The Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion (ISDI) launches its 2026 series of Special Events with this critical strategy session focused on the evolving legal and political environment shaping Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work nationwide.

ISDI is pleased to welcome Archbright as a sponsor of this first event. Archbright helps organizations navigate people, risk, and growth through trusted HR expertise, the mozzo resource hub, and experienced advisors. Archbright also offers DEI Flex, an adaptable approach to DEI support designed to evolve with organizational needs.

The conversation in this session is not a defensive one. It is a governance conversation.

As regulatory pressures increase and public narratives attempt to reframe DEI as risk rather than performance infrastructure, organizational leaders must operate with legal precision, strategic clarity, and institutional discipline.

This session will examine:

• Emerging federal and state legal trends affecting workplace DEI
• The recent evolution of legal theory shaping enforcement and litigation
• Distinguishing lawful inclusion strategy from practices that create exposure
• Governance-level implications for boards, executives, HR HR and Inclusion leaders
• How to embed equity into organizational systems in ways that are durable, compliant, and performance-enhancing

Our position is clear: Sustainable inclusion is not a temporary initiative, it is operating architecture.

The question is not whether organizations should advance inclusion. The question is how to do so lawfully, strategically, and with long-term institutional resilience. This session equips leaders, practitioners and DEI-related groups to move from reactive posture to informed strategy.

Presenters for this special session are Erin Jacobson, attorney and president of Workplace Law Group PC, where she leads a team of attorneys who provide employment law and labor relations advice to Archbright members and clients. Effenus Henderson is co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI), where he has become a well-known monitor and herald of the attacks on DEI, Accessibility and Belonging. This is the second time Erin and Effenus have paired up to provide a legal and organization briefing on the status of DEI. You won’t want to miss their latest update!

Reserve your spot today. Stay informed and up-to-date on the status of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for your organization and your role.

The post ISDI and Archbright Virtual Event: Legal & Political Landscape: Advancing DEI Amid Threats & Challenges: Friday, April 17, 2026 at 11:30 AM PT appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.

We are so excited to reach out to you as we launch the 2026 NW Diversity Learning Series!

We begin 2026 with a lot of uncertainty, and it seeps into the workplace. In fact, that is the theme of the entire 2026 Series, Navigating Workplace Uncertainties: Let’s Recommit To Practicing Inclusion To Foster Safety, Belonging & Healthy Relationships.

We believe this is a noble goal, we all want to feel safe, to belong, and to have healthy relationships at work. At the same time, people have different viewpoints, different values. So what can we do?

In this climate, we believe it is much more productive to work collectively and co-create than to work alone. So in this first workshop, we will work together to lay the foundation of dialogue, as that is the methodology we’ll use to address all of our 5 workshop topics. This first workshop will focus on, Navigating Conflicting Mindsets: Engaging Skillfully in Dialogue Across Divides.

We ask you, as participants, to help us co-create a dialogue space to explore answers to difficult and complex issues we face, as a society and as organizations. (This is also a chance to practice inclusion together!)

When conversations at work (or elsewhere) become tense, polarized or emotionally charged, how do you engage constructively? Do you lean in or do you silently avoid the conversation?

How do you help someone feel heard when their views differ sharply from yours? What are the best strategies for connecting with people, and potentially persuading them?

Presenter for this workshop, Dr. David Campt, has coached and advised thousands of people about how to build on findings from the arts of dialogue, persuasion and conflict resolution.

“Many of my clients tell me that the methods I teach often help them make remarkable progress when talking to people they have longstanding disagreements with.”

Come and join in a dialogue experience. Become more confident and more skillful in creating dialogue opportunities in your life!

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Shift from a focus on immediate persuasion to the interpersonal connection that is the necessary precursor to greater influence.
• Move the conversation from facts to the experiences and/or the values that influence each person’s perspective.
• Improve the ability to recognize and articulate the key trade-offs in values behind most deep disagreements.
• Learn ways to strategically use stories of one’s own mistakes to change a conversation from a confrontation to one where both of you are re-examining your point of view.

We invite you to join the 2026 Series, as a Sponsor, as a Subscriber, or as a single workshop purchaser. We remind you that we offer non-profit and other sliding scale registration fees.

You can sign-up here as a Subscriber, or you can register as a single-seat purchaser.

✏️ Register Here

Accessibility: American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, by certified interpreters, is available upon request. If you need an accommodation, contact Abi Depositar, isdi.admin@i4sdi.org.

Requests MUST be made at least TWO weeks prior to the session.

Barbara Deane
barbara.deane@i4sdi.org 📧️
Co-Director

Effenus Henderson
effenus.henderson@i4sdi.org 📧️
Co-Director

Abi Depositar
isdi.admin@i4sdi.org 📧️
Project Manager

https://i4sdi.org/ 🌐
+1 (206) 362-0336 📱️

We can’t wait to see you at the next workshop.
Until then, please share this post with anyone you think would be interested.

The post ISDI: Next NWDLS Workshop: Navigating Conflicting Mindsets: Engaging Skillfully in Dialogue Across Divides: March 11, 2026: Register Now appeared first on Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.