Emergent Change

Learning, Development & DEI Consulting

Growth on your mind?

We can teach you how to get there.

We transfer teaching tactics to

any and all organizational cultures—

to foster belonging among the learners in us all.

More Than Just Consultants

As former teachers, the Emergent Change approach to DEI consulting is uniquely bolstered by our application of education's transformative power. We don't offer vague or ordinary deliverables: we tailor and employ precise strategies distinct to educators' skillsets. We have been nurturing meaningful growth, building cultures of belonging, and fostering lasting change—beyond just the classroom.

Conceived by Aaron Barlin at Emergent Change DEI Consulting - DEI consulting model that outlines four major teaching domains as pathways for transferring classroom methodology to organizational change management: "Curriculum Design + Delivery"; "Assessment Methodology"; "Standards-Based Learning"; "Classroom Management."

Maybe you are looking to...

Aaron Barlin and Maris Harmon with Emergent Change - Helping organizations address low-level DEI issues like hiring and retention, depicted by a sprout symbolizing the start of a growth journey.

Increase safety for all, especially for staff, members and partners with underrepresented identities

Aaron Barlin and Maris Harmon with Emergent Change - Assisting businesses in fostering mid-level DEI concerns such as policy review and team development, represented by a growing plant indicating progress and growth.

Create access to belonging with targeted support, mediation, and equitable hiring and retention

Aaron Barlin and Maris Harmon with Emergent Change - Facilitating full integration of DEI into organizational culture and operations, showcased by a flourishing garden reflecting sustainable growth and systemic change.

Raise quality of service through systemic changes that integrate DEI into your culture and impact

Our pedagogical solutions get proven results.

Past Areas of Collaboration and Instruction

Leadership Team Coaching session led by Aaron Barlin and Maris Harmon, focusing on culture shifting for diversity and inclusion at Emergent Change.

unconscious/implicit bias
cross-cultural communication
LGBTQ+ advocacy
disability rights and inclusion
leadership development
inclusive hiring practices
identity sensitivity training

conflict resolution training
DEI strategy development
onboarding programming
culture transformation
cultivating allyship
compliance and policy design
retention for diverse workforces

Clients & Collaborations

From nonprofits, to schools, to health networks, to businesses—change emerges from all we do.

What to see more DEI tools, resources, and samples?
Click here for our once-a-month newsletter of goodies.

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Check out our collage of samples and past works.

For more information, click an image to learn about that previous project.

The image captures a lively workshop scene at the Stanford Alumni Conference, where participants are deeply engaged in interactive learning and dialogue. Surrounded by educational materials and peers, they explore instructional design techniques, discussing and applying these concepts to extend their teaching skills beyond conventional classrooms. The atmosphere is one of active participation and collaborative discovery, highlighting Emergent Change's focus on practical, immersive learning experiences.

An insightful workshop scene from Emergent Change, focusing on integrating social-emotional learning into workplace culture. Participants are deeply engaged in exploring the multifaceted nature of personhood, dissecting their relationships with others, society, and themselves. The image captures a moment of shared introspection and dialogue, as community members collaboratively delve into a nuanced understanding of social-emotional concepts, highlighting the transformative impact of these discussions on both personal and professional levels.

Social Justice Standards Training & Professional Development

A captivating image from the "Family Identity Survey" project by Emergent Change, showing families engaged in a thoughtful exploration of their diverse backgrounds. The scene is set in a community setting where participants, reflective and earnest, fill out surveys that probe into their unique cultural and ethnic identities. The atmosphere is one of discovery and revelation, as individuals share and learn from each other's experiences, highlighting the unexplored diversity within their seemingly homogenous community. The image embodies the essence of Emergent Change's mission to unearth and celebrate the multifaceted nature of every community.

A visual portrayal of Emergent Change's inaugural DEI programming and coaching session, illustrating the initial phase of justice-oriented strategic planning. The image captures the moment where a first-year DEI Director, equipped with structured frameworks and year-long course sequencing from Emergent Change, begins to shape and actualize their DEI goals. This scene symbolizes the transformation from an initially vague vision to a clear, actionable plan, demonstrating the effective application of pedagogical strategies to organizational planning in the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The image captures a lively scene from a completed 6-month follow-up training session. In the foreground, a diverse group of participants is actively engaged in a discussion, reflecting on their progress since the initial training. The background features visual aids and data charts that were used to guide the session, illustrating the data-driven approach of the training. The overall atmosphere is one of dynamic interaction and focused learning, with participants and facilitators collaboratively working towards deepening their understanding and skills.

