Description:
This training module is part of the Coalition’s Fundamentals of Advocacy Training and counts toward the foundational training required of all direct-service staff employed within Nebraska’s network of sexual and domestic violence victim-service programs. This module explores intersectionality, privilege, and institutional inequities and their impact on sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and advocacy.

Objectives:
• To become aware of our biases and gaps that prevent everyone from receiving equitable services and support.
• To increase awareness of our personal identities and how they impact the work every day.
• To provide examples of how bias appears in direct service.
• To understand intersectionality, privilege, and institutional inequities and their impact on sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and advocacy.

Meet the Trainers form Inclusive Communities:

Veronica Switzer (she/they) joined the Inclusive Communities team as the Programs Manager in September 2022. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and African-American Studies. Veronica has over 15 years of experience in not-for-profit organizations. She first began her work with Inclusive Communities bringing diversity and equity education to her after-school program in Omaha Public Schools. In her previous organization, she along with another colleague, founded the agency's first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force. Veronica is a trained Askable Adults Matter facilitator through the Women's Fund and teaches adults who work with young people on best practices in supporting a young person's decision-making with regards to their sexual and reproductive health. She is a birth doula/assistant and celebrates the space she holds for parents and birthing people as they welcome a new person into the world. She deeply values guides as people transition through major life experience. Veronica is the mother of two incredible young children who daily teach her about patience and listening. She loves to garden and make plant medicine. She is also a survivor and knows personally the need for restorative spaces on the road to healing.

Madi Barker (she/her) has been a Program Partner with Inclusive Communities for one year now, where she facilitates workshops and conversations surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion to various businesses, companies, and organizations. In addition to facilitation, Madi supports the high school leadership camp program, IncluCity, by providing a safe and brave space for students to express themselves authentically and learn more about the world around them. She is passionate about making the community a more inclusive and just place, particularly through the means of storytelling and creativity. She received her Bachelor's of Social Work from Creighton University in May 2023, and enjoys the perspective her educational background provides her in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Who can attend?
This module is open to staff and volunteers from Network of Programs and Tribal sexual and domestic violence programs.