Finding Room For Diversity Sessions Develop Better Understanding Of Cultures

The meetings lasted all day - once a month, six months in a row.

Topics included diversity, cultural values and personal beliefs.

The discussions were long and intense - often frank, sometimes painful.

But the participants kept coming back.

About 45 people came to Spokane Community College each month for a project called “Understanding Multicultural Relations in the Workplace.” Their goals included better communication, participants said, as well as finding ways to improve job opportunities for minorities.

The meetings came to an end Thursday, with a capstone event that included a job fair and multicultural dinner.

“It was very enlightening,” said Pat Erickson, a participant and SCC’s associate dean of financial aid. “It has strengthened my awareness of what people of color go through.”

The project was sponsored by three organizations: the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, Community Colleges of Spokane, and the Florence R. Kluckhohn Center, a nonprofit organization in Bellingham that specializes in “values-based” research and training.

Diversity training alone wasn’t working, said Judith Mason, the Chamber’s community development director.

Discrimination still prevented people of color from receiving the same job opportunities as whites, she said.

So the organizations tried a different approach.

The Chamber invited 1,000 people to take part in a program that would require them to learn about and discuss their own values. About 80 responded and 45 were selected.

The series of meetings brought a variety of people together - from unemployed individuals to presidents and CEOs of local businesses.

“As individuals and groups, we make our decisions based on our belief system,” said Mason, who started planning the program last fall.

In each session, participants talked in small groups, responded to surveys and listened to experts on race and cultural identity. People shared their own beliefs and compared them with those of people from other cultures.

There’s often a lot of misunderstanding because people attach different values to their actions, facilitator Elisabeth Osgood said during the January session.

“This is very hard work,” Mason said. “It’s difficult for people to be open-minded. They feel vulnerable. I was impressed with people’s commitment to be honest and open.”

Organizers raised about $50,000 to make the project possible, Mason said. The Chamber and Community Colleges of Spokane came up with the idea last year and collaborated with the Kluckhohn Center, which has facilitated cross-cultural conversations for the University of Washington, the Lummi Tribe and other groups and companies all over the Northwest.

The project was a learning experience, said participant Debbie Takami. As a person of color, it’s easy to assume you know it all, she said. But that’s not true.

“We’re all good friends,” said Takami, who works for Boeing. “Many of us share the same ideas. It’s nice to know that people have the same ideas as most minorities.”

For Gloria Ybarra, the program was a good way to network. “It was nice to walk into a room and not feel so out of place,” she said. “There were so many people of color. The perspectives were wonderful.”

Participants also designed “concrete action steps” to help improve diversity in the work force. These included a CEO leadership program and asking businesses to adopt a statement promoting racial equity.

It’s too soon to measure the project’s outcome, Mason said. Participants want to continue meeting informally and organizers hope to train them to be facilitators for future projects.

Those who took part in “Understanding Multicultural Relations in the Workplace” were congratulated by family members and community leaders who attended the Thursday event. More than 150 people came to hear the results of the project, as well as listen to guest speakers.

“This program is central to what the community needs to become,” said the Chamber’s Rich Hadley.