Increase Your Workplace Inclusive Practices with These Workshops from MaeBright

Qwear Media’s business manager Ev Evnen also serves as an LGBTQIA+ competency trainer at the MaeBright group, where companies can go to learn more about anti-oppression in the workplace from an intersectional lens. This Spring, they are offering a wealth of knowledge at a wide range of workshops, from how to support trans kids to learning the common pitfalls in DEI initiatives. If you are working on making your workplace more inclusive, or are simply looking to learn more about marginalized experiences, we highly recommend these workshops.

All workshops have a sliding scale payment to be as affordable as possible.

Understanding LGBTQ+ Identities - Ev Evnen
March 7th and June 2nd
10 am-2 pm MT | 12 pm - 4 pm EST 
$175 - $350 

This workshop covers concepts of and differences between sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex/sex assigned at birth. Also included are our two Key Concepts of Cultural Humility and Intersectionality. Using interacting teaching methods we create a non-judgmental learning environment where participants can ask honest questions, then break down and push back against the negative messages we all learn about this community. 

Coercion in Systems – Sam Carwyn
March 23 
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm MT | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm EST 
$40-$100

Sam Carwyn will outline the barriers within our systems that prevent free, informed choice. We will explore the ways that, as communities, we develop norms that perpetuate marginalization. The different cultural and social aspects of coercion will be explained using specific scenarios and personal stories. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions throughout the event.

Protect Trans Kids! – Ev Evnen 
April 5th
10 am - 12 pm MT | 12 pm - 2 pm EST 
$40 - $100 

Kids should get to just be kids. But when a young person’s identity is politicized, attacked, and belittled, childhood and adolescence become battlegrounds for basic human rights. In this two-hour session, we’ll start by learning about childhood gender identity development. Next, we’ll talk about some of the challenges young trans people face, as well as some of the remarkable young folks who are part of the trans community.

Doing the Work: How to do Meaningful Equity Work in Nonprofits – Bianca Phoenix
Monday, April 11
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm MT | 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm EST 
$40 - $100

Does your organization have a DEI team or consultant on board but the equity issues haven’t improved? Come and discuss the common pitfalls of equity and inclusion work and ways to correct and avoid them. 

Goals: 

Examine what active anti-oppression work can look like vs performative gestures. We will reflect on the difficulties and benefits of hiring DEI consultants. We will highlight struggles and solutions towards institutional change.

Considerations for Trans Health Programs – Damián Lima
Friday, May 6 
11:00 am - 1:00 pm MT | 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm EST $40 - $100

Biomedical models focus on the body and ignore needs that cannot be solved by a prescription. 

When serving transgender people other considerations must be taken into place. This training will use data to highlight the need for caseworkers, mental health, and social support in transgender health programs by focusing on the social determinants of health affecting this population. Damián will show participants ways to improve the health of transgender folks beyond the prescription of hormones and surgeries. 

White Supremacy in Black Face – Bianca Phoenix
Monday, May 16th 
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm MT | 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm EST 
$40 - $100 

Are you the sole Black person in a leadership 

position at your organization? Are you aware of your 

own privileges as you continue to move up in your career? 

Are your colleagues often looking to you to “give feedback” or reprimand your Black and POC employees? If this sounds similar to your experience, come join the conversation on White Supremacy in Blackface. We will discuss the history of assimilation, the lie of respectability politics and bootstrapping within the Black Diaspora of the US. 

Level Up Club: Facilitator Peer Support–Sam Carwyn and Ev Evnen 
Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:00 MT | 3:30 - 5:00 EST 
March 2nd; April 20th; May 18th; July 6th; August 17th 
$15-$40

The world of anti-oppression facilitation can be a lonely one. For many of us, whether freelancing or in an organization, we are a team of one, or maybe two. At Level Up Club, we talk about the logistical of facilitation, like contract negotiation and rates, to the art of facilitation, like facilitator tips and tricks. Each 90-minute session is split between content related to what we do and time for live challenges – things you want your peers’ thoughts on.