Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

“VISIONS worked with us over several years at the Board, Program Director, Staff and Grantee levels. They provided outstanding service to our organization through their thorough knowledge, expertise and their “no blame or shame” approach. Their work with us helped all members in the on-going journey to view Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity not merely as slogans, but to translate them into concrete, meaningful actions and behaviors in our day-to-day activities. VISIONS provided us with new insights, the knowledge, tools and the confidence to leverage differences for positive and lasting societal impacts.”

— Sterling K. Speirn, former President and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

”The work, empathy and professionalism that VISIONS demonstrated made a very difficult situation leading up to the February downsizing announcement effective/efficient for our leaders and the broader organization. Clearly this is not the end of the work to be done as we bring our new business model to life, but it is a significant point in the process.”

— Maxine, Consultation client

“I now truly believe I have the power to change whatever I set my energy into. I am a strong Haitian woman with great capabilities.”

— Gina, Legacy Project participant

“The VISIONS workshop was tremendously beneficial for St. Mark’s. By spending four days together and talking with candor, the senior administrative team’s trust in each other and our orientation deepened. On an individual level, I came away from the retreat with a deeper commitment to exerting explicit leadership around issues of diversity, and have already begun to do so with students and staff. We are currently working our way through a challenging situation…and I think the fact that we spent those days together helped us, as a leadership team, see a greater complexity and also be better able to bear the inevitable pain that comes along with living and working in a diverse school community.”

— John Warren, Head of School St. Marks School

“There has been a greater awareness of how to leverage differences and how those differences add value and impact successful outcomes.”

— From client survey by Pyramid Communications

“I am a physician. This workshop taught me about healing.”

— Chris R., PACE Workshop participant

“As a clergy person, I had been to inclusivity training events before that left me feeling defensive and attacked for being a white guy. So initially I wasn’t fully present when I sat down for the VISIONS workshop. But the tools that they shared have benefitted me personally and my church in such a way that I voluntarily came back to learn more and have invited people from my church and church staff to join me. I want the kind of things I learned from VISIONS to become a part of the culture at my church…it is helping me and my church become the beloved community that God created us to be.”

— Pastor Dave Williamson, United Methodist Church

”By combining practical exercises with guidelines for effective cross-cultural dialogue, we were ready to start our cohort discussions on day two. How did it go? In one word: excellent.”

— Participant from Sweden

“… the positive impact of the experience has not faded and will be remembered for a lifetime. School nurses aren’t usually in the position to receive such quality, experiential training.”

— School-Based Health Care Policy Program Workshop Participant

“We had gotten youth to work well together across racial and class lines around food issues, but nobody was talking about the harder, deeper differences and inequities among us until VISIONS gave us the language and process. VISIONS helps keep us growing and living into our core values around diversity.”

— Jessica Liborio, The Food Project Diversity Committee Co-Chair

“It is a framework for living your life. I started teaching my children VISIONS at the age of 9 and 11. They are now 16 and 18 and use the skills proficiently. They are amazing children as a result.”

— From client survey by Pyramid Communications

”This was greatly beneficial and should be mandatory for events of this nature, leading to a greater level than usual of introspection and genuine engagement.”

— Participant from South Africa

” When I am unclear about a situation that involves differences, whether it be race, gender, class or anything else, I use VISIONS’ theory and it helps me make sense of it, gives me the language to talk about it, and empowers me to then act more effectively.”

— Carlene, PACE Level II participant

”I liked everything about this training, especially that the facilitators never made us feel bad for the biases we have caught.”

— Bill, PACE Workshop participant

“I overcame an ingrained cultural fear of those who weren’t of my race, which manifested itself as an urge to overcompensate by being extremely polite and reserved.”

— Ryan, Legacy Project participant

“VISIONS, Inc. has changed my life. As generic and cliché as that may sound, it couldn’t be more accurate. I’m now a Youth Consultant for VISIONS and can lead diversity workshops around the country using the dialogue tools I have learned. What I am most proud of is that I was able to bring the Legacy Project curriculum to my own school community and inspire other youth to take leadership roles in their communities.”

— Kyara Andrade, Legacy participant and Youth Consultant

”I enjoyed the workshop because the consultants wanted the learnings to reach people where they were at, not to preach at them.”

— From client survey by Pyramid Communications

“The VISIONS model was a wonderfully surprising approach to group interaction that I now use in personal transactions.”

— PACE Workshop participant

”In 1995, as a new team manager at my company, VISIONS helped my director and I have candid conversations about our different perceptions of the issues and challenges I faced, which were influenced by differences in age, gender, race and life experience. With VISIONS help, we reached a level of trust and understanding that wasn’t there before—both of us stayed open to learning from each other. I still use what I got from VISIONS in my current professional life.”

— Cornelia, Coaching participant

“Thinking of myself as a leader is different and challenging—because for a long time I have seen myself as someone who should just blend in, not stand out.”

— Kadheem, Legacy Project participant

”I felt sheltered, but the Legacy Project made me realize the oppression and racism in the world.”

— Diana, Legacy Project participant

”VISIONS tailored their training to fit our cultural language (since we are a religious organization) and they did their homework about who we were. VISIONS really focused on getting to know us first, went with our priorities and got us engaged.”

— From client survey by Pyramid Communications

”Legacy has taught me new ways to deal with problems that I often run into at school when it comes to race and culture. I have also confronted my personal prejudices about certain groups, and extinguished those prejudices.”

— Aaron, Legacy Project participant

“I would describe VISIONS as a highly skilled—and very diverse—group of individuals who provide excellence in multicultural awareness and training.”

— From client survey by Pyramid Communications

”I appreciate how you helped me be able to identify where I have gotten myself stuck and now I see how I can address it. I feel a sense of empowerment to move myself and consequently my work.”

— Leslie, PACE workshop participant

”The guidelines help me sculpt and better my interactions with others, and they help me be able to hold a conversation in a more respectful and understanding way.”

— Gregory, Legacy Project participant

”I feel like VISIONS teaches us how to fish more than handing us a fish.”

— Joel, Legacy Project participant

“I have learned to voice my opinion and be more open to others. Prior to VISIONS I thought differences were a bad thing, but now I have learned the importance of embracing them.”

— Karen, Legacy Project participant

”VISIONS works on the person within, changing the way they think and see the world.”

— Lesedi, Legacy Project participant

”I learned that I have a lot of built up anger and it interferes in my life.”

— Jasmine, Legacy Project participant

”I feel like every time I walk out of here I have a little more peace with myself than I did the day before. Other programs aren’t as fun and cherishing. They don’t care like Legacy does.”

— Nyla, Legacy Project participant

”I jump to conclusions less, and weigh possibilities more.”

— Gregory, Legacy Project participant

”Getting people to talk and become aware of true emotions could eliminate certain tensions and oppression in the school system.“

— Olamide, Legacy Project participant

”It made me meet people whose personalities blatantly contradicted the beliefs I had been fed about their race, gender or sexual orientation.”

— Ryan, Legacy Project participant

“I learned that my opinion does count no matter what people might tell me. I’m a very outspoken person and in the future I can use that to my advantage.”

— Dawnteyia, Legacy Project participant