Training and Leadership Development Programs

One does not need to be in a leadership role or position in order to develop or demonstrate leadership skills. The Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging team believes that everyone is able to be their best version of a leader through their identity development process. culturally-humble in an identity-conscious way.

Inclusion. Diversity. Education. Access. Leadership. (IDEAL) Training and Facilitation program

The IDEAL Program, which stands for Identity, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Leadership, focuses on cultivating a community built on a foundation of inclusive excellence and social justice. IDEAL is looking for students who are passionate about social justice and interested in facilitating workshops with and for their peers.

Multicultural Leadership Experience (MLE)

The Multicultural Leadership Experience is a collaboration between Campus Life and the Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging. The purpose of the Multicultural Leadership Experience is to provide a space for students and student organization leaders who identify with underrepresented or marginalized backgrounds to discover their own capacity to lead, while simultaneously promoting a better understanding of their experiences, issues, and outcomes in navigating their own academic careers. Sessions will focus on topics such as:

  1. “Self,” specifically as it relates to the individual’s identity development,
  2. “Otherness,” specifically as it relates to building equitable and inclusive communities, and
  3. “The topic of context,” specifically as it relates to our socialization and liberation. The Multicultural Leadership Experience will eventually transition as a cohort-based program in spring 2021.

SafeZone: LGBTQ+ Allyship Development Training

The SafeZone LGBTQIA+ Allyship Development Workshop is designed to help create a more welcoming, affirmative atmosphere for LGBTQIA+ community members of UMBC and beyond. The program includes various activities for participants at all levels of knowledge and comfort with LGBTQIA+ culture, topics, and concerns, from basic terminology, core concepts, LGBTQIA+ intersections, ranging from how to support those in the “Coming Out” process, to skills-based sessions on pronoun usage, to best allyship practices. It includes various distinctions and intersections between sex, gender, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and other social identities relevant to the LGBTQIA+ experience.

This training is composed of five modules in either a day-long or multi-session structure. Once completed, participants can join UMBC’s formal network of SafeZone LGBTQIA+ Allies that functions similarly to the UMBC OutList. SafeZone Allies will receive a placard to signal to UMBC community members of their commitment of allyship toward the LGBTQIA+ community. Please note that all sessions must be completed in order to receive the placard.