“These PD workshops emphasize on the collaborative and impactful nature of businesses that prioritize BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color) within differently-abled communities. It focuses on developing a commitment to diversifying your inclusivity and catering to your business's untapped customers while also highlighting the partnership aspect essential for growth and mutual benefit in business contexts."

The Diversity Academy for Interpreters, LLC is pleased to announce a series of professional development DIP workshops tailored specifically for CEO women-owned businesses and organizations. As a BIPOC woman-owned business with 25+ years of experience, we see how these workshops will grow not only your business, but uplift the communities and professionals you engage with on a regular basis. These workshops will be facilitated by our BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, Women of Color) professionals from differently-abled communities, alongside our white allies dedicated to promoting inclusivity in women-owned businesses. 

Research indicates that individuals with disabilities represent an untapped market segment, making up approximately 20% of the global population. This demographic offers significant potential for customer growth, yet many businesses have not yet effectively engaged with this community. Our workshops will equip participants with the knowledge and strategies necessary to better serve differently-abled customers, enhance accessibility, and market their products and services effectively.

We invite you to participate in these workshops to learn how to leverage this important market opportunity while fostering a more inclusive business environment. Together, we can create meaningful change and drive success for businesses committed to serving all customers.

Your workshop can be tailored to fit your unique business needs and can be completed in 1-, 2-, or 3-hour training sessions. After a 30 minute introduction, most of the workshop is spent discussing real-world business scenarios, hands-on practices, and creating an action plan in small groups. At the end of the workshop, each group shares their solutions in a group report led by our BIWOC facilitators. Participants will also learn several diverse-impacted partnership (DIP) skills by practicing them during live Zoom discussion groups: listening, amplifying voices, addressing and correcting themselves, and much more. The workshop ends with each participant setting a specific action plan for their future DIP work. The workshop format and content are the same whether taught online or in person*.

*Due to world-wide audiences, all workshops are often conducted virtually. In-person presentations can be arranged through special request depending on availability for travel with expenses compensated.

We are also offering a private online course option. The online course is a minimum of 4 hours total, with a weekly one hour live Zoom session. The kind of workshop is most effective when led by facilitators with first-hand experience working in a similar field to
that of the participants. Several of our BIWOC facilitators have experience doing accessibility work and have co-facilitated with several of our DAI online courses.

We recommend that we co-facilitate the online course in order to provide more personal one-to-one individualized attention in small groups. We suggest an additional facilitator for every 15-20 people. We will match you with the best facilitator for your organization.

Examples of courses available (subject to change):

1. Opening Your Doors to an Untapped Customer Base (Beginner)

2. Cracking the shell of Inaccessibility (Beginner)

3. Implicit Bias: How does it impact doing business with those less unfortunate than ourselves? (Intermediate)

4. Understanding Power, Privilege, and Oppression from a Different-abilities Perspective (Advanced)

5. Intersectionality of Disability: Re-Examining our Implicit Bias (Beginner/Intermediate)

6. What does it mean to create an Inclusive business environment? (Advanced)

Private online courses will be 4-weeks with 1 hour weekly live Zoom meet ups. If you have less than 15 participants, the cost will be $65 per participant. If you have more than 15 participants for your group, we can give a group discount of $50 per participant.

Diversity Academy promotes and supports policies of non-discrimination and an environment that is mutually respectful and free from bias.

Requests for accommodations must be submitted to [email protected]. 

Cancellation Policy: 

These workshops, trainings, and private online courses are non-refundable. The courses or workshops can be postponed one time up to one year from the initial agreed upon date if there are scheduling issues.