Join us for another ACE-WIL Professional Development Session!
We are excited to offer this highly interactive Anti-Racism Response Training to ACE-WIL members. It involves experiential activities to develop and strengthen active witnessing skills. This training is designed to encourage participants to shift from being frozen or silent bystanders to becoming active witnesses. In doing so, we can disrupt racism and build a safer and more inclusive community for our students.
Date: April 29th 2-4pm
Location: Online on Zoom (link will be sent via email closer to the event)
Register now
Registration is limited to 60 people, so register as soon as possible to secure your seat!
Registration: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/RGQXBMM
Waitlist: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/RPNRXRV
About A.R.T.
The Anti-Racism Response Training Program (A.R.T.), developed by Dr. Ishu Ishiyama uses a witness-centered approach to disrupting racism. This training is designed to encourage participants to shift from being frozen or silent bystanders to becoming active witnesses. In doing so, we can disrupt racism and build a safer and more inclusive community.
Overview of 2-Hour Workshop
- Consider the impacts of being a passive bystander vs. active witness
- Gain greater empathy regarding the harmful impacts of racist encounters
- Review four levels of witnessing
- Explore four key categories of active witnessing
- Learn and practice a wide range of anti-racism responses and share some of your own.
About the facilitators
Thanh Tazumi, Naomi L. Wolfe & Sanchit Mittal will be facilitating the training.
Naomi and Thanh began facilitating workshops together in the mid-90’s, and their A.R.T. work started in 2002. Sanchit joined the team in 2020, when the team started offering virtual workshops.
Thanh Tazumi (she/her/hers) and her family immigrated to Canada as refugees in 1984. After completing her BA in Psychology in 1996 she married her husband Mark, who is a third generation Canadian with Japanese ancestry. Together they have two grown daughters. Thanh worked for a multicultural organization for 10 years, coordinating anti-racism, diversity, and organizational change projects. She coordinated the first anti-racism walk in Campbell River, in 1997 and formed a committee to continue this annual event until 2006. She has co-facilitated workshops on intercultural communication, diversity & inclusion, and Anti-racism Response Training. Thanh currently lives and works on the traditional territory of the Lekwiltok and E’iksan-K’omoks peoples. She is aware of the history of racism in Canada and many of its impacts on Indigenous and other racialized peoples. She is committed to working toward healing and reconciliation.
Naomi L. Wolfe (she/her/hers) is a mixed European settler Canadian, originally from Saskatchewan, who is grateful to reside on the unceded traditional territory of the E’iksan and K’omoks Peoples. As a teen, Naomi was a member of an anti-racism youth group in Nashville during the desegregation of schools through crosstown bussing. After ten years living and working in Guatemala, she moved back to Canada, and eventually to Vancouver Island. Through her work with the Immigrant Welcome Centre and as ESL faculty at North Island College, Naomi gained a deep understanding of the barriers faced by her diverse community. Naomi facilitates A.R.T., intercultural communication, Theatre for Living, and Compassionate Listening (TCLP) workshops, and has presented at conferences in BC and internationally. Naomi greatly values collaborating with others to bring about a more just and inclusive society.
Sanchit Mittal (He/Him/His) came to Canada as an international student; he holds two Master’s degrees. He has diverse experience in working with various marginalized communities, including LGBTQ2+ and refugees. With over seven years of experience in various Indian and Canadian organizations, living as an uninvited guest on the traditional territories of the Neutral, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples, Sanchit deeply values Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI), and is passionate about Truth and Reconciliation and Social Justice work, including Anti-Racism. Sanchit has co-facilitated many workshops including: LGBTQ2+ inclusion, Communications in Intercultural classrooms, Allyship, Microaggressions. Sanchit is a Partnerships Manager at an Edu-Tech company based in Ontario. He is also an EDI Consultant for Vancouver Island University, and serving as the Vice President for SIETAR BC.
Testimonials
“The training provided was beneficial. It supported dialogic learning and provided vital strategies on how to respond to racism. I can use everything learned in this training.”
– Wedlidi Speck, Director – Indigenous Recruitment & Cultural Safety, British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development
“THANK YOU so much for hosting these trainings. It was such an intense, full-body experience for me to go through those scenarios, and reflected to me the amount of work there is to do as an individual and as a community, and made me grateful there were opportunities like this with which to get engaged.”
– Cynthia Lange, Vancouver Island University
“We engaged Thanh, Naomi, and Sanchit to deliver their Anti-Racism Response Training for our large team of social service staff. They are fantastic facilitators who are skilled in delivering training on a challenging and complex topic using a thoughtful, sensitive, and empathetic approach. In particular, we appreciate their interactive style that engages attendees to practice new skills in a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment. Their training offers various types of realistic and actionable steps that we can all take to be active bystanders when we witness incidents of racism and hate in our communities.”
-Amy Cheng, Administration, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
“a white, settler woman with significant privilege, I knew that I had a lot to learn about racism in Canada and what I could do about it. Participating in this well-designed and delivered training exceeded my expectations over and over! Not only did I learn so much about racism in Canada, past and present, I also learned from the presenters and participants about how these experiences have impacted them so significantly. In the training we learned and practiced effective skills to respond to witnessing or experiencing racist encounters. I will no longer be a bystander, wishing I had the words or confidence to act when I see racism in any form. I can now stand-up and speak-out to address the issue at the time or when it is safe to do so. We must all make the decision and take action to stop racism and the Anti-Racism Response Training program provides the practical skills and confidence to do so!”
– Mary Catherine Williams, Executive Director, Volunteer Campbell River
“The Anti-Racism Response Training is engaging, eye-opening, and educational. The facilitators’ approach of presenting factual information paired with sharing personal stories helped to capture their diverse audience. Reflection exercises not only encouraged participants to examine themselves and racism, but they also prompted open discussions among participants. Highly recommended for anyone and everyone wanting to start taking steps against racism.”
– Carolyn Moi, Instructor, Vancouver Community College
