I run Ally Skills Workshops for groups of people interested in learning how to step up and use their societal advantages for good. The workshop is ideal for folks who already understand their own position with regard to privilege but want to learn how to use that privilege to end oppression and make society more equitable. I donate a significant portion of the income from these workshops, mostly to sex worker mutual aid funds and to transition fundraisers.

My workshops are based off the Ada Initiative’s model and incorporate some of its Creative Commons-licensed materials, as well as materials by Val Aurora and additional materials that I have developed.

Testimonials:

“My ally workshop experience with Kendra was like a firmware update for my hippocampus. I will feel much easier connecting with folks outside my familiar network now.”

“Overall I think this was the most welcoming and engaging workshop i have ever attended. Kendra made it easy to connect with nearly everyone in the whole group (30 or so people) but breaking into groups and letting everyone be heard. I was so impressed by the way they organized and facilitated the evening. It’s also challenging and often uncomfortable subject matter so it was even more impressive that everyone felt comfortable enough to open up, listen to one another and share ideas. I personally learned a lot and Kendra tailored the workshop perfectly to empower everyone in our organization to better handle uncomfortable situations like ones that involved sexist and transphobic behavior. I hope we can have them back again!”

“A friendly, open atmosphere to discuss and think about complex issues. Often in real life situations, it’s hard to know exactly how one should react to certain objectionable behaviors, and discussing good responses in a controlled [] setting helps to ensure our success out in the real world.”

More about Workshops:
My primary ally skills workshop aims at developing ally skills within a particular context, like a workplace or academic institution. This workshop covers using correct terminology, reducing microaggessions, and “in the moment” responses. Although I aim to give participants starting points for discussions of race, gender, and disability, as well as the intersections between those axes, the ASW is not a substitute for more specialized training.

A current set of slides for this workshop is available here (ppt) or here (pdf).

The broader intervention skills workshop teaches three different intervention styles with different goals. Participants practice basic ally responses, which aim primarily to set norms about acceptable behavior; bystander intervention strategies (based on Hollaback’s training), which aim to intervene to assist targets of harassment directly; and strategies for talking to defensive people about hard topics, which aim to change minds. The broader intervention skills workshop does not contain a detailed discussion of terminology, due to time. Please contact me directly if you would like to see a sample deck for this workshop type.

Hosting a Workshop:

I run these workshops for all sorts of organizations - from major universities to small community non-profits. My fees are sliding scale based on the type of host, number of participants, and length. If you’re interested, contact me via email (kendra dot serra at gmail dot com) and we can talk about what you’re looking for, rates, and timing. For organizations that are interested in running the workshop for their members, I usually customize the scenarios, so don’t be surprised if your workshop looks different than the ones linked above. If you’d like to talk to someone at an organization where I’ve ran a workshop to hear a participant viewpoint, let me know and I’ll connect you.