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Book a Training for Your Organization

Organizational culture that cultivates trust and belonging forms the foundation for a collaborative workplace where all employees succeed. Hidden in plain sight is a business case for supporting human thriving by nurturing better human beings and human relationships. The Peace and Justice Institute (PJI) is pleased to provide training and workshops that can be customized to meet the needs of your organization

At PJI, our workshops are uniquely developed to create a high-energy experience for participants that will enhance an organization’s ability to engage in difficult conversations, develop empathy, deep listening, and perspective taking in order to strengthen relationships and organizational culture. The tools and techniques allow participants to develop self-awareness in order to cultivate and strengthen a healthy and accountable workplace culture centered on inclusive excellence.

Each of the workshops below can be booked individually as a half day or full day workshop. Additionally, multiple workshops can be bundled together and delivered to your organization as a Training Series within a timeframe of your choosing.

Learn more about the roadmap to fostering an organization of trust and collaboration with the support of PJI.

Table of Contents

Traings and Workshop Offerings

Keynotes for Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings

PJI specializes in helping organizations create a healthy, accountable and inclusive and accountable workplace culture. Have PJI deliver a Keynote at your convention, conference, or meeting! Keynotes can be customized from any of the topics in the workshops listed above and specifically tailored to be highly relevant and meaningful for the audience at your next event.

Principles for How We Treat Each Other

Skilled communication and inter-cultural competence are vital to our workplace, interpersonal relations and national discourse. How We Treat Each Other provides people with effective tools for engaging in difficult conversations, empathetic listening, perspective taking and relationship building. This workshop invites participants to place storytelling at the center of their work in order to develop authentic and meaningful relationships. Through the utilization of the principles and their practices we increase our capacity to be peace builders. Participants will learn how to ask open and honest questions; how to listen deeply and how to effectively engage in self- reflection and self-disclosure.

Power of Words

Language is integral to a positive awareness of diversity and inclusion. How do we speak in a way that supports peace, equality and emotional intelligence? In this session participants will be introduced to the concept of multicultural identity, both their own and others. They will explore how identity impacts feelings of belonging and self-perception. After reflecting on their own identity, participants will learn about unconscious bias, stereotypes and microagressions. Specific and developmentally appropriate strategies for building inclusive communities will be shared with participants.

Conversations in Inclusiveness

In this interactive workshop, participants will be introduced to a set of tools to help them engage in reflective practice and intercultural communication in order to create inclusive excellence in the work environment. Participants will engage in experiential exercises, dialogue, and work with The Principles for How We Treat Each Other. Participants will be introduced to the idea of unconscious bias and be given opportunities in a safe setting to temporarily put aside their own perspectives in order to listen non-judgmentally to the experiences of others. With these new tools in hand, participants will improve their interpersonal relationships, the work environment, and develop practices of respect and community building.

Reflective Practice and Emotional Intelligence

In this workshop, participants explore the meaning of a reflective practice and obtain tools for greater self-knowledge, practical ways to receive and provide feedback through the theory of emotional intelligence by using the Principles for How We Treat Each Other to create a compassionate, nonviolent, hospitable and respectful workplace. As the pace of the world increases and our environment makes more and more demands on our cognitive, emotional, reflective resources, emotional intelligence and reflective practice are increasingly critical skillsets for leadership success. Through a multi-media presentation with skill-building exercises and group discussion, this course provides participants with the opportunity to identify their own challenges in maintaining positive environments and collaborative relationships as well as overcoming resistance and negativity.

Working with Conflict

It’s common to see conflict as a negative, but what if you were able to turn conflict into a win-win? Starting from the premise that everyone looks at conflict in a unique way, this workshop offers a transformative approach to working with conflict as a potential for positive change. Organizational cultures that view conflict as an opportunity are better poised to maximize the benefits of their diverse workforce. In this course, participants will learn about the components, roles and needs active in conflict, identify their own conflict style, and be introduced to conflict resolution practices for the purpose of more productive and positive outcomes. Participants will engage in various exercises, including role-play for the purpose of integrating these skills into a working knowledge.

PJI Healing Circle

With the grief and uncertainty that often surrounds us as a community or organization due to the experience of loss, personal or community violence, the impact of the recent global pandemic, or natural disasters, PJI offers Healing Circles to build resilience within individuals and organizations and offer a space for connection. These facilitated Healing Circles are safe spaces for conversation, designed to remove blaming and shaming and to welcome honest, open sharing of our experiences, struggles, and triumphs. Human connection and a community of support are significant ways to build resilience in the individuals and organizations that serve our community every day.

Waking Up to Our Shared Humanity

In the workshop, facilitators share the stories of their unique paths of racial identity development and the powerful changes it brought to their lives. These stories invite participants to consider how a deep exploration of identity, be it through the lenses of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic class might transform one’s life. From hearing the story, and reflecting on one’s self, the workshop offers Principles for How We Treat Each Other, practices of respect and community building that facilitate honest dialogue among us. The Principles encourage participants to listen deeply, suspend judgment, and turn to wonder, among other personal practices for self- awareness and interpersonal communication. The Principles create a setting for deep listening and honest sharing. When used over time, the Principles lay the foundation for a culture that supports reflective practice and provide communication tools that strengthen relationships with staff and leadership.

