Turning Challenge into Possibility: A Season of Renewal at VISIONS
Dear VISIONS community,
As we step into spring, we are reminded that transformation is always possible, even in the face of deep challenges. At VISIONS, we are navigating a period of financial and organizational transition. Like many mission-driven organizations, we are confronting difficult realities, yet we remain steadfast in our commitment to building a world where inclusion and belonging are not just ideals; they are everyday practices.
In times like these, we lean on our core belief: conflict, while difficult, is also an opportunity. Challenges, whether in our society, our workplaces, or within ourselves, can be fertile ground for growth when met with openness and intention. This is the essence of our work: guiding individuals and organizations toward deeper understanding, meaningful connection, and systemic change.
As we embrace this season of renewal, we invite you to be part of our next chapter. Your support—whether through a donation, a referral to a company in need of our work, or simply by spreading the word—ensures that VISIONS can continue offering the transformative tools that so many depend on and have benefitted from for over 40 years.
New beginnings require collective effort. With your partnership, we can sustain and expand our impact, ensuring that organizations, communities, and individuals have the skills to engage across differences and build bridges where division once stood.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Together, we can turn challenge into possibility, and possibility into lasting change.
With gratitude and hope,
VISIONS Mosaic: A New Look, A Deeper Reflection
Our New Visual Identity: The VISIONS Mosaic
As you may notice here - we have a new look! Over the past year our team has been working with a creative agency, the wonderful ThinkSo, to refine and refresh our brand.
Over the course of our lives, our perspectives are shaped by our experiences, beliefs, and learned behaviors. No two people are exactly alike, and creating true community requires navigating our different edges to create how we fit more effectively together. The wonder of a mosaic is the careful effort to arrange unique pieces into something cohesive and beautiful. Our new brand highlights how VISIONS’ process takes people’s individual foundations—and the external context that informs them—and fits them together to capture and appreciate the beauty of difference.
Let's Collaborate!
Could your organization use support, or know a group that could benefit from VISIONS? Schedule a time for a free, one-on-one consultation.
Transformational Leadership: Applications open soon!
Transformational Leadership is a year-long (2026) immersive experience for a cohort of visionary change-leaders across industries. Now more than ever, we are responsive to the need for training that is rooted in deep community collaboration and mentorship, using the VISIONS model to engage in this challenging and life-giving work of creating lasting change.
Interested? Email institute@visions-inc.org and we will invite you to our next Info Session to learn more.
In the News: VISIONS' Executive Director, Elika, Weighs In
We’re proud to share recent media highlights featuring insights and quotes from our Executive Director. Explore articles on topics ranging from AI and activism to healthcare access and equity in tech.
- If you’re LGBTQ+, your healthcare is at risk — here's how to act now
- JD Vance offers jolting preview of U.S. AI policy
- When AI Models Are Pressured to 'Behave' They Scheme in Private, Just like Us: OpenAI
- Colleges and universities work to adapt to Trump's education policies
- Technology for DE&I in a Virtual Work World
- Arnold Activism Exploring the Role of the Activist in 2020
- Tech Groups Have Long Encouraged Girls to Pursue STEM. Could the Anti-DEI Wave End That?
- Rippling is suing Deel for alleged corporate espionage – what does this mean for the HR technology sector?
- Technology for DE&I in a Virtual Work World
- Psychologist's Take on What's Wrong With 'Adolescence' Sparks Debate
- Relational Intelligence in an AI Age: How to Build Equity-Centered Workplaces Amid Automation | The AI Journal
- The Hidden Cracks: How AI Integration Is Testing Workplace Resilience
Programs
PACE Level I is the foundational workshop offered by VISIONS. When you complete this virtual course, we believe you will have the skills necessary to:
- Identify unconsciously held misinformation in yourself, in others, and in organizations.
- Communicate more effectively across difference.
- Recognize personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural barriers to belonging.
- Understand the ongoing personal effects of historical and contemporary exclusion.
- Facilitate change in groups and organizations to create supportive environments for all.
- Per person cost: $1,150.00 (A Supporter Rate of $1,250.00 is also available).
- If you need support on the course fees, please email us at office@visions-inc.org.
Upcoming Dates
April 30
May 28
June 25
Are you looking for ways to strengthen and deepen your relationships? Would you like to enhance your communication skills and promote successful outcomes in a variety of settings? Join our virtual transformative workshop, where you’ll learn VISIONS Guidelines for Effective Cross-Cultural Dialogue.
- Develop practical communications skills that you can apply every day, both at work and in your personal life.
- Strengthen your ability to communicate with people from different backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
- Foster a culture of inclusivity and respect within your organization.
VISIONS has been teaching these guidelines to individuals, groups, and organizations for over 40 years. They have been instrumental in transforming organizations into inclusive, welcoming environments, and are also powerful skills for cultivating rich, enduring relationships between individuals.
