Over the last 25 years, engaging with young people has made us ever more mindful of the world that we co-create every day.
In recent times, more and more organisations are seeking to make structural changes that are mindful and respectful to the diverse nature of their employees. Many tout themselves as being “female friendly”, and “socially inclusive”, but there is still a long way to go.
In this new environment of social and environmental awareness, many organisations face difficulties in knowing how to proceed.
Samvada draws from 25 years of experience to provide you with the tools necessary to overcome these challenges. If you would like to benefit from any of our services, contact us at samvada@gmail.com
Samvada consults with numerous organisations on the following themes:
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Workshops
In a world where exclusion and hierarchy is institutionalized and normalized, it is difficult for organizations to promote and ensure inclusions.
As an organization, we have worked on social justice and sustainability for the last 25 years. In this time, we have gained a rich body of perspectives and skills in how to understand, approach and ensure diversity and inclusion so that our workplaces achieve what we want to see in the outside world: equality, respect, and dignity for all those of us who live and work together.
Our understanding of how an inclusive workplace can function extends far beyond simple numerical representation. It has resulted in a rigorous and participatory set of programmes that lead to sensitized thought and action at the individual and collective levels within the workplace.
These are a few of the programmes we have run with great success.
A diversity and inclusion workshop for all staff in the organisation, on social systems and inequality; identity and difference within the workplace; how exclusion can happen in a workplace; work culture and our participation in it; moving from diversity to inclusion; and our future role in ensuring inclusion and equality within the workplace.
We conduct workshops meant exclusively for senior staff and managers in the organisation, focusing on managerial approaches to diversity and inclusion. This workshop will also include skill-based sessions (mentoring, conflict resolution, etc).
This workshop enables the establishment and training of a Diversity and Inclusion Core Group within the organization – this involves learning perspectives and skills required to analyse D&I and create programmes meant to ensure an inclusive workplace. This group, once trained, will then create and manage diversity and inclusion policy and programmes within the organization
Setting up of Workplace & Community Crèches
Children of factory workers are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Deprived of attention, nutrition and safety, the lack of proper care and education at this young age has a ripple effect through childhood and even into adulthood.
At the same time, women workers who don’t have access to proper child care are forced to leave the workplace or absent themselves frequently. This affects both their own livelihoods and the company’s productivity and stability.
Samvada has a rich history of working in the area of Early Childhood Care and Education. As part of our consultancy work, we plan and design crèches within factories.
We see a great need for quality crèches for children of factory workers, with particular attention being paid to the kind of learning experience that young children will have in these spaces.
Setting up high quality crèches not only provides much needed support to the children of factory workers, it also helps companies decrease attrition and absenteeism, increase trust among employees and comply with legal and social obligations.
Structures of Respect: POSH Committee Training and Sensitization
Workplaces are now more than ever sensitive to the need to prevent any kind of sexual harassment of women employees. While this is an admirable goal, the road to this is sometimes strewn with challenges involving organisational culture, miscommunication, habitual practices, emotional difficulties and structural inequality.
Workshops generally run for 1 to 3 days.
Our workshop has twin goals:
- To help the organisation set up an active and working POSH committee that addresses cases in a sensitive and just manner;
- To help make clear why harassment takes place and how we can prevent it at an individual and collective level within the workplace.
Capacity building for NGO Personnel
For organisations and individuals working on women’s issues
In the time that Samvada has been working on social justice and sustainability, we have gained a rich body of knowledge and skills on gender equality, wellness, and holistic self-care. Through our experience we realised that for a gender just world we must address wellness and self-care needs as well.
We offer a range of workshops that not only equip staff of organisations working on women’s issues with skills that will help them work towards gender justice in a more holistic way but also address their own well-being.
