We are proof that Lila’s diversity action plan system works! The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office hired Lila Kelly to help create a diversity action plan. Lila interviewed staff members, reviewed current and historical documents related to diversity and created a five-year diversity action plan which was adopted by the Office’s Executive Committee. Her recommendations were challenging to meet but were on the mark. The plan is still unfolding, and the Office has experienced much success in integrating diversity and inclusion in the way it does its work.

Lila performed an assessment and provided recommendations and an outline of a Strategic Action Plan for the Recruitment and Retention of Staff of Color for our districts. Her assessment interviews with staff were very helpful. Her ability to have these conversations with staff started to plant seeds, upon which equity staff could follow up. Also, her assessment of the policies and procedures showed how they were perceived by management, and then the interviews showed what was actually being done.

That Lila is white (not a person of color), she is objective and understands the value of this work, which allowed her to have difficult conversations with staff, particularly white administrative staff. She took a very strategic approach in her work, and the final report was comprehensive and addressed many areas that need work.

Lila Kelly provided our schools with outstanding and diverse candidates for employment. As a supervisor of a large site, the need to constantly hire staff was simplified by the work done by Lila through recruitment as well as through the development of more unified procedures throughout our district. Lila set clear expectations for herself and others and worked diligently to meet those expectations. It is without hesitation that I would recommend Lila for a position in any school district or business wanting to improve their practices surrounding diversity.

You obviously have excellent listening skills. After spending only a few hours with our team, you developed a set of interview questions, which enabled us to cut our hiring process time in half. However, the real value of your consultation lies in the tools you gave to us. In the future we will be fully capable to design and structure our own set of interview questions unique to the positions we are trying to fill. In our estimation, that is the true test of a successful consultant.

Lila served in a consultant capacity as interim HR manager, coordinated and centralized all recruiting efforts, and drafted a job description for a Recruiting Assistant position. She also conducted a “Brown Bag Lunch” session on interviewing techniques, worked with HR staff in defining HR roles, and provided outplacement assistance. Lila was able to bring a wealth of experience to our organization and provided a key role during that time.

I hired a very talented individual whose tasks included diversity and inclusion. However, he had no experience in DEI. We contracted with Lila Kelly, who was masterful in creating a program that taught him everything from role/responsibilities, demographic changes, DEI development models, business case, skills for identifying underlying issues, a DEI audit, strategies for creating a DEI action plan/steps, and a conflict management model with strategies for dealing with push back.

Based on Lila’s coaching and training program, I now have a DEI resource that is competent, knowledgeable and fully capable in driving our efforts both in the department and as a county-wide DEI resource. I would highly recommend connecting with Lila Kelly if you are seeking to develop your staff members.

Lila Kelly served as my coach and instructor in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. I met with Lila for intensive one-on-one sessions where she worked to provide me with a history of DEI, an overview of the work from the generic to the very specific, and an understanding of the challenges involved in working in this ever-evolving field of study and practice.

She challenged me to review my own cultural competency, and provided the tools to actively engage in a self-evaluation process so that I might better evaluate our departmental and organizational needs and objectives. The training and insight Lila provided combined with her ongoing willingness to serve as a resource has given me the confidence to take my place among the DEI professionals working to drive the DEI efforts of Hennepin County.

I really appreciated the way the training is organized. The online training gives those attending an opportunity to gain insights on the training prior to the actual workshop. This gave me the opportunity to be ready “At the word go” to engage in meaningful dialogue with other workshop attendees. I also connected with the individual testimonials in the online training from real people, not actors, who are facing the issues that I feel are important to me. The training is not only designed to highlight the issues we face, but also give you solutions to the issues, and develop action steps at the end on how to move forward. It’s designed to provide a 360-degree solution to the issues we face. Thanks to the training, I feel better prepared to do the work I need to do.

I attended the Diversity Hiring Workshop, and the discussions were lively, thought-provoking, and timely.  The information I received was inspiring, as I got to see how unconscious biases could be lurking in my interviewing performances.  I was also able to learn from the online modules how the applicants can sometimes feel, which gave me a greater appreciation and more empathy. It was an enjoyable and eye-opening experience!

Sparked a good conversation that will serve as a foundation for an ongoing discussion. Good facilitation that empowered open communication.

The e-learning component grounds participants with the same baseline information. The real learning (for me) happened through the follow-up discussion.

It was a pleasure working with you! You delivered a high quality and important presentation that was research-based. It was well received by all in attendance. My only regret is that we did not get to spend more time with each other. Thank you for sharing all of your hard work (research) and experience with diversity and hiring strategies. You were GREAT!!!

Participants’ Comments:

“Lila Kelly was an excellent presenter. The information she shared was practical and ‘usable.’ I was challenged to revise interview questions.”

“The speaker was very knowledgeable on cultural competencies. She was interesting to listen to and generated good discussions throughout our groups.”

