BRIDGE TO BELONGING

The Bridge to Belonging Program is custom designed to support your organization to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

We know that when people within an organization are authentically seen, heard, and validated they become more committed to their organization, experience greater overall personal satisfaction, and produce greater results. This comprehensive plan is intended to support individuals within an organization to make this type of inclusive culture a reality.  We approach this transformation through analyzing and adapting the current mindsets and methodologies around Leadership, Communication, and Action within an organization while using an Adaptive Leadership Model to move these practices to be more transparent, equitable, and inclusive.

Our Beliefs

  • We believe that issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, and equity should be openly discussed and that we can do so in ways that bring people together. 
  • We live in a world that has historically used these issues to create systemic inequalities.  These systems of over-privilege and under-privilege were not created by any one of us, yet we are all affected by them.  Living in an unjust world creates suffering for us all in different ways.
  • Together we can heal from these injustices by dismantling these ways of being and rebuilding new more inclusive and equitable relationships and systems.  This is work we do personally and together. 
  • To do this work we must create spaces of humility, vulnerability, and openness so that we can see the humanity of us all and learn to recognize and overcome our unconscious biases. 

Personal and collective practices that we will explore and develop:

Leadership
  • Commit Publicly and Privately to becoming a leader for Equity and Inclusion
  • Be Open and Transparent with your Leadership Journey
  • Be Inquisitive
  • Be Prepared for Opposition
  • Make a Big Tent
Communication:
  • Establish an Acceptance of Emotion
  • Affirm the Speaker
  • Remove Blame and Guilt from the Conversation
  • Embrace Challenging Conversations
Action:
  • Establish Norms and Definitions for Group Discussions
  • Examine and revise policies & procedures
  • Intentional Sponsorship
  • Use “Ready- Act – Plan” Cycles
  • Design Thinking Model
  • Authentically Engage with your Community, Clients, and Culture

Example Program Overview

(This will be customized to your organizations needs):

Phase 1

  • Begin the Conversation
  • Consultation and Information Gathering
  • Staff interviews from across of the organization
  • Establish relationships
  • Collaboration with HR, Executive team, and other leaders or leadership groups
  • Inventory and Analysis of Existing HR Policies
  • Development or revision of a Diversity and Inclusion Policy
  • Establish KPIs and timeline for Affinity Solution’s goals and aspirations

Phase 2 :  

  • Deepen the conversation & Prepare leadership for challenging and brave conversations
  • Executive Team coaching and training plus working with other key leadership groups
  • One on One sessions plus whole group sessions with Executive Team
  • Group sessions with other key leadership groups
  • Gather data for comprehensive plan for next 2 phases
  • Monitor KPIs and report to key members of the organization

Phase 3

  • Expand to all employees
  • Group Training Sessions
  • 8 hour Program (Four 2 hour sessions over 3 months)
  • Continue working with ET and support them in company-wide conversations and action
  • Take individual and collective action for impactful change
  • Evaluate and Make recommendations for sustainability