Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion : Real Solutions to Difficult Problems
Valda Ford has worked with a variety of agencies to improve communications among staff and enhance the company’s ability to provide services and care to a diverse group of individuals. As she began working to improve conditions for vulnerable populations she found that the greatest challenges stemmed from a lack of understanding from all sides of the conversation.
For over twenty years Ford has worked with health care corporations, law enforcement agencies, non-profits, educational institutions and major business entities to develop practical, actionable and sustained programs and policies that decrease friction and enhance productivity. From warring tribal factions to Fortune 500 companies, the failure to have open conversations and the unfortunate attempts at quick fixes lead to everything from war to loss of good will. Ultimately, nothing good came of closed hearts, minds and mouths.
Ford is successful at finding the path to the root of the problem and at helping organizations to work on more than window dressing. She feels that this is particularly important in those agencies that cannot afford to get it wrong. In health care, law enforcement and many agencies that work with vulnerable populations misunderstandings can have tragic outcomes. Imagine a person asking for help but whose language or demeanor is seen as inadequate or threatening. Ford helps companies understand what is happening, how to respond immediately and how to develop policies, programs and practices that make differences less difficult and less devastating.
Contact Valda Ford to develop successful programs for your company so that you will have better employee communications, better work outputs and more agency/community goodwill.
Valda is one of the featured writers in the recently released book The Speaker Anthology: 101 Stories that have Inspired and Motivated Audiences from Coast to Coast. Additionally Valda has contributed chapters to two medical textbooks on diversity and ethics, Cultural Proficiency in Eliminating Health Disparities and Health Care Services, Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Underserved Populations: Patient and Provider Perspectives and she is the author of Don’t Touch the Monk: and Other Stories of Global Faux Pas due to be released December 2021. She has written many articles, stories, and columns for local and national media outlets.
