Tag: DEIB

February 3, 2021

Leaders: Inclusivity Matters

Inclusivity matters.

Do you have an inclusive workplace? 

Do your employees feel welcome each day? 

Do they have a sense of belonging in the community?

Inclusivity matters. When people don’t feel a sense of belonging, they feel excluded, their performance goes down, and it impacts their health and well-being. According to Professor Binna Kandola in his book, Free To Soar, Race and Well Being in Organisations, “A sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace is vital for all employees’ well-being, yet the default state that minorities find themselves in is exclusion.”

The leader is the catalyst. They play a key role in creating an inclusive workplace. This intentional work can create more positive work environments for all employees and help typically marginalized employees feel included which can lead to better performance and increased health and well being. Think of your workplace as a classroom with you as the teacher.

September 29, 2020

Challenging Conversations: An Opportunity, Not a Burden

The happenings of the world are causing increased anxiety in so many of us. Schools are creating plans, backup plans, and backup plans for those backup plans. The landscape of education has changed and so have the rhythms of the typical communication flow. Educators and administrators are overwhelmed with emails, texts, and zoom meetings in addition to all their regular daily work. Educators and leaders need to be more responsive, thoughtful, and empathic than ever before and simultaneously manage heightened communication both in volume, intensity, and urgency than ever. As remote learning, hybrid models, and all the procedures involved are new to families and schools, we all are experiencing shifting expectations and managing a lot of disappointment. We are having challenging conversations.

Challenging conversations in schools have many components: the emotions, the intentions, the actual matter to be discussed, the existing relationship amongst the people and of course the child at the center of the discussion.

July 7, 2020

Black Lives Matter, Brown Silence Hurts

PRI Educational Consulting is committed to supporting Black educational leaders, teachers, and staff and collaborating with schools and educators to develop anti-racist curriculum and resources for the K-12 grades.  As I watch the news each day, I am sickened in my heart, mind, and body by the injustices directed towards the Black community.  Like millions of other Americans, I am pained and outraged by the deaths of Black people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others due to the systemic racism in our country.  With a grieving heart and a receptive mind, I stand with and support the Black community in the ongoing fight towards justice and towards that more perfect union outlined in the Preamble to the United States Constitution. Black lives matter. Through thoughtful and intentional curriculum design and coaching, marginalized students can be seen, heard, and guided to reach their full potential.

As a South Asian immigrant, I acknowledge that I benefit from the work of activists, predominantly Black but also White, who fought so bravely for centuries and still continue to fight for civil rights in critical areas including voting, housing, education, employment, and marriage.