INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Last month, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) asked for the professional development and consultation support of Virtuoso Education Consulting, LLC, to improve practices in its internal Enforcement Inclusion Guiding Team (EIGT). As part of the contract, the internal team asked Virtuoso to help identify current levels of cultural proficiency and create awareness of culturally responsive practices. Virtuoso plans to analyze the current Intercultural Developmental Inventory staff within the NCAA and provide advisement and training sessions for the NCAA’s Enforcement Leadership Team and Inclusion Advisory Group.

A renowned education consulting firm, Virtuoso works closely with corporations and educators to improve cultural competency in the workplace and K-12 schools. Virtuoso CEO Renae Azziz Ed.S., NCSP, believes her team’s approach stretches beyond average training toward understanding. 

“Most diversity trainings (a.k.a. sensitivity trainings), focus primarily on acknowledging differences and advocate respect for them,” Azziz says. 

“While all of that is essential and positive, our cultural competency trainings are designed to build awareness, knowledge, and skills related to cultural difference through a variety of teaching methods including direct instruction, role playing, case studies, facilitated group discussions, and technology/media.” According to Azziz, these methods allow education and corporate employees to learn the skills needed to actually relate to diversity and inclusion, which translates to understanding. 

Virtuoso implements a 5-step process approach with the goal of helping clients develop proficiency in:

• Understanding their personal levels of cultural proficiency,
• Understanding cultural variations in communication patterns that lead to misunderstanding
• Understanding cultural differences in patterns of behaviors across cultures that impact intercultural relationships,
• Gaining skills necessary to manage the dynamics of cultural differences, and
• Developing a data-based action plan design to support the organizations goals for cultural competency.

The Virtuoso team believes its assessment and additional training will be vital to the NCAA’s Enforcement Inclusion Guiding Team and is impressed by their goals. “It is highly proactive on the part of the NCAA to already have a team in place whose job is to engage inclusion of diversity and cultures in all areas,” says Azziz.

About Virtuoso:

Renae Azziz EdD, NCSP is CEO at Virtuoso Education Consulting LLC, a professional development firm that empowers educators on best practices in the K-12 market. Her team helps educators meet school improvement goals, address disproportionality, and close achievement gaps.  She is the author of many best-selling professional development products. Visit www.virtuosoed.com or contact us at ed@virtuosoed.com or razziz@virtuosoed.com.