Anima Blog

There’s been much speculation post-Trump’s second victory that DEI efforts might actually be dead. In the US, there has been some legal clawback of DEI funding whereas in Canada our Employment Equity and human rights codes offer more support for DEI efforts as on-going priority.  However, too many organizations in both the US and Canada have used the backlash as an excuse to dial back DEI efforts that were just barely lifting off the ground. 

But let me hit pause here for a moment.  What critically minded person would possibly think that the need for efforts towards creating equal access to benefits, resources and dignity in the workplace would have just disappeared, especially in this current xenophobic political environment? 

The facts are that discriminatory gaps not only continue to exist in policy and behaviour toward minoritized staff, but also are harder now to address because of the backtracking of organizational support. I’ve just spent a book – Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders– talking about exactly what these gaps are and how to navigate.  

But here’s the good news: recent studies of randomly selected individuals in both Canada and the US show clear majority support for ongoing DEI efforts. One report is from The Diversity Institute, August 2025 and the other is from Abacus Data, May 2025.

What the Data Says

Those who say DEI has a positive impact on their lives tend to be the groups DEI policies are designed to help. These are:

• Younger Canadians: 47% (vs the 35% average)
• Women: 38%
• And those who identify as a visible minority (55%, even higher for minority women).

Women (56%), and those who identify as a visible minority (59%) are more likely to see a positive impact on society from DEI.  

Conclusions from each report show a few trends:

1. Very few Canadians see DEI initiatives as negative (meaning the US narrative has not taken root here in the Canadian mainstream) while those set to benefit the most from DEI initiatives including women, BIPOC folks and LGBTQ2S. If anything, the findings show that the current approaches to DEI could be more impactful.
   
2. Results on the positive impacts of DEI are a little lower, which is something we’ve been talking about for years at Anima Leadership. DEI work can’t be driven in organizations by critical theory shoved like spoonful of castor oil down organizational throats, but has to involve good pedagogy (compassionate as well as challenging), clear strategy and communications, as well as data benchmarking to assess progress.  I am often shocked when I enter conversation with executive teams how one or more of these factors in missing. So yes to DEI, and yes to doing it better.
   
3. Support for DEI in Canada has not been unduly influenced by the tariff impositions or economic impacts– if anything, people see how much the workforce is diversifying and that DEI efforts support our shifting demographics.

Where to Go next

• Bring us in to do a strategic assessment with your executive team:  where is your organization at, what are strategic next steps and how to create a data baseline.
• Do an organizational audit of how staff feel about key equity benchmarks and use this to guide strategic next steps within the organization.
• Offer DEI based leadership training to managers covering key skills such as emotional intelligence, brave conversations and conflict resolution, performance feedback, team facilitation and engagement behaviours, micro-inclusive management behaviours.

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid gets juiced by figuring out what makes people and systems tick, and how to move them from survive to thrive. Over the last two decades she has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour who uses her voice to illuminate our common journey to belonging. Her new book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is available for pre-order now. Alongside her bestselling books —Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (2019)— she has written for numerous other publications and sits on the boards of both the Writer’s Trust and the Writer’s Union of Canada. 

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities (Process work, Somatic Experiencing trauma training, mindfulness and Chinese medicine) to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. Besides consulting, educating, coaching and writing on JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) issues for over two decades across both public and private sectors, she has carefully cultivated her love of reading, usually on the couch with a glass of wine in hand trying to tune out the voices of her little ones. Check out her wiki page or website for more.

In an era of rising authoritarianism, the connection between Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) and pro-democracy work has never been more critical. In the upcoming cafe “Why DEI must Integrate Pro-democracy Work,” Shakil Choudhury (CVO & Co-Founder of Anima Leadership) makes the case that defending democracy and advancing EDI are not separate battles—they are one and the same.

Democracy at the Crossroads

At its core, democracy means “people power”—the idea that all voices, especially those representing non-dominant or “minority” groups, should be considered when designing public policy and making decisions, be that women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, or those of us from non-European ethnicities.  This is also a core tenet of racial justice and equity work: bringing the voices from the margins to the center.  

