Selected Case Studies
Lightship – For this midsize company we developed a custom learning and development program for the entire staff. During our work together the staff-size doubled. We co-created a strategy via a monthly DEI discussion series and follow-on workshops to sustain conversation and skill-building around critical DEI topics with the goal of establishing a company culture where DEI remains a priority.
Patients for Affordable Drugs – This small team engaged in a 3-part workshop series to articulate the pillars of inclusion within the organization and to develop skills to effectively communicate across differences. Hyphens and Spaces introduced frameworks and scenarios to support practice in a psychologically safe way, to enable the group to address their internal dynamics with courage, confidence and empathy.
Brightspot Strategy – This growing small team professional services firm serving higher education clients in transforming student success and organizational effectiveness. To support internal growth, as well as to provide more comprehensive service to clients, Brightspot sought a learning program that will: Build internal organizational awareness around inclusion for staff members’ personal development. Increase capacity among staff members to be inclusive practitioners. Hyphens and Spaces led this small team in an intensive 12-hour custom learning and strategy process that empowered the team to carry a DEI mindset throughout their work.
The American Council of Learned Societies is a 100-year old institution that serves member societies, scholars, fellows, and universities around the country making their sphere of influence hundreds of thousands of people. This non-profit sought support to 1) increase their capacity for anti-racist and D&I work in order to improve services and 2) to position themselves as leaders in anti-racism and D&I in their field. Hyphens and Spaces initial analysis uncover the following challenges:
- The Senior Leadership committed to both DEI work and anti-racism work but having different visions of how to articulate the commitment.
- The team having a disparate understandings of the difference between DEI work anti-racism work, and lack of clarity on which should come first.
- General uncertainty about what needed to be done internal to build on strides they had taken and to apply feedback from external constituencies.
- The D&I taskforce managing several ideas about anti-racist actions but unsure about what to prioritize.
Final results in second column graphic.
