Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Storytelling

Available for sessions with corporate, nonprofit, interfaith and community groups.

DEIA requires nuts-and-bolts training around how we treat one another, how we resolve conflict, and which legal standards govern our behavior. But this can leave people wondering why they’re being given this training and where the standards came from.

I research and present custom-crafted talks that present the history of color/gender divides within your industry or the place where you and your group live, work, or worship. The goal is to help your team to understand why they each are where they are, and why they have or have not had access. That larger history, tied to current trends and events will inform all future training and discussion about how coworkers and clients, partners and neighbors want to be treated and what it takes to create a culture of belonging.

In a single customized talk of 20-30 minutes, or a series of shorter storytelling sessions, I provide the foundation for all future DEIA efforts. These talks answer the questions: Why DEIA? Why here? Why in our organization or community? Why now? And how does that serve to humanize and empower every one of us?

What is DEIA?

DEIA stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access. It is shorthand for a vision for a society in which we all belong, everywhere. Our schools, workplaces, public spaces and institutions should all reflect who we are here in the U.S. and Canada. We are multiethnic, multiracial, multi-religious populations of people who have different gender expressions, have different skills and abilities, and are free to love and make families with whomever we choose.

Why DEIA?

Modern standards of human rights have finally caught up with the incredible diversity of our world. Most of us know that we are stronger together, and that violence and hatred in a society hurt us all.

Schools are one of the best places to stem ignorance through learning. When we give youth a chance to know one another and learn about the world, they are not afraid, they are excited! Global, equitable, high-quality education works to make a better, more peaceful society.

DEIA initiatives expand what has worked in schools to workplaces, organizations, and leadership teams, making sure that everyone has an opportunity to imagine and build a better, more peaceful future.

Challenges to DEIA:

Many people, of every background, roll their eyes at the mention of DEIA. The challenges to DEIA are sometimes rooted in people feeling that DEIA does not include them, resenting a bunch of new rules and restrictions, and lacking an understanding why we need DEIA in the first place. Sometimes they’re rooted in the conviction that DEIA could never go far enough to repair the damage done to marginalized people. Effective DEIA work is about building the capacity for mutual understanding, insisting on our shared humanity, and dismantling systems of oppression while building an equitable, liberatory alternative.

  • "Sofia Ali-Khan is amazing! Sofia gave the keynote speech at National Consumer Law Center's annual mortgage conference in Philadelphia, weaving local histories together to challenge the common narrative about how equity in housing, segregation, and who belongs, has progressed in America. It was especially compelling to the room of three hundred lawyers and advocates, like me, who have spent their careers fighting predatory lending and housing discrimination because Sofia brought  her personal experience as a social justice lawyer and her expertise as an author and researcher to the podium. In 20 mins, she delivered a talk that helped us understand how we got here, as a nation and as a people, and how our work fits into that picture. The people in that room were challenged and changed by her vision of what racial justice means and why it matters-- and we gave her a standing ovation to show it."

    — Monty Wilson, Supervising Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia

  • "I recruited Sofia to tell a story about love, faith, and wearing hijab for The Moth's MainStage in both Boston and Philadelphia. Then, years later, I worked with her on a story called "Slippery Liberty.” It was commissioned for House of Speakeasy at Joe’s Pub in New York, and it exposed the aftermath of several iconic moments in American history. Sofia is a warm and natural storyteller with a thoughtful, nuanced worldview. Her stories are smart, compelling, and unexpected, leaving her audiences transformed."

    -Maggie Cino, playwright and former Senior Producer at The Moth

  • "On behalf of the National Consumer Law Center, I invited Sofia to give the keynote speech to attendees of our annual mortgage conference in Philadelphia. I also suggested that her book, A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America be offered as a book club read for conference attendees. We were SO grateful that she gave a book talk over breakfast and then delivered an amazing speech. Her talk was so on-point and relevant to our work. It was just overall an amazing experience having Sofia at the conference and I continue to get a lot of great feedback from attendees!"

    — Andrea Bopp Stark, Senior Attorney, National Consumer Law