Wild Center to host diversity training

17 Mar Wild Center to host diversity training

Registration filling up fast

TUPPER LAKE — The Wild Center and the Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC) invites local lodging owners and other leaders in the field of tourism to attend their inaugural diversity training event, a workshop with human rights activist and anti-bias educator Ellen Bettmann. The training is limited to 50 participants so it can be a more a meaningful personal and professional experience, so register now!

This workshop will be an intimate, provocative exploration of diversity, bias, inclusion, with active discussion and interaction from both individual and group perspectives. The goals of the training are:

• increase personal and professional understanding of wide range of diversity issues
• increase personal and professional skills
• increase communication skills (moving beyond silence)
• develop a shared understanding and language
• establish understanding about the need for ongoing training
• increase cultural awareness and competence
• increase participants’ comfort level with people they see as different from themselves
• increase understanding about the ways we unconsciously perpetuate bias

The workshop will be held at the Wild Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 24. The registration fee of $25 includes coffee, lunch and refreshments. Click here to register. Those who have questions about the workshop or registration should contact Stephanie Ratcliffe.

One week prior to workshop, organizers will send registered attendees an email with the final agenda and a pre-read assignment. The assignment is a short essay by Adirondack native and civil rights leader Dr. Alice P. Green, founder of the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers of Color in Essex.

This inaugural workshop will be the first in a series of diversity trainings throughout the area. Organizers hope that each participant will carry forward the wisdom and challenges generated by the day as they work together to make the region more welcoming and inclusive of the increasingly diverse world that can benefit from – and bring myriad benefits to – the Adirondack Park.