Trauma-informed healing is critical to DEI work - introducing a new CCI team member

Last week Malaika, Danae and I were in Seattle to meet with a client and to do our first in-person facilitation with an org client since late February 2020.

I am loathe to say that in person is categorically better - our team was built as a remote team since before the pandemic and we have not found it to be a barrier to building trust and collaboration, although I recognize that is easier when you have a small team that has always worked remotely.

We have also found that, compared to our most in person client work before the pandemic, there are some real advantages to doing DEI workshops and coaching virtually. It can actually build more safety for those more impacted by systems of oppression - it can be less of a cost for BIPOC folks to be in virtual white dominated space than in person, and introverts tend to like it better too).

And yet… there is something very powerful about the embodied experience of being together in physical space. Conversation flows a little easier. There is no fumbling for the mute button. You can ready full body language. There is a shared physical experience, even if it’s just being in the same space.

Being together in person doesn’t by itself repair or undo harm, and in fact it can exacerbate it. There is a reason why physical separation can be de-escalating.

But when there is already trust, being together in person can add dimension and texture to relationships. And combined with active steps towards repair, it can be healing.

Plus it was beautiful in Seattle. We were lucky to have unusually clear skies and sunny weather when we were there, not to mention lots of fireplaces and views of the water.

It was pretty amazing.

And it’s got me thinking now about doing regular in person touch points with our clients and also with our team, especially now our team is growing.

Yes this trip to Seattle and the chance to reflect on our trajectory and work signifies a bit of a transition and growth moment for CCI, in an exciting way.

While we were in Seattle, and while we are still going through the interviewing process for an Administrative Coordinator (applications have now closed) the newest member of our team, LaVoya “V” Woods (ve/ver) started full time as an employee.

V’s role with CCI is to guide the evolution of our methodology and approach through the lens of trauma-informed therapeutic healing. V leads the team's exploration of innovative healing principles to transform and transmute individual as well as systemic trauma in order to help ourselves and our clients move towards ancestral healing and collective trauma liberation. You can read more about ver here.

We initially hired V to coach and hold space for us through this work, both individually and as a team, so I can speak to V’s strengths as a coach from personal experience.

This is also a very strategic hire and the creation of a very specific role with regards to trauma-informed individual as well as collective healing. We have had the need to consult with mental health specialists for a couple of years now and bringing this role in-house represents not just our belief but our experience of how critical it is for us to be able to bring this perspective to DEI work within organizations and companies, as well as for ourselves.

We are often told by our clients that talking to us is like therapy and we are very clear that we are NOT therapists, nor will V be functioning as a therapist either.

However, I do see DEI work as healing work, and I could see that in Seattle when we got to meet some of the people we've been working with in person for the first time, especially the Black and other folks of color.

It's a tiny drop in the bucket of change that is happening and needs to happen, but I got to see in person that our work does matter and it does make a difference - I got to see meaningful impact.

The most amazing thing about this work, at least for me, is that in healing myself, I get to heal others, and in healing others, I get to heal myself. Healing cannot take place in silos, it needs interconnectedness and interdependence.

CCI is in such a different place now than we were before the pandemic. It would not be possible or right to do this work alone, and it’s the magic of the team that makes it work. I’m so grateful for the brilliance of each of our team - Malaika, Danae, Karyn, Rita, Janice and now LaVoya - and that they continue to choose Co-Creating Inclusion as the vehicle for their brilliance.

Banner photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash

Trauma-informed healing is critical to DEI work - introducing a new CCI team member

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