Dr. Kathy Obear

Organizational Development Consulting

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    • Design & Facilitate Powerful EDI Workshops
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      • Foundations of Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice
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      • Leading White Accountability Groups
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  • Contact
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☰
  • Home
  • Meet Kathy
  • Events
  • Work With Kathy
    • Design & Facilitate Powerful EDI Workshops
    • References
    • Workshops
      • Foundations of Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice
      • Creating Inclusive, Socially Just Campus Environments
      • Deepening Multicultural Competencies: Strategies for Professional Development
      • Training of Trainers Program to Design and Facilitate Workshops on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
      • Developing a Team of Inclusion Practitioners
      • Facilitating Difficult Dialogues: Navigating Triggering Events
      • White Ally Development Program
  • Resources
    • Free Courses/Webinars
    • Blog
    • Radio Show
    • Books
      • Leading White Accountability Groups
      • In It For The Long Haul
      • …But I’m Not Racist
      • Turn The Tide
        • Book Worksheets
    • Access to our Facilitation and Design Knowledge Base
  • Contact
  • Recent Clients
Creating change, Diversity training, Facilitation and Design

SPEAK UP For Inclusion: How To Be An Effective Ally and Change Agent

At times, the ugliness of discrimination can overshadow the rich benefits of inclusion. Successful growth in any business, organization, and society as a whole rests upon recognizing and including everyone.…

read more
November 27, 2019
Creating change, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, White Accountability Spaces

Using Whiteness Accountability Spaces to Disrupt and Unlearn Racial Biases & Actions

Now more than ever, it’s critical that whites effectively partner with People of Color and other whites to interrupt racist dynamics to create more racially just, inclusive organizations.   One…

read more
August 12, 2020
Conference, Creating change, Professional Development, Social Justice

How to Take the Headache Out of Conferences (and still enjoy all the benefits)

Conferences. You know the value of them – yet you get overwhelmed just thinking about juggling your work responsibilities and your personal schedule to attend them. Then there’s planning travel…

read more
March 10, 2020
  • Diversity,  Diversity training,  Inclusion

    Diversity. Everyone’s talking about it. But why aren’t efforts paying off?

    April 19, 2018 /

    Why do even well-intended diversity efforts often fall short of expected outcomes – or do little more than to increase awareness? I hear that question a lot. It’s that very question that inspired me to write my most recent article. And it all starts with a metaphor on … trifocals. Curious? Take a few minutes out to read more.

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Interrupt racism | Racist behaviors | Racial justice

    Think You’ll Never Overcome Being Called Racist?

    January 18, 2018
    Diversity | Inclusive Culture | Inclusion

    Diversity pays dividends. Does your organization have an inclusive culture?

    April 26, 2018

    Using Whiteness Accountability Spaces to Disrupt and Unlearn Racial Biases & Actions

    August 12, 2020
  • Diversity in the Workplace | Equity | Infusing Diversity and Inclusion
    Diversity,  Diversity training,  Inclusion,  Social Justice

    Have Diversity Efforts at Your Organization Hit a Snag?

    April 12, 2018 /

    I do not label myself an “expert” - but I’ve had decades of training and experience that have allowed me to develop best practices for creating equitable, socially just environments that actively promote diversity and inclusion. It wasn’t always that way. Earlier in my career as a college administrator and an organizational consultant I used to teach a wide variety of courses on various interpersonal skills - with little or no direct reference to the issues of equity and inclusion. Why am I sharing this with you? To show you that change is ALWAYS possible.

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Inclusive | Inclusive Teams | Inclusive Classrooms

    5 Strategies to Create More Inclusive Teams & Classrooms…From the Start!

    July 25, 2018

    Are your buttons getting pushed at work? Here’s a go-to guide packed with helpful tips.

    October 24, 2018

    How Racially Inclusive is Your Organization During This Crisis?

    March 30, 2020
  • Diversity,  Diversity training,  Inclusion,  Social Justice

    Are You Doing All You Can to Infuse Equity and Inclusion?

