Creating a Diversity Plan for Your Organization

About this event

Cliff Jones, Senior Consultant
The Nonprofit Association of Oregon

Dahnesh Medora, Director of Programs & Senior Consultant, The Nonprofit Association of Oregon

Continental breakfast and networking at 8:00
Presentation at 8:30

Demographic changes have impacted who nonprofits serve and the ways in which they operate both internally and externally. Does your organization have a current diversity plan that helps guide your organization? Do you have a diversity plan that was completed but never really implemented? This session of the Diversity Leaders Network will help you address these challenges!

Changing needs among the people served by nonprofits coupled with competition for limited resources, suggest that organizations with the capacity to serve and work effectively across cultures will be better able to provide services and stay relevant. Put another way, building skills in working with people from a variety of cultures can make a big difference to your bottom line.

We’ll explore:

• The purpose of a diversity plan
• Components of cross cultural effectiveness within an organization
• Approaches for developing a diversity plan
• Leadership and structure required to support a diversity plan
• Strategies for implementing diversity plans

Plans are important for many reasons: they create shared vision and organize people around a common approach, they provide a means for evaluating success and effectiveness, and they enable us to identify the resources we need to deliver services and create a welcoming climate. Whether your current plan needs revising, or this is your first effort, we’ll help you identify the approaches that work best in your organization. You’ll walk away with practical tips and tools to jump start your own efforts.

About the Presenters

Cliff Jones is a human rights activist with over 30 years’ experience in social service, community education, and human rights advocacy. He is co-founder of Tools for Diversity, a multicultural team that addresses problems caused by discrimination and prejudice and supports building culturally competent organizations. Cliff’s professional capabilities include skill-building for boards and supervisors, planning, mediation, workplace diversity, multicultural alliances, conflict resolution, and group facilitation.

Dahnesh Medora serves as Program Director and Consultant for the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. Dahnesh develops and coordinates strategic program initiatives and provides consulting support to nonprofits. As both a consultant and coach, Dahnesh has provided consulting and training on leadership development, organizational change, and cross cultural effectiveness.

About the Network

Diversity Leaders Network is a gathering of peers where key diversity-related topics are highlighted and colleagues have an opportunity to learn from each other. Nonprofit leaders gain a better understanding of the causes and effects of different perspectives, and inspire open-mindedness and learning about issues that have the potential to both unite and divide our community.

We encourage organizations and individuals to attend the entire series by purchasing a season pass. Season pass holders receive priority registration, express check-in, and admission to all five network sessions, and up to $81 off of the individual session registration fees.