Why I Choose Not To deliver Anti-Racism Training
“Can you come in next week? We’ve had some incidents and need anti-racism training ASAP.”
I get this email more often than you’d think. And I get it — when something happens, leaders want to act fast. Training feels like the most immediate way to show you’re taking it seriously.
But here’s the thing I’ve learned after years of building inclusive workplaces: that moment you can finally see — the comment that went too far, the pattern of who gets promoted, the email that made everyone uncomfortable — that’s just what’s visible above the surface.
The real work is what’s underneath.
Why I Could, But DOn’t
Let me be clear: I absolutely have the expertise to deliver anti-racism training. I’ve spent years mastering privilege dynamics, bias interruption, and systemic change. I help executives understand power structures, identify barriers, and build cultures of genuine belonging. Race is woven throughout all of this work.
So yes, I could deliver anti-racism training.
But I don’t.
Anti-racism training is its own specialized discipline. It’s not just “diversity work with a race focus.” It’s an intensive process that deals directly with racial trauma, historical wounds, and deeply embedded resistance. It requires facilitators who’ve made anti-racism their life’s work — not one strand of a broader practice.
I’ve seen organizations rush into this kind of training without understanding what they’re signing up for. Without the right conditions, it can turn into performance. Worse, it can retraumatize the very people it’s meant to support. That’s not a risk I’m willing to take with my clients or their employees.
The Personal Piece
I’m also still doing my own personal work.
As a biracial woman married to a white police officer, I live in complexity every single day. Some conversations at our dinner table aren’t easy. Some perspectives don’t align. That’s real life — messy, nuanced, human.
This lived experience makes me a stronger consultant. It keeps me grounded in the reality that inclusion isn’t theoretical — it’s personal. But it also gives me the humility to recognize when a situation calls for someone whose entire professional focus is dedicated to anti-racism.
That’s not a limitation. That’s what good boundaries look like. Strong consultants know when to lead from the front and when to step back and bring in the right partners.
If You’re Going To Do It, Do It Right
When anti-racism training is the right move for your organization, treat it like the high-stakes intervention it is:
Vet your facilitator. Don’t hire based on buzzwords. Ask about their approach, their track record, and how they’ll hold leadership (and themselves) accountable when things get uncomfortable.
Check your readiness. Are your leaders truly prepared to be challenged? Have you built psychological safety for your people? If not, that’s where you start.
Plan for what comes after. Training without systemic change is surface-level. If the deeper systems stay the same, so will the outcomes.
And most importantly — don’t make training your first move. Start with the foundation work:
Examining leadership behaviours you’ve been overlooking.
Creating safe channels for people to speak up.
Changing systems that quietly perpetuate inequity.
Sometimes it’s easier to book a training session than to examine what’s really broken in your culture. I understand that. But my job as your consultant is to help you build the conditions where any equity initiative — including anti-racism training — will actually create lasting change.
That means starting with honest assessment, addressing root causes, and building leadership capacity to sustain transformation.
I don’t avoid anti-racism training because I lack expertise. I avoid it because I respect what it requires — and because my strength lies in creating the foundation where it can truly succeed.
You can’t train your way out of problems you’re not willing to acknowledge. But you can build your way toward a culture where facing these issues becomes part of how you operate.