Democracy is a model that replaces governance by “the few” (e.g. feudalism, oligarchies) or the only (e.g. monarchies, dictatorships).  Democracy is also meant to resist “mob rule” where the majority population dictates the rule of law to benefit their own in-group. As stated by Nobel laureate for peace and non-violence Mahatma Ghandi:  “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”   

While all of that is very aspirational, what we don’t talk enough about is that democracy is often messy, slow and difficult.  When we have to consider so many voices and needs, compromise is not just a part of the process, it is a constant outcome. It can leave us feeling unsatisfied, especially when our individual and group needs don’t fully get met. To paraphrase a thought leader on power dynamics, Julie Diamond, in democracies we often lose more than we win. And this can lead to people wanting shortcuts.

We are seeing this now, in real time, in the US.  After 40 years of neo-liberal economics in which wages have not kept pace with the cost of living and many jobs have been outsourced overseas, people are desperate, vulnerable and angry. Many in “the land of the free and home of the brave” feel betrayed and can’t understand why the promise of the middle-class lifestyle and good jobs have disappeared. In such circumstances there is a natural desire to:  

1. Accuse outsiders for our woes, and 
2. For someone with a firm hand to take control and fix things.

Enter Donald Trump, a man whose impulses are defined by control, blame and punishment.          

The resulting social context is the most lethal threat to democracies: extreme polarization, in which people begin to see their neighbors as enemies, not just people with different opinions. The reality is that democracies don’t typically die through dramatic coups; they erode gradually through recognizable patterns. The warning signs, from the rejection of historic processes and rules, to the weaponization of courts and propaganda, are already present.

The Three Stages of Autocracy

Historian Masha Gessen identifies three critical stages in the transition from a democratic to autocratic regime: the autocratic attempt, breakthrough, and consolidation. With Trump’s second term, the U.S. climate is firmly in stage 2, the autocratic breakthrough. The country is a tragic case study in how democratic institutions can be systematically undermined—from the appointment of extreme loyalists, undermining the free press, stacking the Supreme Court, attacking the independence of higher education, using the government institutions to enact revenge on political opponents, as well as unleashing masked agents terrorizing citizens through racial profiling. All of this has unfolded, and is currently happening, in only the first ten months of the year, underscoring how quickly democratic norms can erode.

Fascism is one type of authoritarian government as defined by historical figures such as Mussolini and Hitler who leverage charismatic leadership, hyper-nationalism, xenophobia, and the exploitation of political divisions to maintain power. Today, we have “neo-fascist” figures— Putin, Trump, Erdoğan, Netanyahu, Modi—who employ similar tactics to their historical counterparts but have adapted them for contemporary society.

Why this moment matters

Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat offers a few crucial lessons to help tackle rising authoritarianism and fascism across the world. Firstly, we have to NOT be overwhelmed, understanding that authoritarianism follows very distinct patterns, as outlined above. People have been fighting fascism across the world so there ARE proven strategies on what works. 

For example, authoritarianism requires the participation of the financial elite. Without the support of the billionaire class including the tech bros like Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg, authoritarianism cannot flourish. This means organizational leaders have both responsibility and power in this moment. Their choices matter so it is enormously important for us to pressure them whether by protest, boycotts and other strategies to sway public opinion.  

Lately, when facing far-right authoritarian threats, moving to the center doesn’t work. A clear vision with progressive alternatives matters, as demonstrated by the recent mayoral win by Zohran Mamdami in New York City who offered a social democratic platform by focusing on lower cost of living.  He defied the odds by appealing to ordinary, diverse people at the center of his message and billionaires on the outside. The strategies he used, aligned with those of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Bernie Sanders, aren’t just political theory—it’s a survival strategy backed by decades of research. 

We don’t want to be in a position of looking back in the rearview mirror and asking the haunting question: “Could we have done more?” This isn’t about future regret—it’s about present action. 

Pro-democracy work, therefore, has to be integrated as a component of DEI training and development, not as optional but essential. Building capacity, community, and courage represents our path forward. 

Join us for our next Anima Café to explore these ideas more.

Shakil Choudhury

CVO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

Shakil is  an award-winning educator, consultant and author with more than 25-years experience in the field of racial justice, diversity, equity and inclusion. He’s the author of Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Racial Justice Deep Diversity. Written in an accessible, storytelling manner, many have called it a “breakthrough” book on issues of systemic racial discrimination due to its non-judgmental approach that integrates human psychology with critical race perspectives.

