Monthly Meeting
Monday, October 12, 2020 8:30am - 12:00pm Pacific
Exactly WHAT does Matter:
Black Lives, All Lives, Your Life, My Life
The Black Lives Matter movement has been at the forefront of national discussions for the past six months. It is a simple yet frequently misunderstood and recently maligned initiative that seeks to demonstrate the state of race relations and work for social justice in the USA and beyond. Valda has been a leader in the field of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for over 20 years. During that time she has worked in over 50 countries with such varied groups as CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, the US Military, Buddhist Monks, Tribal Chiefs, Law Enforcement Agencies, Universities, and non-profit organizations. This session will address what is at issue for the movement and what the issues mean to coaches and consultants.
In this interactive virtual session, you will learn:
- Discuss what the Black Lives Matter movement is about - truths and fallacies
- Determine what Coaches and Consultants should or should not do related to Black Lives Matter
- Learn key words and phrases that are helpful or hurtful when coaching and consulting
About the speaker
Valda Boyd Ford, MPH, MS, RN, is the CEO of the Center for Human Diversity, Inc., a non-profit agency dedicated to improving communication between and across diverse groups. Over the past 30 years she has worked in 57 countries with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, tribal chiefs, Afghani teachers and Buddhist monks, health care professionals and law enforcers to improve health, decrease negative outcomes, enhance leadership skills, and decrease vulnerability.
From her early days in Saudi Arabia where she worked with multi-lingual and multi-national staff from 33 nations to deliver one standard of care to her appointment to the Council of Public Representatives of the National Institutes of Health, Valda has been intimately involved with education and policy development. Her career has taken her to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Netherlands and eventually the Caribbean, where she developed her own cardiac, stroke and physical rehabilitation center. The first facility of its kind in the region, Valda realized the financial and social hardships of patients sent 1000 miles to the mainland for care and capitalized on the value of having exceptional care rooted in cultural and linguistic diversity near at hand. Valda has started four successful businesses in the USA and the Caribbean.
Because of a high demand for her advice and training she created the Center for Human Diversity. Her leadership and innovative approach to problems has garnered her many honors and awards for her work – from innovative and effective workforce assessments to community based programs for vulnerable populations to HIV and STD prevention strategies for teens and adults.
Valda has contributed chapters to two medical textbooks on diversity and ethics, Cultural Proficiency in Eliminating Health Disparities and Health Care Services, Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Underserved Populations: Patient and Provider Perspectives. She is the author of Don’t Touch the Monk: and Other Stories of Global Faux Pas, due to be released December 2020. She has written many articles, stories, and columns for local and national media outlets.
Valda has a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Nursing Administration from Creighton University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Winston Salem State University.
She is also currently serving leadership roles on both the National Board of the National Speakers Associations and District 37 Toastmasters.
