What We Do

Diversity Talks provides youth-led professional development and holistic assessments that equip your organization to confront oppression.

Youth-Led Professional Development

Our youth-led professional development is grounded in research and led by highly trained youth facilitators. Expect honest conversations, vulnerable reflection, and strategies for challenging oppression.

Through the youth-led professional development, our goal is to guide adult participants through the process of identifying and confronting systems of oppression by providing the space and resources to reflect and uncover bias

School/District Partnerships

Over a year of partnership, we provide an intensive fellowship experience for your youth leaders, deep learning for your staff and educators, and analysis that equips you to further the cultural competence of your educational community.

 

Liberation Leader Fellowship

This intensive year-long fellowship provides youth from your school district with the platform and skills to spark transformative conversations with adults. Youth go through an intensive summer training program with peers from other communities, then continue to receive ongoing training and personalized support to further their leadership development.

Learn More
 

Youth-Led Professional Development Series

In the fall, youth selected from your district to participate in the Liberation Leader Fellowship will facilitate the Youth-Led Professional Development Series for a cohort of up to 30 of your staff. These monthly workshops deepen the capacity of educators and staff to confront oppression at the individual and systemic levels.

Learn More

Youth Keynotes & Panels

Our youth speakers deliver powerful keynote speeches and give refreshingly authentic answers to audience questions, reminding audiences of the unique role that young people have always played in catalyzing social change.

Assessments & Reports

  • Individual Cultural Competence Assessments

    Diversity Talks’ PERM Framework and Assessment is a first-of-its-kind methodology for measuring cultural competence and is geared towards improving academic and non-academic outcomes for Black and Latinx students by providing insight into four areas: power, empathy, relationships, and mindset.

  • Community Equity Assessment

    This research captures the experiences and attitudes of the youth, staff, and families of your school or district in order to provide a detailed picture of existing barriers and opportunities to create a more culturally competent and equitable learning environment.

Request More Information

“I think having the chance to be taught and led by students is always so powerful and I need to remember this often so I can create the same type of environment in my classroom.”

— Educator Participant

Our Impact

Diversity Talks has evolved into a national entity that delivers youth-led services to more than 70 organizations across the country, providing a unique platform for more than 5,000 participants to acknowledge and address their contributions to injustice.

 

  • "Best professional development in my 17 years of teaching. I have to say, I signed up because I was not educated on the topics covered. Am I glad I did. Very eye opening. I cannot wait for the next one. Very emotional. A whole new perspective. "

  • "I think having the chance to be taught and led by students is always so powerful, and I need to remember this often so I can create the same type of environment in my classroom."

  • Between July 2020 and December 2021, we delivered anti-racism training to more than 2,700 participants. An estimated 65% said the training changed their views on racism in the US, while 82% reported an intention to shift their future behavior as a result of attending the workshops.

    Download Our Anti-Racism Training Report

  • Because youth leadership is one of our core values, we regularly assess the impact we are having on our youth facilitators, both short and long term. Youth leaders are central to our mission and it is essential that we collect their feedback, evaluate our effectiveness, and make decisions based on the data we find.

    Download Our Youth Impact Report

  • Routed (pseudonym) is a local branch of a larger network of educational non-profit organizations that work with schools to support youth from vulnerable and underrepresented backgrounds. Members of Routed serve different roles within the organization, from teachers and district staff, to volunteers, and other non-profit roles.

    Download Our Spring 2021 Impact Report