YES, everyone needs to know how to effectively hold a DEI conversation, regardless of who they are or where they’re from. Being born a certain race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or ability does not mean that you were born with the conversational competence to hold these types of conversations well.

Just as learning how to walk doesn’t mean you won’t fall and learning how to speak does not mean you will always say the words correctly, learning how to effectively have a DEI conversation does not mean you will always get the conversation right. DARE helps you to ensure that you will have more good outcomes than poor outcomes, but this is a journey and on that journey you will make mistakes. DARE decreases the frequency and severity of those mistakes.

The DARE model is a proprietary approach to DEI training. While the DARE model does not focus on bias or the different dimensions of diversity, it does build upon DEI teachings. The DARE model is the tool that allows people to take the DEI education that they have already received and effectively use it in conversations. Let’s use the analogy of tools. DEI education is like a theory class about learning the names of the tools, how they should be used and the most appropriate situations to use the tools in. DARE is the practical class that goes beyond what the tool is and teaches the student how to use the tool effectively.

The DARE model was developed using conversation and conflict management theories. While it was developed to give people a formula to have DEI conversations, it is a flexible tool that can be used to hold any kind of challenging conversation that stretches our conversational competence.