OUR SERVICES

Relational Notions partners with businesses and organizations of all sizes to create cultures of belonging and equitable social impact.

We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area and partner with businesses and organizations across the U.S.

How We Approach The Work With You

We recognize that individual efforts like training, strategy sessions, and retreats aren't enough for diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging. At Relational Notions, we focus on collaborating with your team to create a roadmap that integrates these elements and meets you where you are in shaping the culture and social impact you desire.

These five stages are generally what you can expect as your organization and our team build a collaborating relationship:

Connect

As the first step in our collaboration, we ask you to complete our interest form to share more about your organization and what you are interested in discussing.

Once you submit your form, we will ask you to set up a meeting via our calendar. This meeting will serve as an introductory call for us to learn more about one another and discuss possibilities for collaboration. The call is free of charge and a commitment is not required at the end of the call.

Schedule A Free Conversation

Initiate

So we decided it makes sense for us to work together? Yay us! At this stage, we work as a team to customize our Relational Change Assessment to identify strengths, aspirations, and opportunities for action in your organization or community using The Relational Change Framework for Just and Inclusive Systems and Organizations™. This initial assessment will evaluate how focused and aligned your team is with what you want to accomplish together and will help us gather data that we can use to track change and impact over time. If you don't yet know what you want to accomplish, worry not! Our framework supports every organization's journey, even if you're starting from scratch.

See Our Framework for Change

At the same time, we will begin to identify other key stakeholders within and outside your organization who might need to be part of our work moving forward, although this will be ongoing as new strategies and priorities arise.

We may use one, all, or a combination of these methods to gather data:

Companywide Surveys / Culture Assessments
One-On-One Interviews
Listening Sessions

Community Organizing
Focus Groups
Other Feedback Mechanisms

Prioritize

By now, we should have quantitative and qualitative data that can inform which opportunities and aspirations your organization should take action on.

We will use the following methods to collectively disaggregate the data and identify priorities:

Guided Debrief Sessions
Visual Data Presentations
Mission-driven Discussions

Short- Mid- and Long-Term Visioning and Strategizing

Design

This is where we all create a plan of action. Planning can feel redundant and unexciting for a lot of teams. It is planning for more work, after all. And who needs more work, right? It only becomes more work when people don't understand how diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts fit into the purpose of their existing work. Our approach to building strategic plans includes everyone who may have a stake in the work, obtaining widespread commitment from the beginning. The plans we generate not only build a sense of direction, they also reinvigorate and transform the work that everyone is already doing.

Here's how we may involve everyone in this process:

Creative & Strategic Company Retreats
Companywide Input Surveys
Team-Specific Strategy Sessions

Transform

Once you, your team, and your organization feel great about where you are going with your equity & belonging efforts, our role is to help you take action and guide you as things change. We'll give strategic advice and technical support based on regular evaluations about your progress and the effects of the changes.

These are some ways in which we support:

Developing Cascading Leadership Strategies
Customizing Learning Journeys for Specific Audiences
Live Workshops
Customized Learning and Implementation Tools
Hosting Strategic and Team Building Retreats
Equitable Policy Reviews and Guidance
Anti-Oppression Trainings, Strategies, and Relationship Building

Skill-Specific Trainings / Capacity Building
Project Management
Coaching & Mentoring
Celebratory Events
Racial & Equity Impact Assessments
Evaluation for Process, Strategy, and Impact
Community Organizing Advising & Programs
Strategizing for Social Justice

No Matter Where You Are In Your Journey, We Will Build Something That Works For You...WITH YOU.

Connect Now

What can you expect when working with us?

We are...

Listeners

We don't push our own agenda. We are inquisitive--we ask lots of life-giving questions to figure out what is going to serve you the most.

Forward Thinkers

We are not afraid of trying things that no one else has done before. Instead of fixing problems, we focus on your strengths and on what is already working.

Action Oriented

We create space for process and focused action, and we celebrate accomplishments along the way to keep us moving forward.

Compassionately Adaptable

We recognize that things change and we practice patience with ourselves and our clients. We stand by you when things get rough and when they don't go as planned.

Leydy Islas

HR Manager, La Familia

We are immensely grateful for the guidance and expertise Elsa has provided. They have helped us create an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered. We highly recommend their services to any organization seeking to foster a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

Maximilian Orlando

Training Participant

Elsa has a sense of compassion and empathy that permeates throughout the entire lesson. Elsa's ability to create a comfortable and inclusive environment is also remarkable. I would gladly recommend Elsa to anyone who is seeking a knowledgeable and kind instructor.

Allison Downs

Director of Enterprise Systems & Grants, La Familia

This was La Familia's first time doing a training around diversity, equity, and inclusion for all staff. With thoughtful planning and collaboration, Elsa designed a comprehensive curriculum that established a strong foundation for our agency to build individual and collective awareness on how sensitive topics such as discrimination, bias, and microaggressions can show up in the workplace. Elsa created a safe and engaging experience for us to address sensitive topics and learn how we can show up for ourselves and our colleagues to ensure an equitable and inclusive environment.

Jade Le

Former Non-Profit Program Manager

Elsa is very knowledgeable, attentive, and will adapt to support the growth of any agency's diversity and inclusion procedures, policies, and practices. Elsa constantly took all of our feedback around inclusion, diversity, equity, and action and did the best to ensure new materials reflected it. I appreciate the times Elsa grounded our conversations and reminded the team of the end goal with our trainings when the committee's ideas were either too far ahead or not building on already-created materials. Elsa valued creating workshops and materials that easily created a learning journey so that staff members from all levels and backgrounds could see the relations of the teachings.