Learn about what Inclusive Insight Group is up to and what you can expect!
Hey there!
If you’re reading this right now, welcome and thank you!
Thanks for showing up, demonstrating curiosity and embarking on this journey with me.
For over a decade, I’ve been a DEI professional and leader in various corporate spaces and before that, I observed the world through various marginalized identities. I’ve longed for the opportunity to impact more lives and more organizations with my learnings and have finally decided to take that leap to create Inclusive Insight Group—my own business—to help transform cultures and refine DEI programming in organizations, small businesses, schools, and more. Really, to help out anywhere humans exist and have an opportunity to show care to one another in more intentional and meaningful ways.
If you know me, you know I have a lot to say, especially as it pertains to cultivating inclusion and checking the practices, behaviors, and systems that make it difficult impossible for people to bring their best ideas and whole selves to the spaces and places they exist. When we can’t do that, it’s harder to live full lives, share our ideas, and ultimately impact positive change.
Maybe you wonder: Why this work?
Most of us—and I’ll assume all of you reading this—don’t wake up in the morning thinking “How can I ruin someone’s life today? How can I make them feel badly?”
And yet, more often than we’d like to admit, we may unintentionally cause harm and pain to others. We are limited by the perspectives we carry, and how we’ve been taught to move through the world. I want to help illuminate missed perspectives and bring insights on how we can care better for others. I want to illuminate how we can intentionally include instead of unintentionally exclude and impact human lives and organizational outcomes as a result.
Quick Pause for Storytime
Once upon a time, I was a fresh-faced, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed college graduate ready to take on the world and leave every place I left better than when I arrived. I joined my first corporation and advocated (before its time) for onsite recycling and fair trade coffee. In both cases, I was shot down with little consideration. One of those times I was laughed at.
You know what that’s like, right? Having an idea you’re excited about and having it dismissed out of hand. It hurts. It causes a pain response in the brain that’s equivalent to physical pain. Social pain is real and it hurts… and I was frustrated for a lot of years. I was frustrated with hearing how I was “too” this and “not enough” this. I was sick of the implicit and explicit ways I heard I didn’t belong as I existed, especially from others doing DEI work themselves.
Okay, story time is over. :)
Truth is, I’ve made mistakes. I haven’t always done or said the right things and for every opportunity, I’ve learned a lot.
DEI work done well is about that: making mistakes, learning, doing better next time, and practice over perfection.
Why choose Inclusive Insight Group?
DEI work can be scary and complicated. You want to work with someone who gets it, but isn’t so committed to their own ideas that they can’t hear other perspectives. The person who feels like they have it all figured out, who doesn’t “need additional training,” is the one to watch out for. In every implicit bias course I’ve ever attended or facilitated, I’ve learned new insights.
I don’t have all the answers but I have a hell of a lot of good and important questions. I lead with curiosity, interest in others, and have a rare kind of energy and passion. Because DEI work can be so serious, I try to bring an element of play and lightness, combined with vulnerability and empathy that makes it safe for other people to try without undermining the importance of the topic. I encourage people to be imperfect humans and learn a bit through the mess. I’m also pretty funny, they tell me, and I agree (because I’m super modest.. haha). Oh, and I am a truth-teller. It takes too much work to do anything else. But I promise my candor comes with loving kindness and a desire to meet you where you are, while pushing always just a bit outside the comfort zone to the magical place of learning and better understanding.
Continuing the Conversation…
In my ongoing outreach, I’ll continue to educate and bring awareness to real-life human experiences and share insight on learnings, best practices and strategies to improve the way we love one another.
You’re invited to join in. I hope you’ll engage with me, share your ideas and messy questions, and let your friends and networks know about Inclusive Insight Group.
Learn more about Inclusive Insight Group here: https://www.inclusiveinsightgroup.com
If you’re ready to change lives in the places you contribute to or lead, check out my services here and let’s co-create together!
Until next time. Be well,
I really appreciate this part :"DEI work done well is about that: making mistakes, learning, doing better next time, and practice over perfection."
We can get so frozen, not wanting to look stupid or make a mistake, that we miss the opportunities for growth and learning and connection.
Thanks for your approach, Courtney!!!
I love this intro and the passion your bring to the able! If a person is just out in the world trying to be more well rounded in terms of meeting people where they are at, where should an individual seek guidance, not attached to the work place?