Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging - The Evolution of Client Needs: UPDATED

As a professional corporate keynote speaker, my work continues to grow, and the demand to provide different topics have emerged. With an increased need to support inclusion and belonging for organizations and teams, organizations see DEIB programs and strategies as a way to support these needs. I have noticed that many clients begin the discovery conversation focused on having me provide LGBTQ+ speaking topics for their programs to support their employee resource groups (ERGs) or Business Resource Groups (BRGs). As the conversation evolves, it's become more common for clients to want to expand to a broader focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), in general.

Part of the reason for the shift is due to funding. If the client organization provides a workshop that's open to more people or more ERGs, they can combine funding for a larger event. With other clients, it seems that they decide to make this shift because, although the employee resource group is very committed to supporting LGBTQ+ employees and their allies, they feel their company isn't ready yet to be as specific in their DEI journey.

When this has happened, I have created new workshop designs. Examples include: "Psychological Safety and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" and "The Cost of Getting DEI Wrong at Work". These workshops are open to many more participants and have included audiences of 300 to 10,000 people. This has been very exciting for me to be able to reach a larger audience and have a bigger impact!

I am really enjoying mixing up some of the topics that I have been speaking on for close to a decade with new topics focused on a broader diversity, equity, an inclusion lens. In addition to my 20+ years experience in leadership development and coaching with diverse clients and organizations, last year I completed training through University of South Florida - Muma School of Business in their "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace" program. I found their content to be eye opening, excellent, and quite helpful when it has come to my more recent work focused on DEI.

I continue to provide workshops exclusively for LGBTQIA+ groups and their allies, which I plan to continue, while at the same time, I'm diversifying my offerings to better support my clients evolving needs.

If you are looking for a facilitator to support your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups or events, I provide workshops with clients and speak at global conferences year-round. Let's connect.

Sarah Scala provides a variety of LGBTQIA+ solutions, including DEIB consulting, to support your business strategy and evolving culture.