He coaches executive teams and has worked with thousands of leaders across sectors in Canada and the United States to help improve their diversity, inclusion and equity outcomes. He also specializes in designing and facilitating dialogue processes to resolve inter-group conflict, having led projects internationally as well as with organizations locally. As a South Asian-Canadian who immigrated from Pakistan as a young child, much of his passion for justice and overcoming polarization stems from his family’s civil war history. Shakil is also father to two high-spirited children, and regularly runs the trails near his home in Toronto as a way of clearing his head. Check here for more details.

How many times have you been in a meeting that seemed to go off the rails very quickly? To facilitate effectively, we must look not only at external tools but also inward, to the facilitator themselves.

When we talk about facilitation, most people picture what happens outside the facilitator such as the room, the participants, the slides, the activities and time management. But the heart of truly inclusive facilitation is found inside the facilitator. Long before we walk into the room or open the Zoom call, our body and emotions have already set the tone.

It becomes very clear that as a facilitator, we are the instrument. The way we show up, grounded or scattered, calm or anxious, open or defensive becomes the tuning fork that the entire group vibrates with. Inclusive facilitation begins not only with techniques, but also with self-awareness: the capacity to sense what is happening within ourselves so that we can hold space for others with steadiness, compassion, and clarity.

The Inner Work Before the Outer Work

Before each session, take a moment to check in with yourself.

• What’s happening with my breath?
• How am I feeling: calm, tense, tired, nervous?
• What’s going on in my thoughts? Am I dwelling on something outside this space?
• How do I want to feel as I begin this facilitation?

This self-check may take less than two minutes, yet it shifts everything. By noticing the state of your own body and emotions, you start from a place of alignment rather than reaction.

This practice is especially vital for inclusive spaces where difficult conversations, diverse perspectives, and lived experiences coexist. When we are dysregulated (e.g., rushing, defensive, or self-conscious) our nervous systems can’t attune to the group. But when we begin centered, we invite others into that calm. We make it easier (from the Latin facil, meaning “to make easy”) for the group to think clearly, listen deeply, and connect authentically.

The Elephant and the Rider: Why Self-Awareness Matters

A powerful metaphor for this comes from neuroscience: imagine your mind as a small rider perched on top of a large elephant. The rider is your conscious, rational self, the part that plans, speaks, and explains. The elephant represents your unconscious: your emotions, instincts, tone, and body language.

When facilitators prepare content, we often focus on the rider: words, talking points, slides, data. But in every group interaction, the elephant is what people actually respond to. Participants may hear your words, but they feel your energy.

If your elephant is agitated (i.e. rushing, anxious, or distracted) no amount of polished language will fully compensate. Conversely, when your elephant is calm and confident, people trust you even when your words aren’t perfect.

Neuroscience confirms this: even supposedly rational decisions, like voting, are heavily influenced by the limbic brain — the emotional center. Our presence communicates more powerfully than our presentation.

So the work of self-awareness is the work of befriending the elephant. We learn to notice our internal weather before it becomes a storm. We become conscious of our emotional currents so we can choose how to respond rather than react.

Facilitation as Emotional Leadership

To facilitate inclusively is to lead emotionally. Every group has a mood, sometimes eager, sometimes cautious, sometimes tense. People naturally mirror the emotions of those around them, especially whoever holds authority in the room. This is called emotional contagion.

If the facilitator enters hurried or anxious, that energy ripples through the space. But when the facilitator models groundedness  (i.e. calm breath, open posture, steady tone) others unconsciously co-regulate. They begin to settle. Safety emerges not from the rules we announce, but from the nervous system we bring.

This is why self-regulation is not a “soft skill.” It is a technical competence for inclusive facilitation. It allows us to navigate difficult emotions — our own and others’ — without losing focus or compassion. It also enables us to pause, breathe, and hold silence when something hard arises instead of rushing to fill the space.

A skilled facilitator doesn’t suppress emotion; they steward it. They recognize that emotion is information. Anger may signal injustice, confusion may reveal an unspoken assumption, and laughter may offer relief or connection. Our ability to stay attuned and responsive allows the group to process these emotions safely, without shame or derailment.

