Photographs by Ruthie Brownfield
Iris inclusion provides inspiration, training, and consulting to support organizations in their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
Our approach is grounded in social science, providing deep understanding and evidence-based solutions to help your organization live its DEI values. When everyone thrives, teams collaborate better and organizations perform at their highest levels. Our keynotes, workshops, leadership trainings, and eLearning offerings are designed to not only build awareness, but to also create behavior and system change.
At Iris Inclusion, we know that we can all do better. We can connect more authentically and empathetically with others. We can consider a diversity of perspectives and people in our actions and decisions. We can lead more inclusively so that everyone feels respected and valued while organizations thrive. And we can intentionally design structures and processes for more equitable outcomes for all.
Iris Inclusion was founded by Dr. Michael Baran, award-winning author, speaker, social scientist, and DEI practitioner. The firm is named after the small iris farm Dr. Baran lives on with his family. As the resilient flowers grow year after year, they connect people to one another as they are passed among friends and family. Our name takes inspiration from this process, as our diverse team works to facilitate deep human to human connection and growth, cultivating inclusion and equity for everyone.
In this new TEDx talk, Dr. Michael Baran explains:
In this award-winning book, Dr. Michael Baran and his co-author Dr. Tiffany Jana reframe and tackle one of the biggest threats to workplace inclusion – Subtle Acts of Exclusion (microaggressions). The updated and expanded second edition was released on September 19, 2023!
Understanding Subtle Acts of Exclusion (SAE) will allow your organization to:
In this video toolkit, senior DEI experts from Iris Inclusion discuss frequently asked questions, such as:
The Video Toolkit library has 24 questions to choose from. Videos can be provided to employees to increase deep understanding and awareness. They can also be used to spark important conversations. Each video comes with Discussion Questions that internal facilitators or managers can use to lead conversations.