Services

Within current contested contexts shaped by geopolitical conflicts, one of the most daunting responsibilities of diversity officers and cross-sectorial leaders is to engage members of their campuses and organizations in difficult cross-cultural conversations around interpersonal and intergroup conflicts. The challenge is further magnified when leaders have to manage their own deep struggles with the issues at hand. They are often expected to provide direct, clear answers to divisive issues, answers that they may not have! In this highly interactive, skills-building workshop, Dr. Ndura facilitates activities in which participants practice mindful communication and strengthen their capacities to create spaces where all members of the organization feel heard, understood, believed, and supported no matter how difficult the issues or conflicts at hand.

Participants will:

• Practice the art of mindful listening and responding.
• Understand the intent and impact inherent in all communications.
• Enhance their capacity to express empathy.
• Enhance their capacity to de-escalate conflict

Communities worldwide continue to be challenged by intergroup conflicts and violence. Even in those places where peace agreements have been negotiated and signed, much work remains to be done to build and sustain inter-personal and inter-group relationships that foster mutual understanding and reconciliation. With limited capacities to deepen mutual understanding of the anger, pain, and losses that community members on all sides of the conflicts have experienced and how these impact relationships with one another, efforts to reconcile weaken, and the risk for intractable conflicts is elevated. In this highly interactive workshop, Expert facilitator Ndura highlights and demonstrates how intersectional identities shape individual lived experiences and perspectives on the experiences of others who come from different socio-cultural backgrounds. She engages participants in activities that enhance their capacities to check assumptions based on socio-cultural identities and engage in mindful conversations with others to uncover and affirm their shared humanity. Such cross-cultural engagement helps everyone understand that positive peace is realized at the nexus of shared experiences and commitments to bringing our authentic best selves to every conversation and every relationship that we willingly step into to build community and foster healing and reconciliation in conflict and post-conflict societies.

This workshop enhances participants’ capacities to:

• Reflect on how their own intersectional identities and life experiences shape how they show up in conflict and post-conflict contexts.
• Practice the art of listening and responding.
• Understand the intent and impact inherent in all communications.
• Challenge their assumptions
• Replacing defensiveness with curiosity & openness
• Express empathy.
• Engage in authentic and trusting relationship-building.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, both the Anti-Defamation League and the Council of American-Islamic Relations have reported an alarming rise in anti-semitic, anti-Muslim/ anti-Arab incidents, including discrimination, harassment, assault, and “doxxing” (searching for and publishing private or identifying information about a particular individual on the internet, typically with malicious intent). College campuses are not immune to this very disturbing trend which is antithetical to their commitment to building and nurturing a beloved community, i.e., an inclusive, safe, and welcoming community in which all our students, faculty, and staff can bring their authentic best selves and thrive in pursuing their academic and professional goals. An important step in supporting all our students, faculty, and staff is to create spaces for campus communities to gather and learn together about ways to stand together to combat antisemitism and islamophobia.

Under Dr. Ndura’s expert facilitation, participants in this workshop will:

• Understand the nature and scope of antisemitism and islamophobia.
• Increase their awareness of ways in which antisemitism and islamophobia affect individuals and communities.
• Build capacities to replace defensiveness with curiosity & openness.
• Articulate actionable commitments to combatting antisemitism and islamophobia to build a beloved community.
• Build community together.

Most educational institutions and organization anchor their strategic priorities in commitments to creating and nurturing learning and working environments where all students and employees feel welcomed and supported so that they can bring their authentic selves to the campus and community and realize their goals.

Creating communities requires that individuals and groups demonstrate capacities to engage with one another across differences, often having difficult conversations essential to deepening mutual understanding and doing so with civility and empathy.

To address broadly expressed needs to develop capacities to facilitate difficult conversations across differences, Dr. Ndura offers Cross-Cultural Facilitation Training for Facilitators of educational institutions and organizations.

Participants will enhance their capacities to:

• Reflect on how their intersectional identities and life experiences shape how they act as facilitators of conversations across cultural differences.
• Develop skills to engage individuals and groups in authentic relationship-building.
• Practice mindful inquiry to build bridges across conversation parties.
• Practice culturally sensitive facilitator responses.
• Enhance capacities to engage diverse audiences in constructive conversations across cultural differences.
• Understand the intent and impact inherent in all our communication.
• Enhance skills to support diverse audiences and practice nonviolent communication.

Using her own story as a point of departure, Dr. Ndura leads participants in reflection and activities in which they explore and connect with their own paths to peace and freedom. They develop an understanding of inner peace as a foundation for broader peace and of the role and responsibility of every human being to contribute to the quest for peace and freedom.