    April 5, 2018 /

    Judge not by appearances. How many times have you heard that statement? As adults, many of us pat ourselves on the back because we truly believe we don’t judge. But come on, you know better. We’ve been groomed by our society, parents, teachers, and friends to do exactly that. It happens so quickly – and sometimes, so subtly – we don’t even realize we’re guilty of judging by appearances. Then we try and justify in our minds. Well, I didn’t really judge…it’s just that they’re so different from me. I didn’t mean anything by it. They just took it the wrong way. Can you relate? The Building Blocks of Equity…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Using Whiteness Accountability Spaces to Disrupt and Unlearn Racial Biases & Actions

    August 12, 2020
    racist, racism

    I’m Not Racist…Or Am I? The Answer Might Be Yes.

    October 16, 2019

    Diversity. Everyone’s talking about it. But why aren’t efforts paying off?

    April 19, 2018
  • Diversity Training | Diversity and Inclusion | Inclusion Training | Equity | Inclusive
    Diversity,  Diversity training,  Inclusion,  Social Justice,  workplace dynamics

    Creating Inclusion: How Ready is YOUR Organization for Change?

    March 29, 2018 /

    A critical exclusionary incident occurs in your organization. You react, try to smooth the situation over with an open forum or a training session on inclusion and diversity and resume your business-as-usual routine. Case closed. You breathe a sigh of relief. But not for those affected. Like waters that ripple endlessly when a stone skips through, waves of stinging emotions brew among those involved in the exclusionary episode. Can you relate? Diversity and Inclusion Cannot Be Accomplished Piecemeal Ignoring the situation solves nothing. Pretending it’s settled is absurd. The ingredients are in place and ready to ignite again when sparked. Learning to infuse equity and inclusion into everything we do…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Can you spot microaggressions around you?

    February 27, 2018
    Inclusive | Inclusive Teams | Inclusive Classrooms

    5 Strategies to Create More Inclusive Teams & Classrooms…From the Start!

    July 25, 2018

    Making the Case for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

    February 5, 2020
  • Diversity

    5 Conversation Starters to Help a Leader Buy-In to Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

    March 21, 2018 /

    Creating a more inclusive work environment Q: What can you do if you are asked by your boss to create a more inclusive environment in your workplace, and while your boss is supportive, they just don’t fully buy in and don’t model the behaviors consistent with the environment that you’re trying to create? A: This is an ongoing conversation for future webinars, virtual institutes, and my Master Class for Inclusion Practitioners. Click here to learn more about this program and watch my events page to see what’s coming up next. Diversity in the workplace is paramount Have you been asked by a superior to organize a diversity initiative only to…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Interrupt racism | Racist behaviors | Racial justice

    Think You’ll Never Overcome Being Called Racist?

    January 18, 2018
    change, transformation, transformation & change, rights movements

    Do you really believe change is possible for our world?

    February 7, 2019

    Can you spot microaggressions around you?

    February 27, 2018
  • Diversity

    Interrupt Racism, The White Way Is Not The Only Way

    March 14, 2018 /

    As we grew up, most of us didn’t realize we were being educated to believe white is right. I was socialized as a college administrator in predominantly white organizations that reinforced white cultural practices as the right way – the only way – to serve students. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees – I told myself I wasn’t racist! I didn’t realize I was perpetuating the very system I was fighting against. It never occurred to me that the dances I coordinated or the training I designed and facilitated did not address the needs and issues of students of color. I simply perpetuated ideas and approaches that privileged whites had…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    5 Conversation Starters to Help a Leader Buy-In to Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

    March 21, 2018
    Diversity Training | Diversity and Inclusion | Inclusion Training | Equity | Inclusive

    Creating Inclusion: How Ready is YOUR Organization for Change?

    March 29, 2018

    Can you spot microaggressions around you?

    February 27, 2018
  • Diversity,  Diversity training,  Inclusion,  Social Justice

    Can you spot microaggressions around you?

