Why You Should Use Cohorts in Your Nonprofit's DEIB Training
What makes a DEIB training successful?
From meaningful discussion to skilled facilitation, there are a lot of things that make a DEIB training successful. But today, I want to talk about using cohorts in your nonprofit’s DEIB training.
A lot of DEIB trainings are one-off experiences. And if there is more than one training, it's not really set up as a cohort. But I'm a big believer in using cohorts for DEIB training and I’m going to tell you why in this episode.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
00:58 Advancing your nonprofit’s DEIB efforts
03:37 The power of relationships and effective communication
06:37 Why you should use cohorts in your nonprofit's DEIB training
Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts. While you're there, subscribe to be the first to know about new episodes!
Why You Should Use Cohorts in Your Nonprofit's DEIB Training
How are you continuing to advance your nonprofit’s DEIB efforts?
This question came up in a recent monthly meetup for Nonprofit L&D Collective members. The Collective is a private group just for training and talent development pros working inside nonprofits and associations. We're all about collaboration, growth, and of course, having a little fun together.
We share best practices in talent development, innovative strategies, and firsthand looks at what other nonprofits are doing. One way we do this is through our monthly meetups. These meetups are virtual gatherings with six to eight nonprofit talent development leaders on each call. We do some networking, and then we allow questions and topics to surface from the group.
And in a recent meet up, the nonprofit L&D pros started talking about how to advance DEIB in their orgs. It was so great to hear them share what was working in their very different organizations.. From language recommendations to training and lots of strategies in between, we were able to hear from so many different nonprofits in a short amount of time.
And that got me thinking about DEIB training.
Many organizations started offering DEIB training in 2020 if they weren't already doing so. As a consultant, through my business, Skill Masters Market, I was able to participate in that. So I’ve created and facilitated many DEIB training offerings over the years.
There are a lot of things that make DEIB training successful:
Meaningful discussion
Vulnerability
Skilled facilitation
Opportunities to continue the learning beyond the training itself
But one thing I want to talk about today is using cohorts.
I see a lot of organizations using cohorts in leadership development programs. So maybe you're getting a group of high potentials together and they go through this program together. They build a bond that benefits them beyond the program itself.
But when we think about DEIB training, a lot of these experiences are one-off experiences. There may not be a series of trainings, and if there is more than one, it's not really set up as a cohort. But I'm a big believer in using cohorts for DEIB training.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
1) The Power of Relationships and Effective Communication in Your Nonprofit
I want to start with a story…
The book Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg is not specifically about DEIB training, but he shares a lot of insight about effective communication. And I think this example he shares gives a lot of insight into the power of relationships.
Duhigg shares a story about a PhD candidate from Stanford who wanted to create a soccer team in Iraq. The soccer team would be intentionally made up of both Christians and Muslims. The challenge was that the area in Iraq where this team would be was just recovering from a brutal war, where many Christians had been killed or forced to flee. And that left a lot of mistrust between the two groups.
Getting Christian players to accept Muslim players would be difficult.
Getting them to work together as a team sounded almost impossible.
And yet, with a lot of time and intentionality, the players did, in fact, begin to work as a team.
As they began to work as a team, true relationships were built. And these relationships tore down barriers between the groups. Suddenly, Christian and Muslim players were hanging out together, on and off the field.
How did they do this?
They reminded players of their identities beyond their religion. Each player had an additional role to fill. One player led stretches for the whole team, one brought sports drinks in for the team, and one gave the pep talk before every game. They had more identities than the one that divided them.
They changed the power differentials. It didn't matter who had more power off the field because when they stepped onto that field, everyone had equal playing time. So the power differentials that kept them divided off the field, were not at play on the field.
They built relationships in the context of soccer. And those relationships were real relationships that remained off the soccer field.
While we might not be playing soccer in our DEIB training, I think the principles apply.
2) Why You Should Use Cohorts in Your Nonprofit's DEIB Training
When we bring people together from across our organization who might not otherwise work together (maybe they're in different departments, business units, or social circles) and we intentionally facilitate relationship building among them:
we open them up to learning together,
we remind them they are more than one identity,
we change power differentials,
and we build those relationships in the context of the training.
But those relationships will go with them back into the workplace.
It takes time.
And it takes intentionality.
And that's why I recommend using cohorts for DEIB training.
When we use cohorts:
We have more time to build those relationships.
We can establish group norms or guidelines of how they want to be together which they get to co-create.
We can tap into their many identities and allow them to reflect and share as they are comfortable. And sometimes it takes time to be more comfortable.
We can slowly break down the power differentials that exist. So that real meaningful conversation, vulnerable discussion, and trusting relationships can occur.
We reduce resistance and skepticism that sometimes occurs when we say we're having DEIB training.
We make space for uncomfortable conversations people may not want to have when we say we're offering DEIB training.
We create opportunity for follow-up and accountability that goes far beyond the training itself.
We create groups that can move from awareness to action as they work together inside the organization.
And that is where change happens. That is how we create more inclusive workplaces. That is how we create belonging. And it starts with relationships.
To hear the full conversation I had on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 91.
Apply what you learn.
Grab this free resource from the Learning for Good Playbook!
The Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective
Helping to change the world for good is hard enough as it is. Finding good support shouldn’t be difficult, too.
I know what it feels like to want someone to bounce ideas off of and to learn from, someone who really understands you and your work.
Nonprofit L&D leaders have been overlooked for too long. You need a place where you can meet like-minded talent development pros, learn from industry leaders and tech vendors, and find the support you need to make a real impact.
Thankfully, great nonprofit support is no longer hard to find or financially inaccessible.
Welcome to the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective – the only community specifically for nonprofit talent development professionals.
When you join this community, you will walk away with a new, diverse, and powerful network – and a sounding board for your staff development needs.
So if you're ready to exchange ideas and collaborate with your peers, come join the Nonprofit L&D Collective.
