The Human Resources department of a popular resort located in the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Grace Bay Resorts, identified ongoing cultural conflicts amongst staff and pushback to managerial intervention. The Carter Development Group was hired to conduct a three-full day leadership development, cultural sensitivity, and conflict resolution training for 75 managers and executives. The training included role playing, facilitative dialogue, and a leadership curriculum taken from the book Emerging as the Right Person in the Right Place at the Right Time: Leadership in the 21st Century Using The Ellison Model by Dr. Adrian N. Carter. The participants indicated this training was the most useful and engaging training they had yet to engage it. Human Resources indicated the training had dramatic results in shaping the interaction between employees and management.
The Carter Development Group conducted multiple Facilitative Dialogue workshops offered University-wide for students, faculty, and staff on issues of xenophobia and racism. The election of Donald Trump ignited a significant increase in hate crimes against people of Muslim and Mexican descent. The University hosted a series of dialogues to combat the xenophobia and racial discrimination being experienced by the student population.
These facilitative dialogues continued throughout the 2019 and 2020 hate crimes against Asian-Americans during the Covid-19 Pandemic. CDG also participated in numerous racial equity trainings for faculty and staff through conferences and roundtable events on social justice at Nova Southeastern University.
Broward County Public Schools is the sixth largest school district in the United Sates with more than 260,000 students. The school District’s previous assessment indicated equity disparities across faculty, administrative leadership, and student discipline. In working with the District, as an Equity Liaison, the following work was done:
A comprehensive review of student demographics
A review of the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports for student discipline to test for trends in racial disparity
A strategic plan of DEI programs and services to increase the racial equity intelligence of students and faculty.
Coordinated events such as facilitative dialogues for teachers and students using the Courageous Conversations About Race framework by Glenn Singleton.
Developed an equity and inclusion curriculum for students to become ambassadors to their peers on issues of race and equity.
Implementation of days of recognition to widen the scope of education and interaction with the students, faculty, and staff.
Served as an executive coach to school leaders, working 1:1 to develop their leadership acumen.
Since 1964, when the American Library Association began tracking the races of licensed librarians nationwide, the needle has moved from 84% white, to 87% white, and back again. The result of this inequity in public libraries is that most employees who are people of color do not hold the requisite Masters degree to qualify for the higher paying Librarian positions. The leadership of the Brookline Public Library desired to address these concerns by aiming to increase diversity amongst its staff and also increase minority and LGBTQ engagement from the community. They also desired to increase the racial intelligence of its staff and governing boards. The Carter Development Group conducted the following work:
Worked with the inclusive resource group to assess current DEI initiatives.
Led an equity audit
Developed a strategic plan for strengthening community partnerships
Provided professional development training using our proprietary equity and inclusion curriculum
Developed strategies for increasing participation from minority groups
The Carter Development Group assessed non-profit benchmark practices for the Arbitration Association Foundation- International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR), a prominent non-profit entity dispersing millions of dollars in grant funding. The deliverables included a research-based strategy report on methods to enhance their benchmark/evaluation practices both internally and for grant recipients. The proposal also identified best practices for hiring personnel.
The process included a best practices study, including interviewing contacts from some of the nation’s top foundations and a summary/literature review. Tools used for the strategic plan included a cost-benefit analysis, a SWOT analysis, and a number of team meetings with the evaluation department of several clients to understand their processes and bottlenecks. The challenges included contacting non-profit leaders and deciding the best approach when considering the unique challenges for the AAA-ICDR.
The final proposal was used to develop new benchmarking practices amongst grant recipients. The AAA-ICDR also reorganized their staff roles and responsibilities and added additional personnel to the department.
The Carter Development Group conducted an equity textbook analysis of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt English-Language Arts Collections textbook. The study, titled Strangers in the Classroom: A Study of Black Males, Curriculum Bias, and Protracted Identity Conflict in Public Schools, was part of an instrumental case study research that examined Black male students as strangers in Title 1 middle school classrooms due to the subtleties of cultural domination and racial bias in the English Language Arts curriculum.
This study examined the identity and lived experiences of Black males in Title 1 middle schools as reflected through the English Language Arts curriculum and interrogated the cursory viewpoints of school teachers and administrators when it comes to the academic performance and identity development of Black males. The Protracted Identity Conflict Concept/Diagram was developed as a framework to describe and understand the phenomenon of the Black male experience in a racialized educational construct in Title 1 middle schools.
The project has implications beyond the education system. The experiences of marginalized groups within the workplace and the overall human experience reflects great disparity, oppression, and scarcity.
The PACE initiative was envisioned by the Honorable Lillian Boyce, Minister of Social Development who recognized the need for the Nation to adopt a systematic approach to empowering the citizens of the Turks and Caicos Islands. This would require programming intended to improve the quality of life outcomes using a multifaceted approach including executive training, management training, and community development training. These training programs allow PACE to assist in creating viable and economically vibrant communities base on a programming implementation plan involving local and international inputs.
The Carter Development Group worked alongside ICB Productions, Inc to provide professional development training on conflict resolution and resource distribution.