    February 27, 2018 /

    “You have a Master’s degree…really?” asks your co-worker incredulously as she is speaking with a colleague of color. Maybe you’ve uttered (or thought) a similar statement to a person of color, not intending to hurt them, but attempting – in your own racist way – to pay them a roundabout compliment? Intended or not, you’re guilty of microaggressions – a snub or insult directed at a marginalized group member that communicates hostile, derogatory or negative messages. I can hear you protest rather loudly: But I didn’t mean it that way! Maybe not. Society and our environment has groomed us to believe comments like this are acceptable. And if the person…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Interrupt racism | Racist behaviors | Racial justice

    Interrupt Racism to Build Greater Equity

    January 11, 2018

    Diversity. Everyone’s talking about it. But why aren’t efforts paying off?

    April 19, 2018

    Are your buttons getting pushed at work? Here’s a go-to guide packed with helpful tips.

    October 24, 2018
  • Microaggressions | microaggressions in the workplace, interrupt microaggressions
    Diversity training,  Social Justice

    Microaggressions: Sounds Small But Hurts Big

    February 20, 2018 /

    You read the word “micro” and you may immediately judge that it must be something small. It may sound like nothing, but its impact is SOMETHING. Microagressions is a term Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce originated in 1970 to name the insults he witnessed that were doled out regularly upon African Americans by those who were not black – in particular, by whites. As the old saying goes: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Decades have passed since then, but we’re still faced with microagressions and may not even realize it. It’s those everyday messages that come in the form of verbal or nonverbal slights,…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Diversity | Inclusive Culture | Inclusion

    Diversity pays dividends. Does your organization have an inclusive culture?

    April 26, 2018
    professional development | continuing education

    Professional Development Is a Must, Not an Option

    November 7, 2018
    equity and inclusion, supervisor, boss, equity, inclusion

    Bosses and Staff Together At Inclusion Sessions: Yes or No?

    January 30, 2019
  • Interrupt racism | Racist behaviors | Racist attitudes | Racist dynamics
    Diversity training,  Social Justice

    So You Were Called Racist. Now What?

    February 15, 2018 /

    When I was called racist, I felt shattered…confused, ashamed, incompetent… Me? I mean, really. Focusing solely on my own experiences of marginalization as a woman and as a lesbian, I believed I didn’t – couldn’t – have a racist bone in my body. But the problem? Many of us are trained to have racist beliefs and attitudes. It’s as if we’re born a white slate – and everyone writes upon it. Good, bad, ugly. We think because we don’t speak racial slurs or utter comments that are outwardly offensive, we’re not racist. But we may think them – even if we never say a word. Racism can be very subtle,…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    diversity workshops

    Diversity Workshops: Foundations for Meaningful Change or Just Fluff?

    April 8, 2020

    Design & Facilitation 101: Exploring White Privilege

    October 30, 2019
    online training

    How to Design an Online Training Session on Foundational EDI

    July 16, 2020
  • Interrupt racism | Racist behaviors | Racist attitudes | Racist beliefs
    Diversity,  Navigating triggers

    Can You Recognize Your Own Racist Beliefs?

    January 25, 2018 /

    Change Starts With Recognizing Your Own Racism Ever heard of the Harvard Implicit Bias Test? Years ago, a colleague urged me to take the test.  When the results indicated I had negative prejudices towards African Americans, my ego roared out NO WAY!  Me? So I did what most people would do:  I critiqued the methodology of the test. There was something wrong with the test – certainly NOT ME. Truth is, we all need to get real with ourselves, to stop making excuses or casting blame. So often we put ourselves up on a pedestal, linking racism to an outdated image of a Confederate-flag-flying, gun-toting KKK member. The inner dialogue…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Diversity | Inclusion | Equity and Inclusion

    Teach More Effectively by Infusing Equity and Inclusion

    September 13, 2018
    Diversity Training | Diversity and Inclusion | Inclusion Training | Equity

    Infuse Issues of Diversity and Inclusion into Your Next Decision-Making Course

    May 15, 2018
    Diversity Training | Diversity and Inclusion | Inclusion Training | Equity | Inclusive

    Creating Inclusion: How Ready is YOUR Organization for Change?

    March 29, 2018
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Leading White Accountability Groups

Leading White Accountability Groups

In It For the Long Haul

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…But I’m Not Racist!

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Turn The Tide

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