“Getting Started with Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in your Organization” is a two-part introductory training & workshop designed to support organizations with building shared language, understanding core DEIA principles, and cultivating a safe place with trust and rapport to explore these topics. ECE cultivates a future focused learning environment that uplifts organizational strengths and evaluates blind spots without shame, guilt, or blame. We believe that this approach allows participants to feel confident to make mistakes, challenge their discomfort, and explore often difficult topics that are not commonly introduced in day-to-day operations. ECE approaches DEIA from a practical and participatory lens. This model allows us to better understand the organizational needs of attendees and their unique perspectives, while also giving participants the chance to cross pollinate ideas with other stakeholders & businesses in a shared space designed intentionally for organizational evaluation & support.
*A reminder- ask your organization about how attending vital trainings like these can fulfill continuing educational requirements.
Desiree (Anakoniwa) Vargas is a mother, wife, herbalist, gardener/farmer, community social justice organizer, community resource distributor, healing retreat facilitator, harm reductionist, business owner, nonprofit director, and racial justice advocate. She currently plants seeds of change as a State of Maine certified DEIA Racial Justice trainer, educator, and Consultant at her LLP ECE Firm, a Food Sovereignty Director at Presente! Maine Non-Profit, an educator at the University of Maine for the School of Social work and through the professional development center, Co-founder of REJ Non-Profit, and Tukuda (tribal councilwoman) of Higuayagua Taino People of the Caribbean. Desiree is also launching a woman-owned business, Healing Roots Adahi Kena Akuaiyaba Nakan (Medicine and Culture Center), where she will offer trauma-informed massage therapy, energetic healing through polarity therapy, trauma-informed yoga therapy, meditation and mindful coaching, facilitated land-based healing retreats, herbal remedies, and more. Desiree believes we all bring different medicines to earth weaving spaces of recovery, pollinating lifeways for healing, and creating collective change is hers.
She couples her anthropological education, experience, and knowledge as a CapeVerdean, Boricua-Taino Indigenous, and Portuguese woman of Color, racial justice expertise, and trauma-informed holistic health background together to create unique and wholesome educational curriculums, strategic plans, healing modalities, trailblazing community programs, interconnective healing offerings, intersectional social critique, and solution-based action plans to uproot injustice and inequity. Desiree has supported school districts, municipalities, non-profits, businesses, higher institutions, BIPOC students and families, and youth-led organizations, through keynote speaking, policy editing, DEIA committee formation, curriculum edits, strategic planning, data collection, culturally supportive programming and initiatives, and sensitive community engagement.
David Patrick is the Cofounder of Equity Consulting & Education Services. He holds a B.S. from The Maine Business School in both International Business & Marketing with an advanced Master of Social Work (MSW) degree through The Graduate School of Social Work at The University of Maine. David currently works as a clinical social worker and educator in a variety of practice settings with experience in Care Coordination through The State of Maine Office of Aging & Disability Services (OADS) and clinical counseling in his current professional role. David specializes in advocacy for underrepresented communities and outpatient therapy services with a focus on diverse client populations and patients. These practice settings include providing services and clinical support for New Mainers, underrepresented community members, and those most impacted by DEIA policies. David is a state certified continuing education (CEU) educator and training facilitator.
