WELCOME TO BELONGING SUMMER SCHOOL
Where it’s summer all year long.
About
BELONGING SUMMER SCHOOL
In the Summer of 2023, Rhodes Perry Consulting hosted our Inaugural Belonging Summer School Program.
This 3-day, virtual gathering equipped senior executives, DEI professionals, ERG members, along with other workplace culture strategists and influencers with the essential knowledge, skills, and confidence to assess and build up their inclusive leadership skills.
Good news - you can now gain extended access to this dynamic content and learn at your own pace!
AGENDA
On Tuesday, July 25 – Thursday, July 27 2023, we gathered to focus on three relevant topics designed to grow your inclusive leadership skills.
Each day we hosted a 60-minute interactive learning workshop, followed by an engaging 60-minute question and response session with Rhodes Perry, Belonging Summer School Host, and participants.
On the last day, participant enjoyed a bonus webinar providing the necessary time to learn about the VARK learning method, while making deeper meaning of their Belonging Foundations Assessment results.
Every learning session includes a live video recording, transcripts of our conversations, resources offered by participants, workbooks, and audio MP3s, allowing you to watch and rewatch these talks, anytime, anywhere!
DAY 1
Design Your Belonging Avatar
A Framework Applying Targeted Universalism
If we want our entire workforce to feel a sense of belonging at work (a universal goal), then we must build more safety and trust for employees experiencing exclusion on the job (through targeted interventions). In this workshop, we will apply john a. powell’s targeted universalism framework to help you effectively advance your DEI goals. This workshop will be especially helpful if your workplace has conducted employee engagement surveys and has disaggregated results by demographic groups. This workshop will help you make meaning of these results by creating a DEI avatar, or one fictional employee persona, who will help you and your colleagues identify systemic barriers that left unchecked may undermine the advancement of your DEI goals.
FACILITATORS
Rhodes Perry, Summer School Host
This workshop is right for you if you want to...
Apply Targeted Universalism. You are ready to learn about targeted universalism, and you have an interest in applying it to your DEIB goals.
Develop a DEI Avatar. You are curious about what a DEIB avatar is, and how this fictional persona can help identify and upend systemic barriers that exist within your organization.
Learn About Intersectionality. To advance our DEIB goals, you'll need strength-in-numbers, and that requires taking an intersectional approach.
DAY 2
Know Your Audience
Gain Skills to Find Champions, Inspire Apathetics, and Neutralize Resisters
Maya Angelou once said, “People won’t remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel.” This workshop embraces this wisdom and will help you focus on how to build rapport with colleagues who are supportive, apathetic, and resistant to your organization’s DEIB goals. It will explore how to align with DEIB champions, how to invite colleagues who don’t yet recognize how DEIB impacts their successes, and how to neutralize those resistant to any form of change at work. If you struggled with how to engage your colleagues, beyond those who participate in formal DEIB programs and opportunities, you will want to participate in this learning workshop.
FACILITATORS
Rhodes Perry, Summer School Host
This workshop is right for you if you want to...
Engage in Reaction Mapping. You want to know your audience, you have an organizational chart, and you are ready to learn how to connect with different stakeholders.
Distinguish Your Audience. You want to learn how to identify a colleague who is a champion, as well as others who may not yet recognize how your organization’s DEIB goals may benefit them.
Shape Your Message. To advance our DEIB goals, you'll need the right message for different stakeholders, and that requires developing and practicing different talking points in advance.
DAY 3
Belonging Learner
Locate Your Current DEIB Learning Journey Coordinates
Congratulations! You’ve completed your Belonging Foundations Assessment. No matter if you’re a Seeker, a Builder, or an Innovator, you may want to learn more about what this result means for you, and what available resources or supports can help you advance to that next level of being an inclusive leader. If you’re ready to make more meaning out of your current position on your DEIB learning journey, specifically as it relates to growing into a more skillful and inclusive leader, this learning workshop is for you. To make the most out of this learning opportunity, please be sure to complete your Belonging Foundations Assessment before Thursday, July 27, and consider some of the resources and supports available to help you develop and grow your inclusive leadership skills.
FACILITATORS
Rhodes Perry, Summer School Host
This workshop is right for you if you want to...
Know Your Current Position. You are ready to grow as a more inclusive leader, and you want to clarify the most appropriate resources and supports that meet your specific needs today.
Explore the Options. You are curious about the Belonging Foundations, and what it means to be a Seeker, a Builder, and an Innovator.
Commit to Grow. No matter your Belonging Foundations assessment result, you recognize that there is always room to learn, grow, and practice, and you’re ready to make the commitment.
You can Attend Summer School All Year Round
Standard Admission Fee
Enroll in Summer School right now and get immediate access.
All content will help you build belonging at work.
About Your Host
Rhodes Perry, MPA, is an award-winning social entrepreneur, bestselling author, and sought-after keynoter. Nationally recognized as a DEI thought leader, he has 20 years of leadership experience having worked at the White House, the Department of Justice, and PFLAG National. Media outlets like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press have featured his powerful work. He serves as the CEO of Rhodes Perry Consulting, a global leadership development and management consulting firm helping visionaries and change makers build belonging at work. He earned a BA in economics and gender studies from the University of Notre Dame, and an MPA focused on public and nonprofit change management from New York University. He serves on the National LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce’s TGXI Inclusion Task Force and on the Cascade AIDS Project’s Board.