Services to Develop and Sustain Culturally Competent Organizations

Businesses, schools, and health care organizations across America have begun to implement diversity programs. They do so to strengthen their abilities to include and to work well with diverse groups and settings. They do so to benefit fully from both a diverse workforce and a diverse customer, client or population base.

NCCH works with organizations of all kinds to develop and sustain cultural competence:

• government at local, state, national and international levels;
• business and customer service organizations;
• associations and non-profit agencies;
• educational groups and systems;
• health care groups and provider organizations; and
• community or citizens groups with local, regional, national or international interests.

NCCH offers services that support organizations to respond to diversity in a many ways and with different levels of involvement over time. In order to develop and strengthen cultural competence, organizations are guided and facilitated to "take action" in one or more ways:

• provide one or more diversity awareness training sessions;
• support activities and functions that promote and celebrate diversity awareness;
• audit written materials and policies, the workplace environment and growth opportunities;
• create diversity committees, teams, councils, or resource centers;
• strengthen capacity to respond to differences in perspective, leaning style, or life experience;
• develop skills and tools to make "on purpose" choices about organizational environment;
• invite organizational dialog about cultural issues and concerns;
• become aware of common ground and seek out ways to identify future shared goals;
• develop and implement strategic plans to shape and benefit organizational culture over time;
• develop "in-house" expertise to build skills and manage change as issues continue to emerge.

NCCH's frameworks to develop and sustain cultural competence contain the same essential, proven ingredients for every organizational group. We recognize that each profession and organization has its own unique set of characteristics and concerns. We modify or completely rework the basic framework to meet each client's needs and training goals.

NCCH recognizes individual differences and "personalizes" its services with input from each client. Each client relationship begins with a discussion and initial assessment of current conditions, client needs, preferences and desired results. This initial exchange shapes the services provided and the way that "standard" frameworks are used to respond to each client's unique set of organizational needs.

NCCH works with clients to design and deliver training services that:

• modify established training frameworks to respond to individualized needs, or
• design and implement completely new training programs and frameworks.