Supporting individuals and institutions to live their values.
Hi, I’m Jess!
I am committed to our collective liberation from systems of oppression built on race, gender, ability, and all other facets of identity. Inspiring and guiding others to deeply embody their stated values is my particular passion. I live this out in my daily life and as a racial equity consultant.
My approach is grounded in respect for ourselves, each other, and our world.
Judgement-free zone
Actionable strategies, tangible impact
Organized, thoughtful, and seamless service
How we can work together:
Organizational Assessment & Equity Audit
To build an effective equity strategy or to set goals around diversity, equity, and inclusion, you must understand your starting point. Engaging an external consultant is a smart and effective way to truly get a sense of your organization’s strengths, challenges, and areas of opportunity when it comes to equity and belonging.
-
I guide organizations through an internal Organizational Assessment, using surveys, focus groups, or interviews, hearing directly from team members and other key stakeholders.
In an Equity Audit, I analyze key realms of the organization (e.g. policies, operational practices, organizational structure, decision-making processes, community partnerships, programmatic approaches and content) through a lens of equity and power. The underlying aim of this analysis is to surface inequities and the practices that may be driving them.
Using quantitative and qualitative analytic methods, I synthesize the results of the assessment and/or audit into a clear Findings Report with accompanying Recommendations for how to realize aspirations of equity and belonging.
Workshops
My interactive workshops ground your team in shared understanding of key concepts, provide evidence-based strategies to apply in your day-to-day work, and deepen connection with one another, as you release old patterns that prevent belonging and move toward a more equitable workplace culture.
All of my workshops are tailored to the needs of the organization. Contact me for more information and additional topics.
Common topics include:
Promoting Belonging in the Workplace
Overcoming Racial Anxiety to Build Authentic Cross-Racial Relationships
Accountable Leadership: Navigating Conflict and Giving Effective Feedback
Next Steps in an Anti-Racist Journey: Moving from Understanding to Action
Best Practices to Overcome Bias in Hiring
Coaching
With kindness, care, and a commitment to accountability, I help my clients people to show up authentically and mindfully, particularly as they navigate issues of equity within their organizations or communities. My gentle approach emphasizes humility and growth, not blame or shame.
-
Coaching can be useful for processing difficult interpersonal dynamics, navigating key transitions, or on an on-going basis to build literacy around identity and equity.
As a white person, I coach other white people, informed by my professional knowledge and personal lived experience. I weave my understanding of key concepts, such as racial anxiety, racial identity development, and dominant culture, into a supportive coaching practice that is grounded in strategic solutions, while holding space for the necessary processing of challenging emotions, fears, and anxieties.
My coaching is open to all, but may be particularly useful for white leadership and white people who are implementing equity work within their organization.
More about me
My vision is a world free from systems of oppression and rooted in community care.
My mission is to build literacy and promote action among those who are committed to racial equity in their community but are unsure about next steps.
As a white person, my specific purpose is to mobilize white people in the collective process of unlearning racism and moving toward liberation for all people.
I aim to live a life rooted in my values of humility, curiosity, mutual support, honesty, and sustainability. Inspiring and guiding others to deeply embody their stated values is my particular passion.
Since 2015, I have partnered with organizations across a range of fields, including healthcare, education, the criminal legal system, philanthropy, tech, and media, with the the goal of supporting them to live out their values of equity and belonging. In my approach, I meld social science research with a somatics framework to engage our brains and our bodies in the work.
I hold an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Duke University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University. I am trained as a CircleKeeper through The Restorative Center and am a student of generative somatics. Born and raised in Los Angeles, I currently live with my partner and dog in Durham, NC.
Collaborators
Dr. Sandra Chapman
Dr. Chap is the Founder of Chap Equity, an organization rooted in community, resilience, and hope. Her passion is to encourage others to become more involved in developing schools, communities and organizations and that are culturally competent and able to address the equity needs of diverse members.
Find out more about Dr. Chap and her work at www.chapequity.com
Advancing Health Equity
AHE’s primary mission is to engage with healthcare organizations to dismantle racism in healthcare with the goal of mobilizing for health equity and eradicating racial health inequities. We believe that every healthcare organization should be committed to closing the gap in racialized health outcomes.
Founded by Dr. Uché Blackstock. Find out more at www.advancinghealthequity.com
Health Justice
Health Justice helps healthcare & public health organizations center anti-racism & equity in the workplace & reduce health inequities in the communities they serve. Health Justice leads with racial equity and uses an intersectional approach that recognizes the way that other systems of oppression such as sexism, homophobia and transphobia also contribute to health and social inequities.
Founded by Dr. Oni Blackstock. Find out more at www.healthjustice.co
Get in touch
Interested in working together? Please fill out this form.
Forms not your thing? Feel free to reach out to me directly: jessmacfarlaneconsulting@gmail.com