Preparing for your workshop with Bakau Consulting
This page outlines expectations for your upcoming workshop(s).
If you booked through Calendly, the workshop is already in both your and your facilitator’s calendars. For manual bookings, we will create a Google calendar event with a Zoom link and share it with you unless otherwise discussed.
A dynamic, informative and engaging session that encourages critical thinking, vulnerability and a passion for justice.
A combination of presentation, large group discussion, activities and engagement.
Our highly-recommended introductory workshop, Fundamentals of Anti-Oppression, is content-heavy and more lecture-style. Virtual workshop engagement happens through polls, break-out rooms, thought-provoking prompts, individual and group reflections, and group discussions.
We value different engagement styles and respect that participants may have cameras and mics turned off, though enthusiastic engagement is greatly appreciated by facilitators and helps them feel valued and heard.
Our workshops are designed to fit into specific time frames so, unless requested, we cannot accommodate Q&As at the end.
Our facilitators are extremely busy and very well-versed in our standard workshops, therefore, we likely cannot respond to or accommodate any last-minute requests or changes to the workshop content.
If you would like a tailored workshop, please discuss this with your facilitator and they can send you a quote for a custom-made session.
Upon request, slides may be sent in advance for accessibility purposes. You can also check out our detailed workshop outlines and resources toolkit.
If you would like to meet in addition to our 30-minute complimentary phone call, this will be billed at our hourly rate.
Our community agreements are principles that guide us as co-learners in our collective work. The facilitator will review them in-depth during your session. These agreements serve as both our learning objectives and our expectations for each other. We agree to:
Recognize systems of oppression in a settler society that operates under the legacies of colonialism and are committed to understanding our roles in it.
Process our discomfort in ways that are differential to ours and others’ lived experiences.
Be aware of power dynamics in our group and actively address bias if it arises.
Acknowledge our growth and learning is thanks to marginalized voices and is at the expense of someone else's emotional labor.
Use technology mindfully, considering others, remaining present and engaging in ways that are nurturing for ourselves and the collective.
Expect and accept non-closure in conversations concerning:
Equity and inequity
Inclusive diversity and discriminatory exclusion
Anti-oppressive learning
As our host, we greatly appreciate you informing your team about the workshop and the why behind bringing us into your work environment. We expect our host to be collaborators in the goals of the workshop so we can focus more time enhancing outcomes. It is challenging for facilitators to arrive and face questions about their qualifications, experience and reasons for hosting. We expect these explanations to be provided beforehand and encourage leaders to create an open environment for learning.
Invite your colleagues/team to the calendar event OR share the Zoom link embedded within with your colleagues.
Start the meeting with a quick introduction to the facilitator.
Find your facilitator’s bio on our Meet the Team page and make sure to use their correct pronouns.
Provide any behind the scenes technical support to the facilitator such as muting microphones if noise is distracting.
Facilitators may choose to designate you as a co-host of the meeting so you can assist with allowing people in from the waiting room.
Inform the facilitator if there are any special arrangements or access needs to be accommodated.
Respect and honour your facilitator’s pronouns. Misgendering may result in the workshop being cancelled or ending early.
If workshop is in person: Please remind folks not to attend if they are experiencing any Covid-19 related symptoms or other symptoms of contagious illness. This may include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, lack of taste or smell, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, hoarse voice, nasal congestion, chills, unexplained fatigue, body aches, etc. Please emphasize they will not be penalized for last minute cancellations due to any of the above.
Start the Zoom call 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start time
Press the record button, if recording has been requested
Host a brilliant workshop
Share the recording and copyrighted slides (if requested) within 7 days of the session
Submit your workshop for invoicing
If workshop is in person: Notify the client as early as possible of event cancellation if they are experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms of potentially contagious illness.
Do not record workshops without prior agreement with the facilitator.
Recording(s) is available as an add-on to any virtual workshop. The recording fee accounts for the ongoing use of Bakau Consulting’s image and intellectual property for the continued benefit of the organization.
To learn more about recording options, connect with your facilitator or visit our Pricing & FAQ page.
Kindly share this preparatory information with your team before the workshop.
We’re excited to work with you! Before we embark on this journey, we want to give you an idea of what to expect. We’ll introduce ourselves, share how we hold space, and give you a glimpse of what to expect from your workshop.
