Adult Programs

Take me to information about JCA’s Youth and Community programs.

In our work to build communities where every person is valued, every voice is heard and everyone has a fair chance to succeed, we reach hundreds of youth and adults each year through our programming. We believe that we must be engaged in self-examination and commit ourselves to learning more about others in order to build respect and understanding. Each of our programs is designed to empower youth and adults leaders with both the will and the skills to create a more inclusive community. Adult programs include:

Ourtown Institute for Inclusive Leadership- Ourtown trains leaders who recognize our growing diversity as an opportunity and want to be effective in leveraging our diversity to reap the benefits of an inclusive community where all voices are heard and all people are respected.  Ourtown is interactive and allows individuals to build the skills necessary to promote effective communication, positive participants increase their ability to talk, listen and understand more effectively, and to act across intergroup barriers.  Scheduled for Wednesday, February 8 - Friday, February 10 at the Red Apple Inn, Heber Springs, Arkansas.  Click here to apply.

Community Forums—JCA Plowshares “Community Conflict Transformation” Workshops - Community Conflict Transformation (CCT) training creates a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural network of skilled community and city leaders to work proactively to build constructive relationships among all citizens.

Building Inclusive Communities – JCA partners with companies and organizations, small or large, to develop customized training programs designed specifically to make their workplace practices and environment more inclusive.

With Arkansas’ rapidly changing demographics, companies that want to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining the best employees from all ethnic groups must prepare themselves to embrace diversity and to accept differences in values, beliefs, and work styles. Diverse teams that work well together have proven that they can be more productive than when “everyone thinks alike.” Diverse teams come up with creative ideas to increase productivity and boost morale.

Some of the basic tenets of Corporate Inclusion are:

• Leveraging the advantages of a diverse workforce to give the company a competitive advantage both in recruiting employees and in reaching new markets.
• Developing the employee to meet his or her personal career aspirations.
• Maximizing resources and getting every employee engaged in business success.
• Building an Inclusive Culture to support these changes.

Because each organization is unique, JCA begins with an assessment of needs and then designs a program to meet identified objectives. Suggested Training objectives could include:

• Meaning of diversity and inclusion
• Value of an inclusive environment
• Dynamics of power and privilege relative to bias, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination
• Stereotypes—how we learn them and how they affect behavior
• The impact of negative and positive treatment on individuals
• Responsible leadership surrounding issues of diversity
• Personal responsibility for creating an inclusive culture
• Meaning and dynamics of culture
• Cultural diversity competency skills

OTHER PROGRAMS

Other adult programs include Shared Decisions, Diversity & Inclusion Training in the Workplace, and Straight Talk Panels.

Shared Decisions - Cultural diversity training for healthcare professionals and consumers to address the well-documented disparities in healthcare outcomes for minorities. These workshops bring providers and consumers together and result in action planning to reduce healthcare disparities.

Diversity & Inclusion Training in the Workplace - Specific diversity and inclusion training for all types of businesses and organizations. Listed below are organizations which have benefited from JCA’s Diversity and Inclusion Training in the Workplace workshops over the past few years:

• Entergy Arkansas
• The ACLU board of directors
• Baptist Health
• St. Vincent Health System
• Leadership Pine Bluff
• Philander Smith College faculty and staff
• Little Rock Police recruits class
• Little Rock Fire Department recruits
• Laman Library in North Little Rock
• Arkansas Community Foundation
• Arkansas Police Corps Program
• Susan G. Komen Foundation Board
• Department of Criminal Justice of UALR
• Care-Link Providers Group
• City of Pine Bluff Vision Team
• UALR Bowen School of Law entering class

Straight Talk Panels - Panels of gay and lesbian persons, family members and friends talk about how sexual orientation affects their lives in Arkansas. These one to two hour sessions include stories designed to remind us of what’s really important about ourselves and each other. Panelists tell stories of “What it means to be gay in Arkansas”, and following that discussion and a short video, participants’ may ask questions of the panelists.

There is no fee associated with this JCA program, only your organization’s willingness to explore this issue with open hearts and minds.

Anyone interested in learning more about JCA Workshops should contact Ruth Shepherd (501-372-5129) at the JCA office.