Workshops & Training

Our workshops and training sessions allow for difficult and intensive work within a model that makes participants feel safe enough to stay invested and engaged throughout.

Each workshop combines personal and group experiential learning, conceptual theory, and opportunities to practice new approaches.

Our excellent client satisfaction is the result of:
  • The expertise of our consultants
  • The strength of our theory
  • The non-judgmental atmosphere we create
  • Our commitment to addressing the specific needs of our clients—for individuals or organizational groups
TINA CHERY, President and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute describes the impact of the PACE training.

PACE Workshop Level I 

PACE (Personal Approach to Change and Equity) Level I is the foundational workshop offered by VISIONS. When you complete this course, we believe you will have the skills necessary to:
  • Identify previously unconscious biases and misinformation in yourself, in others, and in organizations.
  • Communicate more effectively across difference.
  • Recognize personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural barriers to inclusion.
  • Understand the ongoing personal effects of historical and contemporary exclusion and oppression, for example, the effects of sexism on both men and women.
  • Facilitate change in groups and organizations to create a supportive environment of inclusion.
  • Per person cost: $1,150.
  • If you need support on the course fees, please email us at [email protected]​

​​PACE 1 is required to become a VISIONS Consultant. 
SANDY THOMPSON, founder of the Winchester Multicultural Network, explains the 20-year impact of VISIONS on her work.
Feedback from virtual PACE workshop attendees:
​
"The workshop has helped me see bias not just as a race issue, but broader to include age, sexuality, income status, etc. It is also helpful to think about racism not just as personal, but interpersonal, cultural and institutional."

"I have been to many workshops such as this one. This was the best by far. The workshop leaders really knew their stuff and were careful not to judge or blame. How to restate a reaction that is free from blame is something I am "working on" and continue to learn"

"As a result of this experience, I will be braver about my relationship to conflict or hard conversations. Nothing is gained from just going along or squashing pieces of myself or what I know is right."

On our Workshop facilitators: "Your constant modeling and participation had me thinking: “Wow, this is for real - like they are doing this WITH us - they aren’t asking of us something they aren’t willing to do themselves in real time.” I trusted you immediately. Although you each bring your unique selves as facilitators, I felt you all shared a truly collaborative spirit."

​Upcoming PACE I Workshops
PACE Workshop Level I
July 20-23, 2021
Online - EDT

PACE Workshop Level I
Oct. 19-22, 2021
Online - EDT

PACE Workshop Level I
Nov. 16-19, 2021
Online - PST

PACE Workshop Level I
Jan. 18-21, 2022
Online - PST

PACE Workshop Level I
April 26-29, 2022
Online - EDT

PACE Workshop Level I
June 14-17, 2022
Online - PDT

PACE Workshop Level II

PACE (Personal Approach to Change and Equity) Workshop Level II advances the skills learned in Level I, adds new skills and gives participants the opportunity to practice in order to gain increased comfort and fluency in their use.

In Level II, participants:
  • Review material from Level I, focusing on areas in which they desire more guidance and practice in using the tools and material.
  • Learn about and try on using worldview differences.
  • Explore group identity development and its impacts on cross-cultural. interactions and organizational change.
  • Practice facilitation skill and intervention strategies (Transactional Analysis/Gestalt theory, cooperative problem solving, and other personal and community change models).

Upcoming PACE II Workshops
PACE Workshop Level II 
Aug. 17-20
​Online
Valerie Batts
Founding Director Valerie Batts, VP, Training and Development.

Ongoing Skill Building Supervision

VISIONS regards diversity and inclusion training as an ongoing process.

In response to clients’ request for continued learning, support and feedback, VISIONS has Ongoing Skill Building courses for individuals and small groups who have taken the PACE Level I training. Current courses include Ongoing Supervision (offered annually in several locations) and TA (Transactional Analysis) 101 (offered every two years).

In Ongoing Supervision, participants:
  • Explore specific personal and organizational challenges around inclusion.
  • Practice applying core tools and facilitation skills to these challenges.
  • Deepen their learning of worldview theory, group identity, cooperative problem solving, and TA theory.
  • Challenge personal unconscious biases within a cooperative peer context.
  • Cost per person, per session: $2,000 new attendees / $1,600 returning

Supervision Sessions (all sessions planned for remote participation)

East Coast Peer Supervision 2021
Feb. 4-5, April 22-23, July 22-23, Oct. 28-29

West Coast Peer Supervision 2021
Jan. 31 - Feb. 1, April 18-19, July 18-19, Oct. 24-25

Upcoming TA 101 Sessions
TBD
MICHAEL BROWN, Community Organizer and Consultant shares the value to him of the Ongoing Skill Building program.

Customized Training

As a standard practice, VISIONS tailors core training materials and course emphasis to fit participants’ needs. However, VISIONS also offers training, seminars and workshops for specific client needs around diversity and inclusion issues.

Examples of these might be:
  • A presentation, talk, or interactive discussion for a school group, organization event, board of trustees, work group, or management team on a particular topic related to cultural identities, difference, unconscious bias, or a challenging diversity-related issue.
  • A full or half-day seminar designed to create “buy-in” to an organization’s diversity and inclusion initiative.
  • PACE (Personal Approach to Change and Equity) Workshop designed exclusively for an organization or community, both in curricula, timeframe and location.
  • YES! Kit training for organizations that have purchased these materials and desire additional expertise and support.
Richard Hinton, human resources professional at Shawmut Design and Construction, explains the benefit of VISIONS customized training.
“I appreciate how you helped me be able to identify where I have gotten myself stuck and now I see how I can address it.  I feel a sense of empowerment to move myself and consequently my work.”

Leslie, Workshop participant
Consultant Jo Bowens Lewis at a VISIONS workshop
Consultant Jo Bowens Lewis at a VISIONS workshop.