Title slide of Emergent Change and their "Identity Workshop" — In this multimodal and dialogic workshop, Emergent Change guides attendees through a journey of self-discovery and communal understanding, starting with personal identity exploration and leading to the sharing of collective experiences. It equips participants with a deeper sense of individual identity and diverse community, laying the groundwork for sustainable, collective justice and action. The session is designed to be highly interactive, involving movement and reflection, and is tailored to address the complexities of intersectionality in both personal and professional contexts.

The image vividly illustrates Emergent Change's innovative approach to integrating social-emotional learning with social justice. It features a detailed framework that blends the domains of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) with Learning for Justice concepts. The visual representation shows the intersection of social skills, emotional health, and systemic change, highlighting the synergy between these areas. Key elements of the framework are displayed in an engaging and accessible manner, making it easier for viewers to grasp the comprehensive and interconnected nature of social-emotional learning and social justice, and how they collectively contribute to a more equitable and empathetic society.

A vibrant scene from a "Leadership Coaching Session on Approaches to Culture Change" hosted by Emergent Change. The image captures Maris Harmon and Aaron Barlin engaged in debriefing a synchronous learning environment. The session, led by expert educators from Emergent Change, focuses on the intersection of pedagogy and change management theories. Participants are seen actively discussing and brainstorming ways to foster healthy, equitable work cultures in their respective organizations. Visual aids and collaborative tools are visible, facilitating a dynamic exchange of ideas aimed at building methodical and inclusive community cultures within their businesses.

A dynamic, experiential learning session featuring healthcare staff engaged in a scaffolded role-play exercise, part of a training focused on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The image captures participants actively applying their knowledge in realistic scenarios, after a gradual build-up from recalling personal experiences to understanding novel contexts. This scene exemplifies Emergent Change's workshop approach, which emphasizes a shift away from traditional lectures towards interactive dialogue, collaboration, and practical synthesis of real-world situations.

An image displaying Emergent Change's unique "Guiding Essential Question for Data Collection and Community Building." The scene captures a sample of this innovative approach, designed for a community survey project. The essential question, central in the image, serves as a foundational element that outlines core expectations and centers the values motivating the work. This approach, reminiscent of Emergent Change's background in classroom teaching, is shown as a strategic tool to guide data collection and application in an equitable and reciprocal manner. The visual conveys a sense of purpose and direction, highlighting how this guiding question methodologically frames each moment of growth and reflection in the project.

Designed for and administered to leaders across an institutional community, Emergent Change's self-reflection multimodal survey (using Typeform's one-slide-per question formatting) allowed intimate pre-assessment data on decision-makers' capacity for change, with nearly full completion rates thanks to the survey's user interface and visualizations.

An image displaying Emergent Change's graphic design prowess, where intricate socioemotional skills from the CASEL framework are simplified into visually compelling elements. The design showcases a balanced use of colors, shapes, and text, making the complex SEL concepts easily understandable. Each element is thoughtfully presented to highlight its importance and relation to the overall framework, demonstrating how effective graphic design can bridge the gap between complex theory and practical understanding.

An image showcasing Emergent Change's expertly crafted PDF package, designed to communicate the needs of neurodivergent students in an accessible and comprehensive format. The package, used annually by a school district, features a mix of insightful text and clear graphics that effectively compartmentalize various aspects of neurodivergent experiences. It's evident in the design that longevity, usability, and relevance were prioritized, resulting in a resource that is not only visually appealing but also immensely practical for parents and educators seeking to understand and support neurodivergent children.

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“Everything was super professional, and done with such care and thought. If you are looking for support for anything that Emergent Change can help with, I would highly recommend you connect with them. I really appreciate their approach, which is grounded in a justice-oriented and intersectional framework that I really appreciate. 11/10 would work with them again!"

russ elliot

Our Core Services

Available in person regularly in/around Sacramento, CA and Burlington, VT, as well as by request.
Available for virtual facilitations, coaching, planning, mediating, and training wherever you may be.

If you want to learn more about our DEI strategy or pedagogical coaching, like our partners prior,
contact us for an initial consultation or to inform us about your requests/calls for proposal.

DEVELOPING ESSENTIAL DEI SKILLS

Our approach isn't just about teaching core DEI concepts; it's about nurturing capacities for action that are based in cultures of continual learning and belonging:

Draw on proven educational techniques, to equip teams with essential skills, such as inclusive decision-making and cultural responsiveness.
Differentiate instruction: just as every student in a classroom is unique, so is every member of your team and organization
Empower leadership to self-reliantly understand and apply "classroom" teaching strategies on your own

You know more about "what" we do, but what about "how" ?
Click here for specific teaching methods we apply to DEI.