Bakau Consulting is a full-service equity, inclusion and anti-racism consulting company based in Canada, with a global, intersectional approach. We believe in collective liberation, meaningful social change and the power of equity. Our commitment to these values is evidenced by our strategic range of services and our fun, fierce and no-bullshit approach to “diversity and inclusion”. Our work is rooted in community, social justice and a passion for equity which translates into tireless advocacy for systemic change.
In our workshops, we frame teachings as offerings. Participants are encouraged to really sit with concepts and choose how to internalize them in ways that feel meaningful. Our content focuses on fundamental theories, frameworks and perspectives that can be applied in all aspects of life. We help you foster a lens to perceive injustice and develop a toolkit to assess how to respond moment-by-moment.
Through extensive experience in this field, we have found this method to be significantly more effective than simply telling people what to do! We are very non-prescriptive. You are the experts in your field and your lived experience, so we offer you a means to think critically and act in turn.
Our content goes beyond relevance in your workplace. We believe it is crucial to practice using diversity, equity and inclusion principles everywhere so that when we show up in the workplace we have already been strengthening the muscle elsewhere too. Please note that because the topics we cover are about oppression, some content may feel overwhelming or triggering to some. Attendees are welcome and encouraged to put their wellbeing first. We will give content warnings throughout the session, where relevant. If you require an outline of content warnings beforehand, please reach out here.
We disrupt the mainstream field of “Diversity and Inclusion” in who we centre. While more traditional programming caters to folks who are at the beginning of their journey and prioritizes palatability, we want you to dive deeper (don’t worry, you’ve got this!). Our workshops centre marginalized folks. This includes racialized, queer, disabled, religious, immigrant, gender-diverse folks and more! Where society has placed some experiences in the centre (who we might think of as neutral, or the default) our mission is to make the world better for anyone existing outside of that centre too (many of us!).
We hope you’ll join us in that intentional centring. No matter where you are in your learning journey, you are welcome here. We promise there is something for everyone, and we approach topics in an accessible and approachable way.
This means that if you are not someone with many marginalized lived experiences, some of the content may feel uncomfortable. That is a good sign, as it means we are learning, shifting, growing and grappling with the tough stuff. This doesn’t mean you will have to be on edge the whole time! We strive for a space is very low-pressure — there’s no need to have your cameras on, engagement can be done anonymously in the chat, polls, and shared Google docs, and your facilitators do what we can to uphold your safety. You can take breaks, make tea, stretch and do whatever helps you engage in the workshop.
Workshops are a starting point. We offer you food for thought, and it is up to you to digest it and dream up how to apply it. We trust in your capacity to do so much with the inspiration you will gain our sessions. We celebrate your immense creativity!
Committing to this journey involves dedicating yourself to personal and collective work, and an ongoing process. We don’t sugar coat that — we’re honest about the fact that workshops are not a one-stop shop! This work is not always easy and can take time; perhaps a lifetime. But when we move through it together, it is truly transformative.
ANTI-OPPRESSION is the driving force behind our work. We name, deconstruct and re-imagine unjust systems. Then, we strategize for the revolution - and invite you to join.
ANTI-RACISM is not only a core value for us but an active, ongoing journey towards race-forward liberation. As a Black-led, diverse team, we use an anti-racist lens to drive all forms of equity.
INTERSECTIONALITY is a lens through which we view the world: we see that all systems of oppression are interconnected. Inspired by the words of Kimberlé Crenshaw and the actions of intersectional feminists, we believe in a nuanced and holistic approach to social justice work.
EQUITY is about the redistribution of power and resources. It’s a process we see as crucial to fair and just workplaces.
NON-LINEAR GROWTH acknowledges that we are all learning. We are deeply open to new knowledge - in fact, we actively seek it out - that we can share with our clients.
LIVED EXPERIENCE is just as important as professional and educational experience… maybe even more so.
RADICAL HOPE means that we believe organizations have the capacity for change - with the guidance we’re happy to provide!
LIBERATION is the end goal. We may not reach it in our lifetimes but we work to help turn the cogs of change set into motion by our activist ancestors.
We hope this helps you feel more prepared to engage with your upcoming workshop. Please join us ready to honour lived experiences, centre marginalized folks and be guided by our deeply valued mandate.
You can expect to go deep but also be encouraged, supported and met with zero judgement. We’ve got your backs! Thank you for reading through this so we can establish a beautiful foundation of mutual respect before heading into our work together. We will see you soon!