Braven Hosts DEI Training for Leadership Coaches with support from employer partner Northern Trust

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At Braven, one of our core values is “Live Your Legacy,” in which we help pave the path for others, because others paved the way for us. In all that we do, we try to create transparent and equitable environments, both internally and externally.

Living into this core value, Braven hosted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training attended by 94 Leadership Coaches (LCs), thanks to the generous support from Northern Trust. Leadership Coaches, or volunteer professionals from local employers, play an instrumental role during the Braven Accelerator Course across all regions, helping to facilitate and lead cohorts of 5-8 Fellows through weekly Learning Labs, sharing real-world application and feedback.

We’ve implemented this training to ensure Braven Leadership Coaches are equipped to approach relationships with Fellows with an understanding of identity, systemic oppression, and intersectionality, given the majority of our Fellows identify as people of color and as those coming from low-income and underrepresented backgrounds. Additionally, we wanted them to reflect and understand how their own life experiences (or the lack of certain experiences) show up in their roles as LCs. Another training will be held in May and will empower LCs to advocate for change in their workplaces to make them more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

Overall, 96% of participants found the training to be “excellent” or “good,” and 100% agreed that they can now explain what DEI means and why and how DEI is central to the Braven Accelerator.

Shaunte Harris, a first-time Leadership Coach in Atlanta, shared that the training was well worth her time. She appreciated “the honesty within the DEI training and not staying away or minimizing the topics” and says, “The DEI training with Braven is the best I’ve attended!”

Another Leadership Coach Taylor Roper was “grateful and impressed by the thoroughness, intention, care, honesty, and self-reflection of these trainings.” “I’ve never seen anything like this and am so glad I am able to participate and contribute,” she shared.

Moving forward, this DEI training will remain an integral part of the Braven Leadership Coach experience. Together with our Leadership Coaches, and as a Braven community, we will live out the “Live Your Legacy” core value and help pave the way for the next generation of leaders.

In addition to Northern Trust’s sponsorship of this event, the organization has been very involved in helping to advance Braven’s mission since 2018. Northern Trust Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Kelly Mannard sits on Braven’s board, and 50+ other team members have volunteered their time as Mock Interviewers and participated in Treks to help Braven Fellows succeed in their career journeys. What’s more, the company was Braven-Chicago’s inaugural sponsor of the Capstone Challenge, posing a challenge for a class of Fellows to solve through a design-thinking pitch competition.