Affirma Consultancy Founder

Tia is a Neurology of E&I Train the Trainer 2020 Alumni and 2021 guest facilitator.

Tia’s consultation is centered on strategic HR partnership, talent management, equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, policy development, and facilitating internal organizational change. She has over 15 years of experience partnering with C-Suite and Senior Executives, Executive Directors, and Boards in various industries such as federal and district government, non-profit, advertising, media, and hospitality.

Tia is no stranger at the intersection of blackness, feminism, queerness, and motherhood. Rooted in the community with a desire to progress the lives of African-Americans and women, her community work is through the local Boards of Directors where she has served as an executive or committee member including the Black United Fund, Bitch Media, Portland Workforce Alliance, and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, a service organization.

Session: Energy Leadership

The objective for this session is to awaken each person's potential to maximize the impact of their leadership. We'll discuss how to access and utilize different levels of energy as they design and reimagine, in some cases, their personal approach to conflict resolution, engagement in the workplace, talent management, and collaboration with internal leaders.

1:1 Coaching available during retreat (schedule TBD)

Construct The Present (CTP) Founder

A longtime educator and activist dedicated to social justice and empowering marginalized communities, Alexis James currently focuses her activism on leadership development, employer support, and advancing social justice across the nation.

Session: Deconstructing Whiteness within the Workplace

This workshop provides context and application of how to interrupt white supremacy in the workplace.

Current events have us all reflecting on how we are showing up as allies and interrupters of oppression and white supremacy. Feel your feelings and lean into action. In this session we will connect through our commitment to ending racial injustice and then problem solve best practices for moving from bystanders to upstanders, audience to actors, are you with me?

By providing understanding and deconstruction of white supremacy and white fragility through activities, readings and personal narrative, we can bridge to interrupting the internalized white supremacy that exists within ourselves and our workplaces.

M Meditation Founders

Neurology of E&I Train the Trainer 2021 Alumni

Tay & Val - storytellers, community builders, change-agents, and purpose igniters. Everything they do seeks to inspire, and is firmly grounded in intention.

Tay & Val created M to help you lead your best life by bringing meditation to the masses. Modern meditation - backed by science, crafted with soul, secularized to be accessible and approachable to modern people. People like you.

Session: Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

The human brain has an innate intelligence that monitors things in the physical body like oxygen, water, bloodflow etc., all the time. As it monitors, it does its best to modify various processes to keep our bodies in optimal balance: heart-rate, depth of breath, thirst, hunger, etc.

Training our emotional intelligence is developing an intelligence that does the same monitoring and modulating, but for our emotional body. It’s like exercising to strengthen your physical body; you want to build emotional strength, too. Because let’s be honest: the work of DEIB is emotionally labor intensive.

In this session, you will learn the following frameworks and tools to support you in doing the important work of building a world where everyone can belong:

Discover the six foundational building blocks of emotional intelligence to align your mindset, emotional psyche, and body wisdom.

The #1 perspective shift that liberates you from unneccessary emotional toll.

A fail-proof five-step tool to navigate challenging and activating situations so you can turn them into opportunities (#pocketscripts included!).

The real reason DEIB practitioners burnout, and two things you can do to prevent it.

Additional Sessions (detailed in schedule):

Owning Your Journey

Taking Care of Yourself

Integrating And Celebrating In Circle

Director and Founder of Equatrend Ltd // Co-Founder of Unheard Luton

Neurology of E&I Train the Trainer 2021 Alumni

Claire is an Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activist and changemaker, working with organisations to create better opportunities for marginalised people. She is experienced in culture change, policy and strategy development, recruitment, coaching and organisational development. Claire has over 10 years of management and leadership expertise, working within local government, NHS, charity and private sectors.

Claire has been campaigning for social inclusion since the age of 16 and won Greenwich Woman of the Year for her commitment to her hometown. She is currently serving her local community of Luton by volunteering as a Trustee for the charity Level Trust. She is also the co-founder of Unheard Luton, a community creative arts and wellness project for marginalised people living in Luton, England and the surrounding areas.

Claire is passionate about developing people and organisations to achieve their goals and model success. She’s committed to working intersectionally, being an ally to oppressed communities and climate crisis education. Claire launched her business Equatrend in 2021, her aim is to be the most impactful equity technologist on the planet.

Session: Reflective Writing for Wellness

This workshop explores group coaching techniques combined with reflective and creative writing styles such as short stories and poetry.

Coaching is ideal for personal development, it's an effective way to overcome challenges, deal with reoccurring issues, increase confidence, develop problem-solving skills and achieve set goals

Participants will be encouraged to develop their creativity, thoughts and feelings by using writing as a therapeutic outlet.

We aim to explore themes such as love and loss, the year 2022, wellness, discrimination and climate crisis.

1:1 Coaching available during retreat (schedule TBD)

Chef, Caterer, Nourisher of Community

Deoshia “Dee Dee” Hopkins is a Black Femme community activist dedicated to alleviating food insecurity in the marginalized communities she’s been honored to serve. She believes that with hard work, determination and confidence, anything is possible. “Can’t stop, won’t stop” is her life motto. Dee Dee’s love affair with cooking started at an early age. From the moment she could remember, the smells of her mother’s food permeated their home in South Central Los Angeles. Everything from traditional Southern fare, to Italian, to Mexican, to desserts; everything was made with fresh ingredients. And even though she made her first solo dish at the age of six (latkes!), it was not until much later that she made it her life's work. While working as the head of the client services department for a major editorial company in Los Angeles, she honed her skills by feeding some of the top people in the industry. From recipe development, sourcing ingredients, cooking, and plating, her natural ability in the kitchen made others take notice.

In 2019, Dee Dee brought her culinary talents to Portland as Head Chef at Rosie’s Lounge, serving up fare that was a culinary collaboration between traditional American bistro fare and Pacific Northwest ingredients with a bit of soul food thrown in for good measure. She also served as Kitchen Manager at Feed the Mass, a Portland nonprofit that functions to empower and connect the people of Portland through food. Since October 2020, Dee Dee has served as the Director of the Equitable Giving Circle’s CSA program, bringing her passion for food equity and culinary brilliance to BIPOC families across Multnomah County. In this role, Dee Dee is thrilled to have found her life’s purpose in working to ensure that our community’s BIPOC families have access - free of charge - to the very best in fresh organic produce, high-end pantry and specialty items, and culturally-specific proteins - all provided by local BIPOC farmers and purveyors. Week after week, through her leadership at EGC’s CSA program, Dee Dee dedicates herself to ensuring that Portland’s BIPOC community has the opportunity to receive nourishment with love, dignity, and care.

We are blessed to be in her nourishing care for the weekend!

Flourish Training Founder // Neurology of E&I Train the Trainer Co-Founder

Retreat Director: Here to answer any questions, help with coordinating logistics and make this a nourishing, replenishing and community filled experience for you!