CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE CAPACITY BUILDING
FOR INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS
Awakening
Cultural Dignity
We facilitate professional learning journeys towards cultural responsiveness
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) combined with relational capacity leads to cultural responsiveness
When we seek to understand, honour and dignify ourselves and those we work with, we can learn to respond in culturally intelligent and relational ways.
Culturally responsive organisational cultures tend to:
Nurture and develop people, practices and policies towards increased awareness of self and others
Prioritise relationship-building practices
Respond versus react, and critically reflect on unconscious biases and value systems
Value collaboration, consultation and adaptive leadership
Possess a strong learning culture and commitment to continuous improvement
Engage diverse stakeholders and build strong communities of practice
Recognise, celebrate and leverage difference and diversity
A DIFFERENT WAY OF KNOWING, SEEING AND BEING – OUR COURSES
We offer individuals and organisations a new lens to navigate intercultural complexity, increase relational awareness and nurture culturally-safe practices, policies and spaces.
THE LENS INTRODUCTION
- Delivered virtually (Remote Learning)
- 1 full day or 2 half days
- For teams and individuals
This introductory course nurtures culturally responsive awareness and critical thinking capacity. It includes the exploration and analysis of key concepts, terminology and frameworks of the Mahana Method – our innovative Capacity Building Model.
THE LENS IMMERSION
- Delivered in-person (Facilitated Group Learning)
- 1 or 2 full days
- For teams embarking on wide-spread organisational/ workplace change
This is an immersive and experiential journey into what it means to be culturally responsive. It weaves the theory and concepts of the Mahana Method — our innovative Capacity Building Model — with a highly collaborative, practical, activity-based and reflective learning space.
About Mahana Culture
Established in 2016 by Tavale Ilalio — our creative director — alongside a dedicated team of professionals from education, youth work, psychology, research and organisational culture backgrounds, Mahana is committed to awakening cultural dignity and creating culturally-safe workplaces and institutional cultures.
Our Vā — a Polynesian term for ‘the space between us’ — prioritises the importance of developing relationships and designing learning that embraces culture, connectedness and the broader ecosystems of individuals.
We’ve delivered our workshops to over 1500 participants, including youth and social workers, health and wellbeing personnel, child protection staff and stakeholders, educators, residential care workers as well as leadership teams.
Because we combine an evidence-based theory with a safe space to reflect and share, we can help strengthen the culturally responsive capacity of people from different backgrounds and knowledge levels.
“The best training I’ve ever taken in my nearly 20-year career. This has been something I’ve used at every interaction, each strategic step, and also in life outside of work.”
— ANITA HARNDEN, VICTORIAN STATE GOVERNMENT
Our community
Here’s some of the organisations we have journeyed with.
