Counteracting Unconscious Bias: A Workshop for Parishioners and Staff of St. Ignatius Parish

Saturday, May 7th, from 8 AM to 3 PM
Optional Session to Debrief, from 3 PM to 4 PM
Mass for Sunday at 4 PM

In the gospels, Jesus challenged his contemporaries to overcome their biases toward those whom they judged to be different from themselves. That challenge of Jesus to his contemporaries is a challenge to which each of us, as his followers, must respond.

• Are we open to looking honestly at how our perceptions, judgments, and reactions to others who are different from us reflect unconscious biases that influence the way we speak and act toward them?
• Are we willing to acknowledge these unconscious biases at work within us and to learn strategies for overcoming them so that we treat all persons as we ourselves want to be treated?
• How are we to follow Jesus’ commandment to love one another as He has loved us when our subconscious biases prevent us from doing so?

This day-long workshop requires a commitment from each participant:

• To be open, honest, and respectful in sharing one’s thoughts and feelings
• To accept that the workshop will raise issues that can be challenging and unsettling
• To be prompt and stay for the entire workshop and not leave early.

Registration is required. Please call the Parish House or email your reservation to Fr. Hallinan, S.J., by Tuesday, May 3rd at [email protected]. 

About the trainer: Antonio del Rosario has received his training as a Boal facilitator and Cornell Diversity graduate studies in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He has been a consultant for almost 20 years, working with many organizations in increasing their productivity through diverse and inclusionary practices.

In his workshop “Counteracting Unconscious Bias”, participants will identify the perceptual and psychological processes that impact the way they interact with people who are demographically dissimilar from them. They will examine the psychological processes that impact decision-making within their organization and identify how they as influencers can design better work practices and help to leverage more effectively the potential among their fellow members and those in leadership positions. Antonio and his wife Cristina and their boys Lucas and Leonardo are active parishioners at St. Ignatius.