NOTE: Even though we are “Pride in the Triangle” in North Carolina, corporate sponsorship is welcomed for anywhere and you can still come to our area for the two-day “trainer of trainers.”

Consider starting off the New Year supporting a project coordinated by Pride in the Triangle, a collaboration of Triangle, NC area LGBTQ+ employees and allies from various corporations coming together to share best practices, work together on LGBTQ+ issues in our corporations and in North Carolina, and network with other out employees and allies.

Throughout 2018, the group met to agree on requirements and contents for a Workplace Equity Toolkit, which will be open source and available for any company to use for workforce training, and includes an inter-company training of trainers (TOT). I, along with consultant and trainer Katherine Turner of Global Citizen, LLC, have been brought on board as professional diversity training course developers and trainers to now professionally develop this comprehensive toolkit.

Pride in the Triangle is striving to raise the remaining funds (we already have our first confirmed 2-3 corporate contributors) in the next few months, so that Katherine and I can develop the toolkit and hold the training of trainers in the early Spring, enabling corporations to use the toolkit for LGBTQ Pride Month this upcoming June.

The goal of the training is to create a more equitable and inclusive work environment for LGBTQ+ colleagues by:
• Articulating the business rationale for equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Explaining LGBTQ+ related terminology, concepts, misconceptions and history
• Expressing empathy for LGBTQ+ colleagues and concerns
• Demonstrating their ability to comfortably initiate constructive conversations about LGBTQ+ colleagues and concerns
• Making a commitment to take action to promote equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ colleagues.

These contents of the toolkit provide a totally turn key solution to organize and hold the sessions:
• Facilitator’s agenda that includes facilitation instructions and adaptation guidance for different sectors, timeframes and audience familiarity with the topic.
• PowerPoint slides with presentation notes.
• Participant booklet with handout, worksheets and other resource materials
• Two sample agendas for different time frames
• Sample evaluation form
• Certificate of participation template
• Leadership engagement tips
• Boilerplate email invitation to the training session

Various sponsorship levels ranging from $1,000 to over $10,000 include recognition benefits, with 1-3 guaranteed seats in the 2 day Training of Trainer sessions for the larger contributors.

Please contact me soon (email [email protected] or office number 919-787-7315) for more information and to discuss your organization’s possible participation.