Per person cost: $25.00 regular rate (A supporter rate of $35.00 is also available).
Staying In With The Work: A Support Group for Professionals Navigating Turbulent Times
Professionals who have committed their careers to building sustainable, thriving workplace cultures that effectively retain talent are experiencing unique stressors in the current climate in the United States.
Join Dr. Valerie Batts, Founding Director (Emerita) of VISIONS, Inc and renowned pioneer in organizational culture change work who has been practicing for over 40 years, and Dr. Haley Sparks, VISIONS Mental Health Program Consultant and ease and enjoyment coach, for a 10-week support group for professionals navigating uncertain conditions in the workplace, economy, and country.
Our work is best done in community, and this support group will provide a unique opportunity to learn from and mutually support pioneers in the field as well as emerging leaders. We will hold space to connect, uplift, and resource one another to sustain the work that is close to all of our hearts.
10-week series, 90 minutes per week.
Time: Mondays, 4-5:30pm ET / 1-2:30pm PT beginning May 5, 2025
Format: Virtual
Open to 12-15 participants
Cost: $2,000 per person with sliding scale option (we will work with you on cost)
Connection and community support are now more important than ever to sustain ourselves and the crucial work that we do. We look forward to seeing you there!
OUT DOING THE WORK
Rick Pinderhughes attended the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in January. Attendees were Provosts, Presidents and Deans of these institutions. This conference, unfortunately, was scheduled for January 22 - 25, coinciding with the first week after the presidential inauguration and a slew of EOs. From Rick: The most significant experience that I had, sadly, was that most of the people I interacted with were expressing sympathy for me and VISIONS, worried about how we were doing, despite the conviction that I displayed relative to our commitment to the work. While folks expressed that they liked how I was discussing this, they nevertheless had little interest in moving forward with developing relationship and/or partnership, showing their trepidation in the current barrage of ‘attacks’ on DEI they were seeing everyday in the news.
Jessie Justin and Rick (pictured in front of the Thrive banner) conducted a two part series at the 2025 Thrive Conference for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). It was the result of being invited back to present after Jeanne and Rick provided two smaller workshops in 2024. This series was a part of three special offerings for larger audiences, called Soiiognatiure Experience, and VISIONS’ workshop title was ”Traversing the Landscape of High Conflict Situations”. Both of these workshops, which built on each other, were well received with strong evaluations. Hopefully they will continue to invite VISIONS back to present, network and build a larger profile within the NAIOS community.
Rick also attended the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE). There were powerful presentations and a clear community of committed individuals and groups pushing back on the overall current climate that seeks to eliminate such needed work. Rick was able to connect with the NE chapter of NADOHE, and hopefully, there will be an opportunity to partner, particularly related to VISIONS’ Institute. It was quite healing to be in the space of at least 1,000 people still doing this work.
Featured Conferences
- Jeanne Firth and Elika presented at the United Nations CSW69/Beijing+30 NGO Committee on the Status of Women, “Unmasking Bias: Challenging the Language of Neutrality”
- VISIONS was a proud sponsor of First Year Experience (FYE) conference in New Orleans, and Jabari Carmichael Brown (VISIONS New Business Inquiry Lead) and Asia-Vinae Palmer (VISIONS local Resource Consultant) held a workshop on “Upskilling Relationships: Tools to Foster Bell-Being and Hold Conflict”. Jennie Moctezuma and Chris Daemmrich, local VISIONS Resource Consultants, helped out at our booth with Jabari (all three pictured at our booth)
- John Maudlin represented VISIONS at SouthXSouthwest Education (SxSW EDU) in Austin, Texas, and got to connect with local Board Member Shannon Chapman and Consultant Ariana Gil
- Nikki Glass and Elika presented virtually at the 27th Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, “Restorative Practices Through an Anti-Racist, Cross-Cultural Lens”
Upcoming events
Caring for Ourselves and Community in Turbulent Times
A Global Connections Call with Euphrates Institute, led by Jabari Carmichael Brown and Dr. Jeanne Firth
May 7, 12-1:30 Eastern
Register below; free and all welcome
Learn how to skillfully manage change and transitions within ourselves, our organizations, and communities. How do we care for ourselves and one another during times of turbulence? This model of change integrates VISIONS' multicultural lens with foundational work by William Bridges.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Join VISIONS' Executive Director, Elika, as she presents at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace next week on the Return to Nuclear Testing? Reimagining Nuclear Futures panel. Registration link for joining the event virtually is below.
From the office
Please note that the VISIONS office will be closed on the following dates:
- Patriots Day (MA): Monday, April 21, 2025
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 26, 2025
- Summer Break & Juneteenth: Monday, June 16 - Friday, June 20, 2025
- Independence Day: Thursday, July 3 - Monday, July 7, 2025
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to reconnecting after these breaks.