Consultation and Leadership Development
What Sets Us Apart
For over a decade, the Partnership for Inclusion Leadership has been a driver of success for our clients, consultants and employees within the Federal government. We embrace a holistic approach that begins with understanding client needs, working directly with cross-functional teams to establish baselines, goals and prioritize programs and activities.
We have experience addressing unique challenges for improving D&I strategy and operations in government environments. On-going, we support clients with assessments, data analyses, training and development and strategic planning and implementation. Our long-term engagement with clients has fostered trust and reliability resulting in work products that are transformative and sustainable.
Government Agencies With Customized Consultation and Leadership Training
General Accountability Office
Department of the Navy
Department of the Interior
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Justice
Office of Personnel Management
Bureau of the Census
Department of Energy
Department of Commerce
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
United States Secret Service
Department of Defense
National Institutes of Health Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Our Performance
Major Conferences, Symposia and Workshops
The Challenge
Federal agencies and departments were unfamiliar with diversity and inclusion priorities, roles and responsibilities and behavioral and technical competencies. Our team was selected to provide high-quality consultation services, based on empirical evidence, to support government in the quest to establish a new occupational series in fulfillment of legal mandates and agency policies.
The Solution
Our team was invited to partner with the Office of Personnel Management to provide the first government-wide three-day conference on diversity and inclusion. In capacity, responsibilities included introducing training focused on fulfilling President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13538 – Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce. This broad effort was supported and hosted by Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
The Results
Below are highlights of the broader results achieved by our engagement with the Office of Personnel Management
- 402 Federal employees attend the 3-day session
- Conference was executed within 11 months
- 76 Federal agencies were represented at the conference
- 63 conference tracks were offered to participants
- Recognized presenters and session facilitators represented highly visible corporate, non-profit, higher education and government organizations
- Established long-term relationships with Federal agencies and departments advancing new opportunities and collaborations
The Challenge
Many Federal agencies and departments need of competency-based training in the D&I space. The absence of identified competencies contribute to a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities, absence of agency policy and guidance, insufficient data collection and measurement, poor proficiency and apathy in planning and implementing D&I practice.
The Solution
Our team was invited to work closely with the Department of Energy to offer a one-day session on unconscious bias for 23 Chief Diversity Officers across the Federal government. Also, our team was invited by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to provide a workshop on leadership competencies to diversity officers and practitioners in the intelligence community.
The Results
In collaboration with the United States Secret Service, our team offered a one-day session on the relevance of Strategic Communications on advancing D&I initiatives. The General Accountability Office invited our team to provide a one-day session on strategic leadership, strategic communication, business acumen, change management and building coalitions and their importance in developing effective D&I strategy and practice.
Strategic Planning and Strategic Implementation
The Challenge
D&I strategic planning and implementation in the Federal government is often muddled with compliance and regulatory requirements. There is an urgency for agencies to understand D&I strategy and its place in planning and implementing structures and behaviors. Typically, there is little to no formal planning for D&I and consequently, Federal agencies tend to drift in their D&I priorities and performance.
The Solution
Our team was invited to partner with NASA to support their work in developing a D&I strategic framework for agency headquarters and centers. We focused attention on identifying six principles and associated goals and objectives in alignment with agency mission. The framework provides NASA employees with model strategies and activities determined as effective in meeting D&I goals. This work also included the establishment of an agency-wide D&I Partners Group (executive leaders) and a ground swelling of employee resource groups. NASA’s D&I Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan is empirically-evidenced to achieve D&I goals and priorities, which ultimately has contributed to higher levels of performance and workplace satisfaction and designation of “employer of choice.”
Assessment, Strategy and Measurement
The Challenge
For any new occupational series, the need to build capacity and competency is required. D&I and its role in the Federal government is no exception. The emphasis on D&I, across all industries, has been on training at the expense of building capabilities and competency. To mature D&I professionals, there must exist a model for competency-based learning and well-defined systems of classifications and employee progression.
The Solution
Our team was selected to partner with the Department of Defense to build D&I capacity and competency, total force. Central to this work is the assessment of existing trends, training, roles and responsibilities and policies and instruction. Along with senior leaders, we are developing a D&I competency model and proficiency levels that define knowledge, skills and abilities for the current and future D&I workforce.
The Results
We are assessing and recommending education and training programs to support and define the quality, education and experience of D&I professionals. Vital to building capacity and competency is our engagement with DoD schoolhouses and other organizations capable of training DoD civilians and military. On-going and consistent measurement of the D&I competency model is essential for improving and re-defining D&I practice within DoD.
Organizational Change and Transformation
The Challenge
The impact of inclusive behaviors in the workplace is often understated. In the D&I space, strategy and practice focused on behavioral change is relatively unpopular. However, the omission of recognizing how inclusive behaviors can change organizational culture deflates the efforts of D&I practices and initiatives. To cast a wider net, D&I efforts must go beyond traditional approaches grounded in demographic characteristics and capture other aspects of D&I such as cognition and location.
The Solution
Our team was selected to deliver the parent contract for the National Institutes of Health Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). In collaboration with NHLBI, our work lays an intermediate foundation for D&I. We focus our attention on inclusive behaviors. Our NHLBI D&I Strategic Implementation Plan guides the achievement of creating a diverse workforce, nurturing and keeping talent and cultivating a climate of inclusion. Through the establishment and implementation of a D&I council, champions, employee resource groups, peer mentoring, simulation training and coaching, D&I can be leveraged to transform organizational culture. As elements of inclusive behaviors, we ground our trainings and consultation in the concepts of fairness, empathy, supportive, cooperation and openness.
