[December 2021] Uncovering the Traps of Implicit Bias

Webinar
Uncovering the Traps of Implicit Bias

December 07 2021, 12:00 - 1:00 EST

Many organizations recognize the need to lead from a deep and genuine culture of race equity. This starts with people—emerging leaders, senior leaders, board members, and more—growing individually and in their respective roles. However, it can be difficult to know where to start in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Simply mandating or promoting EDI in the workplace is not enough. To realize the benefits, organizations must treat EDI as any other critical resource and commit to building the right infrastructure to support it.

Advancing EDI internally requires more than just the knowledge and will to act. Staff must also understand the multiple ways in which bias unconsciously manifests in our daily lives and working relationships. Building on brain function research and behavioral science, participants will learn about the bias traps we fall into, what causes them, and what can work to reduce and/or eliminate them.

The foundations of implicit bias in brain function and culture

Common ways that implicit bias is present in the workplace

Self-reflection on potential biases and strategies to begin reducing them

Presenters:

Jerica Broeckling
Engagement Partner

Jerica Broeckling is a social sector leader with 15 years’ experience working in community development and capacity-building for nonprofits. She consults with organizations on planning using human-centered design; systems thinking and results-based strategies; and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion.

She spent the last decade working with community-based and human-serving organizations around the country through her work with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. Through the Alliance, Broeckling led cross-sector initiatives on community health, workforce readiness, nonprofit leadership, and community engagement. Prior to her work at the national level, she advanced executive projects for a statewide parent engagement organization in Wisconsin and served as a health educator for the Peace Corps in Ghana.

She holds a master’s in public service with a nonprofit specialization from Marquette University, where she now is a graduate instructor on social innovation and trends in the nonprofit sector. She serves as an advisory board member for the Marquette University Trinity Fellowship.

Phyllis Richards
Director of Practice Excellence
Social Current

Phyllis Richards is the director of practice excellence in evaluation and research services (ERS) at Social Current. In this role, she works to meet the evaluation needs of internal and external partners as well as manages the day-to-day operations of Social Current evaluation and research department, which includes administering the assessment tool for the Commitments of High-Impact Nonprofit Organizations and the annual compensation study. Prior, Richards worked for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as an evaluator for the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG)Training Program. This program trained public high school staff, parents, and community partners on the services available to students with special needs after leaving high school.

Richards founded the non-profit organization Parents Advocating for Cultural Equality and Educational Excellence (PACE3) and led this grassroots organization for nine years. The focus of PACE3 is to address the systemic racism, cultural competency, and academic excellence concerns of parents and students of color at predominately white suburban Milwaukee school districts. During this time, Richards also founded the Consortium for Equity and Excellence in Education, which was a three-year collaborative project between five suburban Milwaukee school district leaders and parents to develop strategic plans to address the opportunity gap in education.

Richards holds a master’s in social policy from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration along with a master’s in educational psychology with a concentration in measurement and statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  She is also a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).