Lunch & Learns
Topic-Specific • Industry-Specific • Region-Specific
Speaking Engagement
What is it ?
Lunch & Learn Courses are DEI-expert-led, topic-specific events with 45 minutes of keynote and 15 minutes for Q&A. Each Lunch & Learn can accommodate up to 50 people per session.
Course Topics
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Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace
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Civic & Social Responsibility
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Strategic DEI in the Workplace
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Black History Is U.S. History
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Identifying & Addressing Bias in Recruitment
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History of Pride & LGBTQIA+ Allyship
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Supplier Diversity Accelerator Program
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The Floyd Curve
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The Value of Bystander Intervention
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Mitigating and Addressing Micro-inequities
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Recognizing and Interrupting Microaggressions in the Workplace
Course Topics & Descriptions
Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace
This Lunch & Learn will provide an opportunity to educate individuals and organizations about the intersection of mental health and DEI. The content will empower participants to explore the impact and recognize the essential role of mental health in the DEI conversation. Finally, we will highlight the benefits of DEI on mental health and how improvements in DEI can impact mental health within your organization.
Civic & Social Responsibility
What are a company's responsibilities toward society? How does a company balance the needs of shareholders and the needs of the community?
Corporate Social Responsibility (sometimes called Corporate Citizenship) is a broad concept that can take on many forms. For a company to be socially responsible, it first needs to be accountable to itself and its shareholders. CSR initiatives strive to positively contribute to the public, to the economy, or to the environment in which it operates.
Consumers, employees, and stakeholders prioritize CSR when they choose a brand or company in alignment with their business beliefs, practices, and profits. Explore how your company might incorporate CSR as an extension of its core values.
Strategic DEI in the Workplace
The aim of the session is to provide participants with the opportunity to explore these three concepts: diversity, equity, and inclusion and to understand the differences and considerations when developing and/or supporting your organization’s strategic approach to DEI. We will explore the myths of DEI strategy compared to the concrete steps that are needed for your organization to make real progress.
Black History Is U.S. History
This Lunch & Learn is designed to exemplify how Black history is a truly integral part of the entire American landscape. Black history is woven into and impacts every aspect of American life. While Black History Month acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of Black people, recognition should not be limited to one month and promote only the great Black activists. It should be a 365-day celebration of a multitude of Black people and their contribution every year.
We’ll take a look at the impact Black people have on America, starting with the White Lion—the "cargo" ship that arrived on the shores of America one year prior to The Mayflower ship. We'll also discuss the major contributions Black people have made in science, engineering, telecommunications, transportations, city planning, and more.
To not know the contributions of Black Americans is to not know the whole of the American story. It's incomplete.
This Lunch & Learn will fill in those blanks.
Identifying & Addressing Bias in Recruitment
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, a vast body of research shows that the hiring process is biased and unfair. Unconscious racism, ageism, and sexism play a big role in whom companies hire.
This course explores some challenges of unconscious bias in talent sourcing, recruitment, hiring, and onboarding, in addition to providing practical ways to mitigate unconscious bias in each phase.
History of Pride & LGBTQIA+ Allyship
LGBTQI+ people around the world face inequality, discrimination, and violence. Rights affecting those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community vary greatly by country or jurisdiction. LGBTQ+ rights encompass everything from the death penalty to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
LGBTQ+ rights vary greatly between countries. In some countries, homosexuality is illegal, while in others, it is legal but organizations and promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” are illegal. In Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia, people involved in homosexual activity can receive the death penalty because it is a capital offense.
In this Lunch & Learn session, we will briefly explore the history of the LGBTQI+ community and the development of Pride. We will also discuss how individuals and organizations can support LGBTQI+ individuals and communities through allyship.
Supplier Diversity Accelerator Program
Supplier diversity programs are springing up all over—in large, medium, and even a few small companies. This effort is wonderful, but many of these programs lack a few main ingredients in order to have a sustainable, positive impact.
This Lunch & Learn will give you more context as to the current barriers your diverse suppliers face and some simple, practical tools to improve your supplier diversity programs to help dismantle systemic racism and other structural discrimination.
The Floyd Curve
A new inflection point has occurred since the murder of George Floyd. Change is irreversible and we call it “The Floyd Curve.”
The Floyd Curve visualizes the fact that yesterday’s DEI approaches are now out of date and too slow. The DEI demands of 2021 are transforming rapidly and broadening far beyond human resources.
All organizations want top talent, innovation, growth, a great culture, a good reputation, and happy customers.
There are many drivers to these outcomes that are widely known; but a new imperative to deliver them is an improved approach to DEI and Anti-racism.
What differs now? This Lunch & Learn will break it down for you.
The Value of Bystander Intervention
What are the main steps of bystander intervention and how can we leverage this practice to better practice DEI at work?
This Lunch & Learn will:
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Draw parallels between bystander intervention and DEI (allyship)
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Highlight potential challenges of bystander intervention and how to address them
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Showcase how transferable your bystander intervention skills are for your career—whether you’re a leader, a manager, or an individual contributor
DEI is all about intervention, so we’re excited to help you improve your DEI skills.
Mitigating and Addressing
Micro-inequities
We hear a lot of microaggressions, but what are micro-inequities?
Find out the difference between them, notice how omnipresent microinequities are, and find out how to mitigate them. Being aware of microinequities will step up your allyship and bystander intervention skills in DEI.
Recognizing and Interrupting Microaggressions in the Workplace
Microaggressions are the most talked about concept in DEI and Anti-racism in 2021.
Find out more about how they appear in the workplace, what their impact is, and what you can do next time you witness one.
Also, learn what Blue Level believes the future of addressing microaggressions is.
Being aware of microaggressions will step up your allyship and bystander intervention skills in DEI.
