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Building Belonging

Week of February 25, 2023

Exploring how to maintain our wellbeing and sense of community and belonging in a world of unparalleled separation, politically, racial and socially.

It is no secret to anybody that we are living in times of intense polarization and division.  Divided by race, gender, sexual orientation and other identity differences, not to mention dysfunctional political tribalism, many struggle find a way to build and maintain inclusive communities in which all people can feel a sense of belonging. By looking at the historical, psychological and philosophical underpinnings of identity, these presentations will focus on ways that we can develop greater understanding of our diverse identities and perspectives in order to build communities of deeper mutual respect and belonging.

These sessions are designed to increase our level of understanding about ourselves and others and to facilitate our ability to connect across difference.

Our Search for Belonging

  1. What is Belonging? How does our life experience shape our view of the world?
  2. What drives the human need to belong? How does our need to belong drive human behavior, and especially our relationship to the groups we live and work with?
  3. The psychology and neuroscience behind the drive to belong.

Everyday Bias

  1. What is bias? How does the brain create bias?
  2. How does bias shape the world we see? What is the impact of bias on human interaction? What are some ways to learn to mitigate bias?


Understanding Our Political Divide

  1. Why is political tribalism escalating?
  2. What are the moral and psychological underpinnings of our divisive political culture? How can we develop a deeper understanding of the beliefs of others?
  3. How do we bridge the gap in our political divide?

Moving from Othering to Belonging: Creating Conscious Community

  1. Building racial amity
  2. How can we create communities of belonging in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and even families?
  3. Finding ways to break down barriers between people
    1. Including the excluded
    2. Moving forward together

 

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias.  He is the author of ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, (published by Rowman and Littlefield in conjunction with SHRM in 2011), and the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, (published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2014, Second Edition released in 2020).  His latest book, Our Search for Belonging:  How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart, released by Berrett-Koehler in May of 2018, won the 2019 Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice.

Howard has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application re: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Accessibility work. His client work has focused on the areas of corporate culture change, leadership development, and managing diversity, inclusion and belonging. Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in the area of managing diversity and cultural integration in academic institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and retail, health care, media, and governmental institutions in 47 of the United States and over 40 countries worldwide.  In addition, Howard has delivered programs at Harvard University Medical School, Stanford University Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, the Wharton School of Business, Duke University and Washington University Medical School and over 20 other colleges and Universities, as well as for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Howard served as the 2007-2008 Johnnetta B. Cole Professor of Diversity Professor of Diversity at Bennett College for Women, the first time a white man had ever served in such a position at an HBCU.  He currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Carter School of Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

Howard’s writings have been published by the Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Fast Company Magazine, Diversity Women Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Fortune Magazine and dozens of other publications. He appears regularly on National Public Radio. Howard has served on numerous not-for-profits boards, including the Diversity Advisory Board of the Human Rights Campaign, the board of directors of the Dignity and Respect Campaign, and the board of the directors for the National Women’s Mentoring Network.  He currently serves on the Dean’s Council for the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, and the Board of Directors of the National Center on Race Amity. Howard has been the recipient of many awards, including the 2009 Operation Understanding Award for Community Service; the 2012 Winds of Change Award from the Forum on Workplace Diversity and Inclusion; the 2013 Diversity Peer Award from Diversity Women Magazine; the 2014 Catalyst Award from Uptown Professional Magazine; the 2014 Catalyst for Change Award from Wake Forest University; the 2015 Medal of Honor by the National Center for Race Amity; the 2015 Trendsetter in HR by SHRM Magazine; and the 2016 Leadership in Diversity Award by the World Human Resources Development Conference in Mumbai, India. He was also named an Honorary Medicine Man by the Eastern Cherokee Reservation in N.C. and given Medicine Holder designation by the Pawnee Nation. Howard has also been honored to serve as a “Contributing Expert” in both 2015 and 2020 to the Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks by the Centre for Global Inclusion.

 

Howard is also a former Rock ‘n Roll Musician and has taught meditation and mindfulness for more than 20 years, including his role as co-founder and Lead Facilitator for the Inner Journey Seminars.

 

In 1989, Howard founded Cook Ross Inc., one of the nation’s leading Diversity and Inclusion consultancies.  He sold the company in July 2018 and founded Udarta Consulting, LLC.

 

Howard keynotes and speaks regularly at Conferences for SHRM, SHRM Diversity, the Forum for Workplace Inclusion, National Association of Corporate Directors , ATD, the World Diversity Forum, and dozens of others.  His Talk@Google on Everyday Bias is used in hundreds of universities and organizations all over the world.

 

Howard graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in History and Education and did graduate study at Wheelock College in Boston.  He spent 12 years as teacher and school administrator and then several in healthcare before going into consulting.

 

He can be reached at howard@udarta.com.