hiring and Retention: Jamaal, LaTonya, Lakshmi, Jesus, and Chia: What’s in a Name?
Despite our best intentions, bias can creep into hiring and retention. What are world- class municipalities, companies, even small towns now doing to assure a diverse workforce – and why?

Before presenting to your group, we get to know your organization’s unique needs and tailor the material with examples and information relevant to your industry and needs. Some organizations also find that they prefer to select topics from our menu of lectures for their staff training.

Custom Workshops & Facilitated Deep Dive Dialogues

Whenever possible, we highly customize our workshops and Deep Dive Dialogue series to our clients’ needs. Tailoring our programs to a wide variety of organizations and individuals takes time, so please invite us with plenty of lead time for research and development (4-6 weeks if at all possible). If you don’t have a lot of lead time, please consider the following options:

  • Work with Reggie to plan a customized lecture within his areas of expertise (as differentiated from a workshop); common topics are here
  • Join our mailing list so you hear about new services as they become available
  • Contact us and ask to join the waitlist for custom workshops or dialogue programs

Learning Goals – Participants will:

  • Expand their understanding of racism as a costly & long-standing pre-existing health condition in the US
  • Build their awareness of the benefits of and practices in taking a public health approach to this challenging socio-cultural problem
  • Increase their capacity for communicating this knowledge to others in their sphere of influence & incorporating it into their work