For several years, UW-Eau Claire has been working to create a professional development program to help organizations foster more diverse workplaces where employees – regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or other factors – feel respected and valued.

As it happens, the Building Cultural Intelligence Certificate Series was launched last fall, just a few months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis focused attention on institutional racism and spurred the Black Lives Matter movement to renewed prominence.

Now, the three-part certificate program is again being held with the aim of educating business, nonprofit, and educational leaders.

“It’s definitely timely,” Hollie Moe, outreach program manager for UWEC Continuing Education, said of the program. “Creating these systems really allows individuals to feel safe, supported, empowered, and that they are able to do their best work. That definitely benefits organizational culture.”

While it was originally to be held in-person, the program moved online because of the pandemic. This has had the unintended result of allowing people from all over the state – and, in some cases, from other states – to take part, Moe said.

According to a course description, “Building Cultural Intelligence Certificate Series is a three-part virtual series that lays the foundation for participants to support diversity and inclusion in their workplaces and personal lives. The tiered courses allow participants to create a common understanding and language around diversity topics before they come together to bring the theory to practice in their organizations. The culminating course focuses on strategies for employees at any level to work toward equity and inclusivity within their sphere of influence.”

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“I think this program is relevant because it’s important to make everyone part of your organization, part of your team, feel valued,” he said. “As people we should continuously strive to educate ourselves. We need to make sure we aren’t leaving anyone behind.”

DR. DEMETRIUS SMITH

special assistant to the vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, uw-eau claire

The three component courses are “Safe Spaces: Honoring Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace,” “Microaggressions and Bias in the Workplace,” and “Strategies for Creating Culturally Intelligent Organizations.”

The series is presented by a number of UWEC staff members, including Christopher Jorgenson, director of the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center; Jodi Thesing-Ritter, program director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Dang Yang, director of UWEC’s Office of Multicultural Affairs; and Dr. Demetrius Smith, special assistant to the vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

“We have four experienced equity, diversity, and inclusion professionals who are passionate about what we do, and passionate about educating people on what we know,” Smith said.

Smith is most involved in the part of the series titled “Strategies for Creating Culturally Intelligent Organizations.” Often, he said, such sessions focused on teaching people how to consider diversity as individuals; however, this course focuses on doing better as an organization – how leaders can make equity, diversity, and inclusion part of their company’s strategic goals. Filling an organization with people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas can help it thrive, Smith said.

“I think this program is relevant because it’s important to make everyone part of your organization, part of your team, feel valued,” he said. “As people we should continuously strive to educate ourselves. We need to make sure we aren’t leaving anyone behind.”

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The next program in the series, “Microaggressions and Bias in the Workplace,” will be Feb. 11. Learn more about this and other courses by visiting ce.uwec.edu.