Understanding Bias

Much has been said recently about the new science of bias. Are you aware of your hidden bias and how it affects you? Learn about the emerging science of implicit bias, along with strategies and tools to skillfully navigate Implicit Bias, Fundamental Attribution Error, and Confirmation Bias. Participants will be given opportunities in a safe setting to temporarily put aside their own perspectives in order to listen non- judgmentally to the experiences of others. With these new tools in hand, participants will learn to identify and minimize the impact of bias, improve interpersonal relationships, and develop practices of respect and community building.

Conversation on Race

This workshop invites participants to discuss the topic of race and how it affects each of us in our daily lives as we consider action steps to help us move forward together toward more equitable communities. Issues of implicit bias, stereotypes, micro-aggressions, privilege, oppression (the “isms”) frame the learning. Addressing one of the hidden histories in our community, red-lining, creates new awareness about systemic racism and helps frame the learning. Experiential exercises reinforce the learning. Self-awareness and awareness of others’ diversity dimensions are a key component.

Understanding Privilege

In this session, participants gain an understanding of what is meant by privilege (unearned advantage) and explore multiple areas of privilege, including white privilege. The scholarship Dr. Peggy McIntosh will inform our understanding of privilege and privilege systems. The workshop teaches that all people experience unearned privilege as well as disadvantages and allows people space and time to share personal stories in a disarming and safe environment. The workshop creates a safe space for participants to risk sharing life experiences that shaped them in relation to race and systems of privilege and disadvantage. The telling of personal stories supports an authentic transformation of self and strengthens relationships. Honoring every story and treating each other with dignity and respect are modeled in this safe environment.

Family Conversations on Race

Across the nation, people of all backgrounds are experiencing a time in which discussions about race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ability and culture are at the forefront of their everyday lives. Many families avoid these discussions because they fear that conversations about race, bias, and racism may lead to feelings of anger, guilt, discomfort, sadness, and at times disrespect. Moving beyond shame and blame, this workshop invites participants to explore methods to discuss this topics within the families and personal spheres of influence. Identifying points of action and commitment to create positive change in the family structure will be an important component of the workshop.

Moving Into Action: Activating the Principles

This workshop is offered exclusively as the “culminating workshop” in a training series as participants will   skills and practices learned over the course of the series and put them into practice through role- play. Using real life conflict scenarios from the community, participants will work in groups to analyze the scenarios, consider common pitfalls of addressing these conflicts, and explore more positive approaches. Integrating reflective practice and the Principles for How We Treat Each Other, participants will consider the new set of tools in their toolkits to navigate the challenges they face daily in their faith, community and spheres of influence.

Why Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs) Matter

In this workshop, participants will learn about the CRC Network and the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, and toxic stress on health, behavior, learning, the economy, and our community. Additionally, we will touch on Adverse Community Experiences that, when paired with Adverse Childhood Experiences, have been referred to as the “Pair of ACEs”. The workshop defines what it means to be trauma-informed and explains strategies to heal trauma and build resilience.

Why Being Trauma-Informed Matters

This workshop builds off of the Why PACEs Matter workshop by providing individuals with next steps in implementing a trauma-informed approach. In the workshop, participants will examine the three E’s conceptualization of trauma; explore the 4 assumptions of a trauma-informed approach; learn the 6 key principles of trauma-informed care; define the stages of development in becoming trauma-informed; and lastly, examine various implementation domains for a trauma-informed approach including the personal/individual, organizational, and sectoral.

Trauma & Healing: Supporting Our Youth

PJI now offers Trauma & Healing Workshops focused on individuals who support, interact with, and care for youth who have experienced trauma. These workshops create a space of mutual support and conversation while also educating participants about the science of trauma and the brain, how to identify signs of trauma in a young person, and how to support the child in a way that promotes resilience and healing.

Parenting Workshop

Parenting education has been shown to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect. In addition, research has shown that stable, supportive relationships with caregivers can buffer the impacts of ACEs. With this in mind, we offer parenting workshops for parents, guardians, and caregivers looking to add more tools to their parenting toolkit. These workshops are customizable based on audience, and the children’s age range. Previous trainings have covered what discipline is/isn’t, various parenting styles, applying positive parentings skills, and building resilience in teens.

Leadership and Resilience: Tapping Into Our Source

Now, more than ever, leadership matters. Developing and practicing resilience allows us to thrive in the workplace. This workshop introduces participants to the neuroscience of toxic stress and provides steps individuals can take to self-regulate during times of extreme uncertainty, including practicing mindfulness and the Principles for How We Treat Each Other. Learning to tune into both physical and emotional cues provides wisdom to navigate and lead during these challenging times.

Creating a Daily Peace Practice

Great peace leaders often describe peace as a way of life. Thich Nhat Hanh said, “If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice, not a hope.” He asked those who joined him to work on the values and skills of peace every day. The goal is to practice peace with a sustained effort that endures through failure and success. What do you do on a daily basis that nurtures the better parts of your humanity? This workshop will explore how to develop and sustain a daily peace practice.

Based on your organization’s needs, a series of programming may be developed. This “sample” series below includes 5 sessions, varying in length, with a certification for participants upon successful completion of the program. The amount of workshops, length and timing of the workshops, and amount of participants can be customized based on your preferences.

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