Mindfulness in Action: A Simple Pre-Session Practice

Here’s a practice drawn from mindfulness and trauma-informed facilitation that can help tune your instrument before leading a group:

1. Arrive Early. Even five minutes before participants join gives your nervous system time to settle.
2. Breathe into the Body. Notice the physical sensations of sitting or standing. Take three slow breaths, lengthening each exhale.
3. Name What’s Present. Silently identify what you’re feeling: “I’m a bit anxious,” “I’m curious,” “I’m tired.” Naming helps regulate emotion.
4. Set an Intention. Choose a simple focus: “I will listen more than I speak.” “I will meet tension with curiosity.”
5. Visualize Safety. Imagine creating a container of grounded energy that can hold whatever emerges in the room.

This small ritual doesn’t eliminate challenges, but it transforms how you meet them. Instead of being swept up in the group’s emotional tides, you become an anchor.

The Paradox of Presence: Being Real, Not Robotic

Self-regulation doesn’t mean detachment. Facilitators are not meant to be emotionless robots. In fact, authenticity is one of the most powerful tools we have. The goal is to be present and human without losing center.

Participants trust facilitators who are real. A facilitator who acknowledges, “That was a difficult comment — let’s pause for a moment,” models courage and care. What matters is not perfection, but presence. When we can feel our own emotions without being overtaken by them, we create space for others to do the same.

Inclusive facilitation requires this balance of head and heart, structure and spontaneity, clarity and compassion. It asks us to notice when our rider (the rational mind) is trying to control everything, and when our elephant (the emotional self) is charging ahead unacknowledged. Integration is the goal: both parts working together in service of the group.

Join us for Authentic Facilitation this November to put these ideas into practice.

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid gets juiced by figuring out what makes people and systems tick, and how to move them from survive to thrive. Over the last two decades she has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour who uses her voice to illuminate our common journey to belonging. Her new book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is available for pre-order now. Alongside her bestselling books —Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (2019)— she has written for numerous other publications and sits on the boards of both the Writer’s Trust and the Writer’s Union of Canada. 

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities (Process work, Somatic Experiencing trauma training, mindfulness and Chinese medicine) to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. Besides consulting, educating, coaching and writing on JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) issues for over two decades across both public and private sectors, she has carefully cultivated her love of reading, usually on the couch with a glass of wine in hand trying to tune out the voices of her little ones. Check out her wiki page or website for more.

How DEI Assessments Build Trust and Credibility

Trust is the foundation of effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work. Without it, employees won’t engage authentically, leaders can’t have honest conversations, and meaningful change becomes difficult.  One of the most powerful tools for building or breaking that trust is the collection of DEI data.  Over the last few years, Anima Leadership has offered DEI audits and assessments for University of Toronto, University of Victoria, Municipality of Whistler, George Brown College and various law firms and health care organizations. We know first hand how DEI assessments build trust and credibility when approached thoughtfully.

They Signal Long-Term Commitment

• Running a DEI assessment signals your organization is willing to look honestly at itself, including the uncomfortable parts.
• Employees recognize the difference between organizations that talk about inclusion and those genuinely prepared to engage with DEI work.  It’s a retention strategy.
• Ongoing DEI assessments that recur annually or biannually signal that DEI is a priority at your organization, not just a temporary initiative

They Validate Employee Experiences

• DEI assessments can create a shared understanding of where the organization actually stands.
• Many employees, particularly those from underrepresented groups, have been sharing experiences of bias and exclusion for years—often feeling unheard.
• When assessment data reveals patterns confirming these experiences, it validates what employees have been saying all along.
• This validation moves concerns from “individual complaints” to “organizational issues requiring systemic solutions.”

They Inform Targeted, Meaningful Action

• Assessments reveal where specific problems exist and which groups are most affected, preventing generic programs that miss the mark.
• When action plans directly respond to assessment findings, employees see that their feedback matters.
• The assessment becomes the bridge between employee voice and organizational action.

