by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 12:40 AM ET, Wed October 21, 2020
Visit Baltimore announced that it will offer six sessions of its new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training for Baltimore hospitality and tourism leaders, beginning in late October through to the end of the year.
Janese Murray, founder and president of Inclusion Impact Consulting, an independent consulting practice in Baltimore, will lead the training sessions, which will focus on improving workforce diversity, creating an inclusive and equitable work culture, assess intercultural competence and facilitate truthful and courageous conversation.
"I'm honored to be chosen as the facilitator for these important training sessions with Baltimore's tourism and hospitality leaders," said Murray.
"Participants will take part in a series of interactive workshops consisting of a mix of large group and small group learning designed to increase awareness of systemic racism, unconscious bias and inclusive behaviors. The training will also provide an action-planning framework to help participants define commitments and actions needed to ensure equity and inclusion within their respective organizations."
This isn't the first program that Visit Baltimore has created to help foster diversity, equality and inclusion in the city; the nonprofit's board of directors created the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and launched the Diversity Apprenticeship program to help foster equality in the city's hospitality and tourism industry.
"Over the past several months, eradicating racism has been at the forefront of our minds globally. Not one person can solve this problem alone, but Visit Baltimore wants to do our part in fostering a more inclusive, equitable industry," said Al Hutchinson, President & CEO at Visit Baltimore.
"By offering these training sessions to local industry leaders, our goal is to create a warm, welcoming environment for all visitors, but especially those of color. This is critical in a city like Baltimore, where nearly a quarter of the city's annual visitors are African American. We want travelers to leave Baltimore telling their friends and family that they visited one of the most inclusive and diverse destinations in America. We thank Atlas Restaurant Group for sponsoring this initiative and engaging in the training as well."
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