Dr. Leland Harper Speaking Topics

• Building Employee Resource Groups That Matter: From Representation to Organizational Impact

  Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have become an increasingly important part of organizational culture, recruitment, retention, and employee engagement strategies — but many organizations struggle to move beyond symbolic participation toward sustainable impact. In this engaging and practical session, Dr. Leland Harper explores ERG best practices, common organizational pitfalls, and the conditions necessary for ERGs to thrive.

  Drawing on experience working with organizations across sectors, Dr. Harper examines how ERGs can support belonging, leadership development, psychological safety, and organizational accountability while avoiding burnout, tokenism, and performative inclusion. Participants will leave with practical tools for creating ERGs that are strategic, sustainable, and meaningful for both employees and organizations.

  Attendee Results:

  • Learn the foundational elements of effective ERGs -Understand common barriers to long-term ERG success -Explore strategies for leadership buy-in and organizational support -Identify ways ERGs can improve recruitment, retention, and workplace culture
  • Develop approaches for measuring ERG impact and sustainability

• Race, Language, and Belonging: How Communication Shapes Identity and Inclusion

  Language is never neutral. The ways people speak, code-switch, self-censor, or adapt their communication are deeply connected to race, identity, power, and belonging. In this thought-provoking presentation, Dr. Leland Harper explores how language expectations shape the experiences of racialized individuals in workplaces, classrooms, and public life.

  Drawing from philosophy, race studies, and interdisciplinary research on linguistic identity, this session examines concepts such as code-switching, linguistic nonconformity, authenticity, professionalism, and belonging. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how communication norms can reinforce exclusion while also exploring how organizations and educators can create environments where diverse forms of expression are recognized and valued.

  Attendee Results:

  • Understand the relationship between language, race, and power
  • Explore the impacts of code-switching and linguistic self-monitoring
  • Examine how “professionalism” standards can reinforce exclusion
  • Learn strategies for fostering more inclusive communication cultures
  • Develop greater awareness of linguistic diversity and belonging

• Inclusive Pedagogy in Practice: Creating Classrooms Where Students Can Thrive

  Inclusive classrooms are not created through good intentions alone. They require intentional teaching practices, cultural competence, and a willingness to rethink traditional assumptions about learning, authority, and student engagement. In this impactful session, Dr. Leland Harper provides educators with practical strategies for building more equitable and inclusive learning environments across K–12 and postsecondary education.

  This presentation explores topics such as culturally responsive teaching, psychological safety, student belonging, bias in curriculum and assessment, and navigating difficult conversations in the classroom. Grounded in both scholarship and lived educational experience, the session equips educators with actionable tools to improve student engagement, participation, and success while fostering classrooms where diverse identities and experiences are meaningfully acknowledged.

  Attendee Results:

  • Learn practical approaches to inclusive and culturally responsive teaching
  • Identify barriers to student belonging and engagement
  • Explore strategies for facilitating difficult conversations productively
  • Understand how bias can appear in curriculum and assessment
  • Develop tools for creating psychologically safer learning environments

• Inclusive Leadership and Organizational Culture: Moving Beyond Performative Inclusion

  Organizations increasingly recognize the importance of inclusion, belonging, and workplace culture — but many leaders struggle to translate values into meaningful organizational change. In this engaging and solutions-focused keynote, Dr. Leland Harper explores what inclusive leadership looks like in practice and how leaders can cultivate cultures where employees feel valued, heard, and empowered.

  Participants will examine the relationship between leadership, trust, accountability, communication, and organizational culture while learning how exclusion can unintentionally become embedded in systems, policies, and everyday practices. This session challenges leaders to think critically about culture while providing practical strategies for building more inclusive, adaptive, and people-centered organizations.

  Attendee Results:

  • Understand the core principles of inclusive leadership
  • Learn how workplace culture shapes employee engagement and retention
  • Identify barriers to inclusion within organizational systems and practices
  • Explore strategies for fostering trust, accountability, and belonging
  • Develop practical approaches to leading diverse teams effectively

• Beyond Diversity Statements: Antiracism, Accountability, and Meaningful Change

  Many organizations and institutions express commitments to diversity and inclusion, yet struggle to create meaningful and lasting structural change. In this compelling and accessible presentation, Dr. Leland Harper examines the difference between performative responses to inequity and genuine organizational accountability.

  This session explores foundational concepts in antiracism while addressing common misconceptions, resistance, and challenges organizations face when attempting to move from symbolic commitments toward substantive action. Participants will gain practical insights into how institutions can foster cultures of accountability, improve equity-focused decision-making, and create environments where inclusion is embedded into everyday practice rather than treated as a temporary initiative.

  Attendee Results:

  • Understand key principles of antiracism and organizational accountability
  • Explore common barriers to meaningful structural change
  • Learn how performative inclusion differs from sustainable action
  • Identify strategies for embedding equity into organizational practices
  • Develop tools for fostering long-term cultural and institutional change

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