The Critical Caveat: Assessment Without Action Can Undermine Trust

Before launching a DEI assessment, ensure you have leadership buy-in, sufficient resources, and a genuine readiness to act on difficult findings. Without this foundation, even the best-designed assessment can do more harm than good. Employees who share honest feedback and then see no visible follow-up may feel dismissed or even betrayed. Over time, this can foster cynicism, disengagement, or the perception that your organization’s DEI efforts are merely performative, which can damage morale and credibility across all levels of the organization.

A strong communication plan and transparent sharing of results are essential. Leaders should be prepared to acknowledge uncomfortable truths, outline specific next steps, and report back on progress over time. They should also ensure that results are discussed openly, actions are prioritized, and accountability measures are clearly established. When handled with integrity and accountability, a DEI assessment not only demonstrates commitment but it also validates employee experiences, strengthens organizational trust, and provides a realistic roadmap for lasting, measurable, and meaningful change.

Where to go next?

Anima Leadership has a top of the line comprehensive workplace inclusion survey  and we can also do a full scale third party audit of all aspects of organizing functioning from governance, to communications, to HR and organizational culture—or any of these areas independently.  This last year for example, we’ve conducted HR audits for a number of organizations looking to meet their inclusion targets.  To learn how data truly makes all the difference to employee retention and high-performance, join our next online free audit webinar.

Anima Leadership

Anima Leadership believes in a compassionate approach to racial justice where everyone can feel like they matter and belong.

Since 2007, we have worked with thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations teaching, consulting and coaching transformative change. Our award-winning training programs and innovative measurement tools will help us journey with you from diversity basics to advanced belonging.

We’re in a moment of real workplace reckoning. As organizations push people back into offices, I’ve noticed a growing fatigue — not just with the commute or the cubicle, but with how our time is being used (and often wasted).  We need managers who have good facilitation skills. 

That’s why I was glad to contribute to this recent Globe and Mail article on “meeting hygiene”, a term I both appreciate and want to push a little further. Because the way we meet isn’t just about time management: it’s about culture, leadership, and inclusion.

In my work with leaders, I often say: your meetings are a microcosm of your organization. How people show up (or don’t), who gets to speak, how decisions are made: it all says something. And too often, what it says is that people don’t feel seen, heard, or valued.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Why do meetings have a bad reputation?

The biggest reason meetings go down the drain is because managers often lack basic management skills. Good management is predicated on a range of emotional intelligence skills.  A lot of managers over rely on content, facts, statistics and rationality– without having any awareness of their emotional state. This is what comes across more loudly to their team than the content of what they’re saying.

Hybrid meetings are clumsy: people crammed into tight meeting rooms in downsized offices, their remote colleagues beaming in from afar with bad Internet connections.  How does the set-up affect the meeting itself?

In the virtual world, emotional tone gets amplified because people have less access to those body signals in the room. 

The default for a lot of leaders is to rush right into the meeting content because of this sentiment that people feel over-Zoomified and tired of being online. What it actually means is that managers need to curate meetings more carefully. You need to use the time well, but also get people to connect.  If people feel connected, they’re more likely to have their cameras on, participate and invest themselves rather than dialing themselves out further, which is happening in a lot of workplaces.

Research shows that managers who institute five days in office are seeing high rates of quitting among senior -level staffers who prize flexibility, particularly women and racialized employees. And does backlash to DEI mean bosses aren’t particularly concerned?

To their own detriment. I look at the DEI pushback, and long-term, the dissatisfaction among these pockets is only going to grow. Unfortunately, the point at which workplace bosses will start to listen is when they start losing talent, expertise and people’s productivity.

The time economy– how we manage time, how we value employees’ time– this is another facet of inclusion and equity. Managers slopping this off their plates, it’s going to come back and bite them.

If you’re curious to explore more, take a moment to read the full article here on the Globe and Mail site (article by Zosia Bielski). I share thoughts on why so many meetings go off the rails, how emotional intelligence plays a critical role in leadership, and what real inclusion looks like, even in something as everyday as a calendar invite.

And if this conversation resonates with you, I invite you to go deeper with me.

I will be teaching Authentic Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Polarizing Times this November, and I invite you to join me.   My next book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is also now available for pre-order. And you’re also welcome to join one of our free upcoming Anima Cafe conversations. 

