Diversity Training

Diversity Training for Organizations

Gender and sexual diversity can be confusing. Businesses and other organizations that want to be more inclusive often don’t know where to start. How can we help LGBT people feel welcome? What language should we use? How can we avoid discrimination? What else do we need to know?

Moose Jaw Pride offers interactive workshops for various organizations who are wanting to help jump-start their goals of becoming more inclusive. These fun and engaging workshops are geared towards equipping beginners with the most important information they need about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

What We Offer

Moose Jaw Pride is happy to work with you to offer the information and support that you need to meet your goals. Our training sessions can last anywhere from 1 – 4 hours and can be completed all at once or over time. Typically, each module outlined below lasts about an hour.

Moose Jaw Pride currently offers training on:

1) Commonly used terms in the LGBT community and terms to avoid
2) Some of the common challenges and life experiences of LGBT people
3) Small changes that make a big difference for LGBT people
4) How to ensure that transgender & gender diverse people have access to washrooms and change rooms

What to Expect

Throughout this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to:

1) Work together with others to learn about the basics of the LGBT community
2) Ask questions about gender & sexual diversity in a comfortable and supportive environment
3) Practice using new terminology
4) Begin planning how your organization can become more inclusive

Moose Jaw Pride also offers participants a number of printed resources and certificates of completion.

How much does it Cost?

Providing educational opportunities about gender and sexual diversity is part of the core mandate of Moose Jaw Pride. As such, we are happy to work within an organization’s budget to offer these important workshops – sometimes even free of charge.

While we know that everyone would benefit from diversity training, we also know that our work has value. Our suggested rates below reflect our desire for the long-term viability of this course and our commitment to pay our presenters fairly for the time it takes to prepare and organize each presentation.

1 hour – $300
2 hours – $400
3 hours – $500
4 hours – $600

Organizations located outside of Moose Jaw may also want to consider the cost of travel, meals or accommodations (if necessary) when deciding their budget for a diversity training session.

Out of Town Presentations

The staff and board of Moose Jaw Pride know what it’s like to live in a place with few resources or supports for LGBT+ people. As such, we are committed to providing diversity training in smaller centres across the province. At this time, we are particularly interested in offering training to various organizations in: Swift Current, Weyburn and Estevan.

About Our Presenters

Laura Budd

Education Coordinator (Yorkton Area)

Laura Budd is an impassioned Human Rights advocate and ally who is driven to create a society where all people are celebrated and respected.  She has worked with students (from pre-K to University), educators, health care professionals, women’s shelters and service groups to offer diversity training on gender and sexual diversity which includes her own lived experiences. With the unique ability of speaking from her scars, not her wounds, Laura also does motivational speaking to dispel the myths and stigmas of mental health challenges and suicide.

Joe Wickenhauser

Executive Director (Moose Jaw)

Joe Wickenhauser is a passionate community organizer who has worked with schools, healthcare workers and community groups to provide diversity training on how to support LGBT+ people in an organizational setting. After completing his Master’s thesis on LGBT+ history in Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan, his work has focused on bringing communities together to support gender and sexual diversity in smaller centres. Joe regularly delivers presentations and workshops on LGBT+ issues and was nominated for a Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union in 2016.

Experience

Moose Jaw Pride has delivered numerous presentations to community groups and other organizations across the province, including:

Healthcare

Five Hills Health Region (Senior Leadership, HR)
FHHR Mental Health & Addiction Services (multiple sessions)
FHHR Public Health Nurses
Academic Family Medicine (Residents: Moose Jaw & Swift Current)
Cypress Health Region

Schools

Prairie South School Division (Senior Leadership)
South East Cornerstone School Division (Senior Leadership)
Peacock High School (Teachers)
Peacock, Riverview, Vanier, Assiniboia, Maverick High School, Swift Current Comprehensive, Ponteix School (Students)
SaskPolytech (Employees & Students)
Parkland College

Shelters & Group Homes

Southwest Crisis Centre
Moose Jaw Transition House
Provincial Association of Transition Houses
4 Directions Child and Family Services Stabilization and Assessment Centre

Civic / Other

Moose Jaw Police Service (Senior Leadership, front line staff)
Community Corrections – Custody, Supervision and Rehabilitation Services (Moose Jaw)
Five Hills Health Region (Various)
Weyburn HUB Meeting
Melville Millionaires Hockey Team
Southwest District for Culture, Recreation & Sport
City of Melville
Journey to Hope (Moose Jaw)
Water Security Agency (Moose Jaw)

About Moose Jaw Pride

Moose Jaw Pride is a registered non-profit corporation composed of a volunteer Board of Directors from Moose Jaw and across Saskatchewan. Our mission is to celebrate and support gender and sexually diverse people through the provision of fabulously inclusive community services and educational opportunities. Our vision is a thriving community for all gender and sexually diverse people.