Dismantling Oppression. Cultivating Justice. Nurturing Wellbeing.
Our Approach
Justice Leaders Collaborative believes it is our human responsibility to work toward social justice—the dismantling of systems of privilege and oppression—in all areas of our life. The peacock feather in our logo represents the “awakening” of a social justice consciousness, which is the first step of transformation in the creation of a more just society. Our goal is to do our part to contribute to a world free of injustice and committed to collective liberation.
We take an intersectional approach to our work because it is our deep belief that “all oppression is connected.” It simply is not possible to create a world free of racism without also attending to how racism is connected to classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and all other -isms. As Audre Lorde wrote, “there is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.”
“There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.”
-Audre Lorde
We believe willingness is a prerequisite for change. We cannot mandate that people care about equity, diversity, inclusion or social justice. Our offerings are specifically designed for passionate people curious about how to live their values more fully.
Our approach is rooted in self-reflection, deep relationships, knowledge building, and action. We ground our offerings in “Guidelines for Dialogue” which seek to create a brave space for truth-telling. While we know that guilt and shame can be a part of the process of people coming to new awakenings, we do not believe people change by being shamed, nor do we believe change can be sustained without community and accountability.
We offer courses for groups of 20-40 people that allow participants to share with one another in pairs, small groups, and large groups. It is our hope that cohort participants build bonds that last beyond our time together because we know that transforming ourselves, our workplaces, and our society is life-long, ongoing, never-ending work that requires us to find joy, care, and community to sustain ourselves!
Learn more about our team and why we are so passionate about this work.
Lean more about our approach in our blog series “Where Diversity Training Goes Wrong”
Our Facilitation Style
Our sessions are co-facilitated by diverse teams along lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, and other identities because we know that the message and the messenger matter when it comes to social justice.
Some people with privileged identities struggle to connect with those who have marginalized identities, while others are able to process information better when it comes from those who have experienced oppression first-hand. We also find that people with marginalized identities appreciate having a facilitator with shared identities. Diverse co-facilitation teams give participants the best chance of connecting with at least one of us, which can be the difference between getting stuck in defensiveness and personal transformation.
(For more about the importance of diverse co-facilitation teams see, Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom by our team member Shayla Griffin, Donna Kaplowitz and Sheri Seyka).
We Believe
it is our human responsibility to work toward social justice, equity, diversity & inclusion in all areas of our life;
our ability to live into this responsibility starts with interrupting the conscious and unconscious (implicit) biases we hold about race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and other social identities;
in intersectionality, because all oppression is connected;
understanding privilege, oppression, and change at the four levels—individual, interpersonal, institutional and cultural;
in critical thinking and self-reflection;
in interrupting the distraction of false equivalence;
in using guidelines of dialogue to support the work of justice;
training is not an outcome in itself, but rather lays the foundation necessary to take action for justice;
social justice is life-long, ongoing, never-ending work and that we must find joy, care, and community to sustain ourselves!
Our Trainings Always Include
Co-facilitation teams (across race in sessions where People of Color and white people will be learning together)
Guidelines for community learning and dialogue that seek to create a “brave” space for truth-telling
A four-levels framework that investigates privilege and oppression at the individual, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels
An intersectional consciousness
Relationship and community building
Multiple learning approaches that include small and large group discussion, structured exercises, readings, videos, podcasts, reflective journaling, and homework assignments
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A message in the time of Covid-19
Because we are committed to responding to the global coronavirus pandemic in ways that keep our participants safe, we are only offering online courses at this time. While online learning cannot duplicate an in-person experience, JLC has worked hard to ensure our courses continue to provide opportunities for community building and engagement.
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