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Dirk Velten

In his 12 years as a professional facilitator of diversity trainings, Dirk Velten has developed an expertise around the more difficult dilemmas of inclusion—such as those related to race and gender—with a specialty in engaging white men's interest and involvement with diversity issues.

His recent work includes positions as a faculty member and/or associate of several highly regarded organizations in the field of Valuing Diversity:

White Men as Full Diversity Partners - co-facilitating 4-day White Men's Caucus on Eliminating Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia in the Workplace retreats for Shell Oil and other clients
J. O. Rodgers & Associates - co-facilitating 2-day Valuing Differences workshops being delivered to all employees of Alabama Power Company and Southern Company Services
Diversity Trends - leading The Diversity Advantage trainings for Sabre, Inc.; co-facilitating the annual 3-day retreat of the Diversity Advisory Council serving the VP of Administration for Harvard University

Other recent work includes co-facilitating Communicating Across Differences workshops to all attorneys and managers in all offices of the Texas law firm Strasburger & Price; consulting to the City of Coppell and facilitating Fundamentals of Valuing Diversity and Cultural Competence workshops for city employees.

Past corporate clients served have included Deloitte & Touche, co-leading Men and Women as Colleagues workshops throughout the U.S. to promote retention and advancement of women in the workplace; Southwestern Law Enforcement Institute, facilitating dialogue on racism with police officers; and International School for Personal Leadership, co-facilitating at a two-week business conference at the De Baak Management Center in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

In his not-for-profit work, Dirk has served as the Dallas organizer for National Days of Dialogue on Race Relations, which sponsored dialogues in more than 50 U.S. cities in January 1998, and has been a member of the Greater Dallas Community of Churches' Dismantling Racism initiative to address systemic and institutionalized racism.

Mr. Velten also serves as a facilitator and a training director for Essential Partnership/ Women & Men, an international network of facilitators who lead gender trainings in 20 countries. Work with that non-profit organization has included co-leading trainings in St. Petersburg, Russia and upcoming workshops in Devon, England. Additionally, he has co-led Alternatives to Violence Project trainings for inmates in Riker's Island maximum security prison in New York City.

Dirk is a founding partner of Mandorla Resources International a consulting company that seeks to bring differences together in a spirit that allows for genuine communication, healing and reconciliation.

"My strength as a diversity trainer
comes from a deeply held passion for
valuing diversity, especially as it relates
to dealing with systemic issues of racism,
gender inequity, and homophobia.
Everything I learn - about culture, history,
others' perspectives, my own sense of identity -
goes to inform how I can best engage the world in
my role as a 'white man' addressing these issues
with candor, equanimity, and openness."