Dr. Tina Opie

Shared Sisterhood is not just the business of women. It’s for all of us. When organizations or teams narrow the conversation, they are limiting the potential of what Shared Sisterhood offers. In this “All-Inclusive” session, Tina provides the Shared Sisterhood framework and, importantly, shares effective ways for galvanizing all in the organization to become part of the effort. With a deeper understanding and appreciation for foundational elements, she identifies specific ways to foster them, ensuring leaders and their organizations are poised to move forward faster together.

BEST FOR (Audience):

• General audience – employees/talent committed to an inclusive culture
• Leaders/organizations invested in gender/equity initiatives
• Leadership and development professionals

Shared Sisterhood is about coalition-building, a potentially powerful remedy for workplace gender inequity. Too often, “women’s issues” and efforts around gender equity are conflated as if all within the cohort face identical challenges. This is a false premise—but holds the hope. Uniting women across their differences, including the very salient racio-ethnic differences that exist among women within diverse companies, can be a powerful and attainable way to collectively drive change. For the process (and promise) of Shared Sisterhood to take hold, trust, vulnerability, empathy and risk-taking, both individually and collectively are required. Understanding these essential building blocks and being intentional about them is a critical, often overlooked step. Even the most inclusive organizations miss it. Tina takes you through the process of starting and building toward a culture of inclusion that is more sustainable for all.

BEST FOR (Audience):

• Women in leadership events, ERGs
• Leaders/organizations invested in gender/equity initiatives who feel like they’ve reached a plateau
• Leadership and development professionals

While no leader sets out to marginalize or disenfranchise a member of the team, the truth is it happens. Often, the reason is right there, in plain sight. Identifying the patterns and processes within organizations that undermine inclusion efforts is Tina’s focus. She’ll walk you through key areas to examine—observing power patterns, considerations of “fit”, appearance policies and norms, definitions of “difficult” and more. And help you focus on the areas that too often undermine your efforts, including performance management metrics and HR policies encouraging competitiveness and aggression versus teamwork and cooperation. You’ll emerge with a lens for identifying potential issues before they become ingrained practices, along with ways to address and dismantle processes that may be in place.

BEST FOR (Audience):

• Senior leaders in all industries
• Diversity and inclusion committees, leaders
• Leadership and development professionals​

This is a very personal journey—digging into individual thoughts and actions. Tina’s starting point is trust and empathy. Trust is focused on how confident we are with the words, actions, and decisions of another person; for it to deepen it is grounded in reciprocated interpersonal care. Empathy focuses on “other-oriented” or feelings of concern for others. Vulnerability and risk come next. How susceptible are you willing to be for the negative consequences of actions you undertake on behalf of another? Are others willing to take a chance on failure or rejection on your behalf? Together, these four elements are the foundation for authentic emotional interactions. Instead of competition in which individuals seek to maximize their own utility, Tina helps foster a climate for cooperation and co-empowerment. In “Mind & Muscle” she helps tune both our minds and muscles to be open to connections and community.

BEST FOR (Audience):

• Women in leadership events, ERGs
• Leaders/organizations invested in gender/equity initiatives who feel like they’ve reached a plateau
• Leadership and development professionals