POSTPONED: Diversity Bias and Belonging in Small Business Training

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED. DATE TBA.

Out of an abundance of caution and to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. is postponing the Diversity Bias and Belonging in Small Business Training scheduled for Friday, March 20.

We will be rescheduling this training when we are able to safely gather and learn together.

Join us for this free training that will help businesses cultivate and steward inclusive retail and workplace environments for customers and employees and create a culture of belonging in business.

Event Details:

Diversity Bias and Belonging in Small Business Training

March 20, 2020, 9 am to 4 pm
At Berkshire Bank, 99 North Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201
FREE but Registration is Required by March 13, 2020.

Registration is limited to 40 participants per workshop session.

Attend one or all sessions.
Lunch available for those attending 9-4.

This training is presented by BRIDGE, NAACP Berkshires, Berkshire Bank, Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation (PERC), Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC), and Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. (DPI).

Event Sessions:

9 am, Welcome & Thank You

Gary Levante, SVP Corporate Responsibility & Culture, Berkshire Bank

Peter Mirante, SVP Branch Administration, Greylock Federal Credit Union

9 to 10 am
Keynote & Panel Presentations
Navigating Bias to Create a Welcoming Business

Join community leaders for presentations on Navigating Bias in Business & Culture in downtown Pittsfield. Perspectives will be shared to support cultural awareness and to become acquainted with local resources and initiatives to continue the conversations.

Featuring:

John Lewis, CEO and CoFounder, Sp3akeasy Berkshires and R3SET Enterprises

Dennis Powell, President Berkshire County Branch of the NAACP

Shirley Edgerton, Cultural Proficiency Coach, Founder & Director, Rites of Passage & Empowerment Program and Youth Alive.

Moderated by Gwendolyn VanSant, CEO & Co-Founding Director of BRIDGE

10:30 am to 12 pm
Cultivating Inclusive and Welcoming Workplaces

A workshop to develop cultural awareness in order to cultivate and steward inclusive retail and workplace environments for customers and employees. We will explore building inclusivity through microaffirmations and we will share strategies to address bias and microinequities.

1 to 4 pm
Cultural Humility, Belonging and Inclusive Leadership in Business

This workshop will explore specific topics in diversity and culture and how to interrupt bias in order to create a culture of belonging in business. This workshop will support your business in developing the awareness, language and tools to assess, address and be accountable to equity and bias in your business. Strategies and tools will be shared to add value and competence to decisions around diversity and inclusion. There will be time for a Q&A in this session for specific challenges or aspirations at your workplace.