Foster Empathy, Reflection & Action in Your Equity Training

DEI training is often viewed as a box to check. Yet organizations seek behavior change where employees think, act, and communicate in ways that advance equity. This requires organizational commitment and prioritization, as well as a culture of continuous learning where employees at every level have opportunities to develop empathy, question themselves, reflect on their beliefs, and action plan. Designing these experiences requires shifts from status quo approaches to learning design and development and a willingness to face organizational challenges and to lean in to the uncomfortable.

The YMCA is a 175-year-old organization dedicated to strengthening community for all. With more than 800 associations across the US, there’s a Y in 10,000 communities. Its areas of impact include healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility. But what does “for all” really mean? Like many other organizations, the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) is exploring this question as it takes a deeper look at its history, operational practices, and organizational strategies—some of which historically have been designed with bias and support systemic racism. In this session, we will explore approaches and techniques that the YMCA of the USA is using to provide employees at every level continuous learning opportunities to advance equity. We’ll examine key shifts to learning design and delivery, such as:

• A shift from creating “safe spaces” to creating “brave spaces” that help employees lean in to the uncomfortable
• Moving from preparing trainers to skilling up facilitators who guide employees along learning journeys where there’s no one “right” answer
• How to reduce reliance on formal learning and leverage the learning ecosystem, including social learning, coaching, and ongoing informal discussions
• Evolving from trying to compel employees with stats and quantitative data to inspiring them with stories and opportunities to reflect

These shifts become particularly interesting and complex in the Y-USA federated organizational model, where 800 associations have autonomy to develop standards of practice with their own independent governing boards.

In this session, you will learn:

• Tactics for partnering with the DEI team
• Ways to leverage your internal strengths while partnering with external organizations to create learning experiences
• Pitfalls to avoid as you create continuous learning opportunities to advance equity