Our Areas of Expertise

Allyship

Allyship is a Critical Component of Inclusive Leadership

Allyship is a concept that has been leveraged in social advocacy communities for years and is now increasingly being embraced by leaders to build more inclusive workplace cultures. This is a must teach and learn area for executive leadership teams because it targets inequities in talent management and systemic change.

Executive Leadership Training That Has Impact

At bci, we have developed an approach to teaching allyship that is highly impactful for fostering inclusion and belonging – particularly for leaders and team members who are looking for more advanced and nuanced behavioral change strategies to be more inclusive.

Why Choose bci for Allyship Training

Our allyship training for executive leaders and their teams takes our foundational DEI training to the next level, by digging deeper into concepts of equity, power, privilege, anti-oppression, and more. In a very concrete way, we break down how to be an ally by providing highly practical tools and strategies. Topics we cover in our allyship training include:

Inclusive
Leadership

How allyship is connected to being an inclusive leader and cultivating belonging

Having Difficult Conversations

What to say in difficult moments to show up as an ally and interrupt inequities

Practical
Strategies

Practical strategies for applying an allyship lens to team interactions and talent management

We Help Organizations Build a Culture of Allyship

Allyship training is essential for shifting both organizational culture and leadership behavior to better advance professionals from equity-seeking communities, including Professionals of Color, women, LGBTQ+ professionals, and professionals from other underrepresented communities.

At bci, we hold in-depth knowledge of leadership, talent management, and DEI best practices for creating cultures rooted in allyship, expertly breaking down how to embed these behaviors across areas like: mentorship and sponsorship, work allocation, performance management, leadership opportunities, talent calibration discussions, and succession planning and promotions.

Did You Know?

Anyone can be
an ally.

When we step into the role of an ally, we offer our friendship, advocacy, support, power, privilege, and voice to those who come from communities that experience underrepresentation and marginalization. In offering our support as allies, we stand next to or behind — but never in front of — equity-seeking communities.

This means that while it is important to use your voice, actions, and privilege to call out inequities, allies need to focus on listening as much as they speak in order to learn how to better use their voice as an advocate and to ensure they do not co-opt others’ experiences.

All of bci’s allyship training can be offered virtually or in-person.

Allyship Resources

TIP SHEET​

4 Ways to Provide Meaningful Allyship in the Workplace

BLOG

Do No Harm – 3 Nonverbal Microaggressions to Eliminate

by Melinda Briana Epler

VIDEO​

What is Allyship and Why is Allyship Important?

REPORT

The State of Allyship Report: The Key to Workplace Inclusion

by Empovia

Want to shift leadership, cultivate belonging, grow empathy,
and unlock psychological safety in your workplace?

Contact us to learn how we can help.
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Dr. Komal Bhasin, MSW, MHSc, DocSocSci

Komal is bci’s Senior DEI Consultant and Mental Health Expert-in-Residence and an accomplished DEI facilitator, coach, and strategist. Komal has over 20 years of experience in providing strategic and advisory guidance and program development across a range of sectors, with a particular concentration in mental health and racial inclusion. Komal is also the founder of Insayva Inc., a social enterprise focused on providing accessible DEI and health equity support to charities and non-profit organizations.

Komal has extensive experience in creating and delivering programming in a range of DEI areas, including unconscious bias, cultural competence, mental health inclusion, psychological safety, and allyship. She is passionate about driving transformational change in workplaces and has worked closely with bci clients – corporations, professional service firms, health care providers, and educational institutions – to embed cultures of DEI within their organizations.

Komal has provided one-on-one inclusion coaching to hundreds of senior leaders and brings a unique approach that is informed by her background as a psychotherapist. Using a trauma-informed lens and somatic approaches, she also has experience guiding leaders and teams in mending relationships, and rebuilding trust where harm has occurred due to inequities, intercultural conflict, value mismatches, exclusion, and psychological or geopolitical safety issues, with the goal of creating a more inclusive, resilient or organizational culture.

Komal also offers a performance coaching program designed specifically for BIPOC leaders. This program aims to help BIPOC leaders harness their place, position, and identity to thrive in the workplace and beyond. Komal is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

As bci’s Mental Health Expert-in-Residence, Komal offers tremendous expertise around workplace mental health. As a doctoral trained mental health clinician, certified health executive, and registered social worker, Komal has assisted organizations looking to advance employee mental health inclusion and well-being through offering programming on inclusive dialogue, anti-stigma, burnout prevention, psychological safety, resilience, and self-care. Komal is committed to advancing mental health and wellness across the life course; she currently serves on the board of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario and previously served on the board of Children’s Mental Health Ontario and the YMCA of Greater Toronto.

When Komal is not working, you’ll find her painting, cooking or snuggling with her cat.