One feature I found particularly effective was your use of videos. It was interesting to hear how the interviewees perceived their interviewers and interpreted the questions. I think you clearly demonstrated how easy it is to be misunderstood. It was obvious from the questions and discussion that everyone there found the subject fascinating.

Participants’ Comments:

“Great facilitator, she let us all contribute and learn. Tackling unconscious bias and cultural misunderstanding was helpful.”

“Great videos; they bring diversity into the room. Very good program – helpful ideas on how I might change my interview questions and re-assess my interview style. I plan to be more conscious of how I start interviews.”

A lot of my supervisors don’t want to admit that they may not be prepared for an interview with a protected class candidate. Having the information be presented in an online format allows them to learn despite feeling vulnerable about their lack of knowledge. The videos of diverse candidates have been really helpful. Candidates brought up solutions to interview and on-boarding situations that I never thought of before. I would recommend this to others as a quality part of professional development for supervisors and HR professionals.

The online training was great! I can see us utilizing this as a training tool for managers and supervisors who conduct their own interviewing. I really liked how you provided information on how to re-phrase interview questions to be more inclusive. The critical thinking questions really helped me evaluate my own interviewing skills, the people who should be included in interviews, the interview questions, and the things my organization can do to highlight our respect for diversity. I hope that I can work with you again in the future.

I was expecting this training to be more “fluff” and not get into the real nuts and bolts of the topic. However, my expectations were far exceeded with this excellent program. The strength of this online training is that Lila Kelly has researched diversity and how it shows up in job interviews and impacts work performance. The examples are real and not some made-up possibilities. There are many practical and applicable gems in this training, along with quizzes that help make it a challenge and offer a chance to review one’s learning.

I have participated in other online training programs and found this one to be superior to the others. The short video clips enhanced the learning through real-life experiences. Scenarios giving examples of hiring managers and applicants in situations caused me to think more deeply about the many facets of culturally diverse interviewing. The training was well-organized, with modules and sub-sections that made practical sense. I would recommend this course to any HR practitioner, hiring manager, and everyone else who conducts interviews.

Integrate Diversity into Recruiting, Interviewing and Hiring Book

Hiring, recruitment, interviewing – this is one place to go to learn all the fundamentals on these three important functions. And better yet, the ins and outs of diversity/inclusion are woven throughout this practical material. A variety of quotes and quizzes help make this book an excellent training guide to build cultural competencies for talent acquisition. I am pleased to see that Lila Kelly has called on her 20 years’ experience to create material to fill a gap in available resources on this topic. From cultural competencies to overcoming bias to interviewing skills, Ms. Kelly’s book is a valuable resource that no one involved in the recruitment, diversity, EEO/AA compliance, or HR functions can afford to pass up.

Great eye-openers!! Lila’s book is unique in that it provides literal examples of interview situations that impact applicants in ways supervisors may not have ever considered. In addition, the information in her books is valuable when on-boarding new hiring supervisors and managers.

This book is an invaluable resource for the Medtronic A.B.L.E.D. Employee Resource Group mentoring program. The case vignettes illustrate scenarios which may serve to sensitize an inexperienced interviewer or applicant. What a great contribution to the field of human resources.

College Instructor, Career Transition and Job Ready Programs

I have experienced heated debates between Black and White people in the classroom setting. Some professors think it is a real learning experience to voice it all. But it was physically and mentally draining for me, all that hate and anger being slung around the room for a learning tool. I usually do not fully agree with either side because I do not belong fully to either group. I came into this class prepared for the hate I was going to experience.

I was quite impressed. The professor was not trying to instigate an emotional class setting. Lila Kelly kept things focused and corrected people with proper alternative words, or provided a sensitive after-thought or rebuttal to gray areas. The learning environment was wonderful for such a stressful topic. I learned a lot from just watching her talk about such emotionally charged issues with grace and respect. I believe this class will change lives.

I learned a lot from Lila Kelly’s class. I feel that many times diversity is not presented accurately. Lila, however, does a wonderful job covering every aspect of diversity.

Our program assists women in transitioning into employment. Lila has been a presenter/trainer for our program for two years. She presents Communication and Conflict Management and Interview Preparation. Lila has been mentioned in several classes as one the best presenters. They like her presentation style and how she related these topics to their lives. Some of the quotes they have stated on the evaluations are: “She is easy to talk to,” “She understands my point of view,” and “She talks in a way that we understand.”

Many of the women who access our program are on AFDC or some subsidized program. Many have less than a high school education. Therefore, it is important that our presenters are able to identify their needs and present material so that they are user friendly. Lila is an excellent presenter and has great training skills. She is an asset to our program.

Career Transition Participants’ Comments:
“Lila is an outstanding instructor that knows what she’s talking about and does a good job of guiding the students to an understanding level.”

“Lila has the right combination of tenderness and toughness that makes her easy to talk to and also gave her credibility. She’s good at putting people back on track and focusing them.”

“Instructor was very easy to listen and talk to. Never made anyone feel like they had a ‘stupid’ question. Very understanding person.”

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