Photo Credits: Duane Cole – The Globe and Mail

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid gets juiced by figuring out what makes people and systems tick, and how to move them from survive to thrive. Over the last two decades she has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour who uses her voice to illuminate our common journey to belonging. Her new book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is available for pre-order now. Alongside her bestselling books —Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (2019)— she has written for numerous other publications and sits on the boards of both the Writer’s Trust and the Writer’s Union of Canada. 

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities (Process work, Somatic Experiencing trauma training, mindfulness and Chinese medicine) to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. Besides consulting, educating, coaching and writing on JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) issues for over two decades across both public and private sectors, she has carefully cultivated her love of reading, usually on the couch with a glass of wine in hand trying to tune out the voices of her little ones. Check out her wiki page or website for more.

Take a look at recent stats:

• Black folks represent 14% of the US population, but only 7% of the workforce and only 4% of executive positions; [1]
• People who are Latinx represent 19% of the overall population and 4% of executive positions; [2]
• East Asians represent 21% of the US population and only 6% of senior leadership; [3]
• Indigenous people in Canada represent 6 percent of the population but only 0.8 percent of board positions; [i]
• When we look at race and gender together, the number of racialized women in senior leadership drops down to half of the estimated numbers above. [4]

Racialized leaders don’t just create greater proportional representation of the broader society our institutions serve, but also bring additional skills and worldviews which strengthen organizational impact and resilence. Yet rather than being invited in, this demographic of leaders too often encounter the opposite: variations of being underestimated, condescended to, or simply overlooked. Hearing the stories of BIPOC leaders over the last twenty years lit my fire to write this book– we need BIPOC folks in the workplace to keep going, keep speaking up, and keep working to change the very conditions holding us back in the first place, because our voices are needed at this moment more than ever.

Book Description

In these politically fraught times, organizations need strong leadership to help navigate uncertainty and complexity. A crucial yet overlooked group are leaders who are also racial minorities, often moving into positions of influence with little support or acknowledgement.  Fire and Silence offers a roadmap to leadership using compassion instead of trauma, authority without victimhood, and strength inclusive of vulnerability, in ways that are fair to all. 

From the trenches of social activism to coaching board room executives, Annahid Dashtgard offers proven strategies and real-world stories alongside practical tips and tools to support the growing number of BIPOC leaders achieve the impact and recognition they so richly deserve — without having to sacrifice who they are in the process.

“I don’t talk about leadership neutrally. This book is an invitation to be part of changing the ubiquitous conditions holding back BIPOC folks and other minoritized groups in the workplace. The leadership pathway, frameworks, and skills I offer here are in service of changing the discriminatory systems we find ourselves in, challenging the corrupt uses of power, and ultimately cultivating more interconnectedness and belonging in our workplaces and society. I want you to feel as though you matter and belong, and I hope you create more of that for others. That’s the wish at the heart of this book.” ~ Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders

What Others Have to Say:

“Fire and Silence is a powerful, unflinching guide for BIPOC leaders navigating systems that were not built for us. With wisdom, vulnerability, and clarity, Dashtgard offers both solace and strategy, making this book an essential companion for changemakers.” ~Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto

“This would be an important book at any time, but in the present context of heightened divisions, anger and hate, it is an excellent and timely resource for leaders as they navigate troubled waters.” ~The Honourable Ratna Omidvar, OC, O.Ont.

“This book is a must read for leaders navigating today’s workplace full of rapid shifts, uncertainty, and polarization. Both a practical guide and a personal call to action, Annahid’s words are uniquely positioned to help BIPOC leaders navigate with authority and compassion.” ~Deepa Purushothaman, Author of The First, The Few, The Only.

What Next:

• Register for our upcoming free Anima Fire & Silence Cafe Series – Changing the Game by Using Power Well (Jan 21) and Publication Day & Book Launch (Feb 24)
• Order your copy now – Canada (Dundurn Press, Indigo, Amazon)
• Order your copy now – US and International (Barnes and Noble, Amazon)
  

Sources:

[1] McKinsey & Company. Race in the Workplace: The Black Experience in the US Private Sector. 21 Feb. 2021, www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/race-in-the-workplace-the-black-experience-in-the-us-private-sector.

[2] HACR. 2016 CORPORATE INCLUSION INDEX. May 2016, hacr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2016-HACR-CII-1.pdf.

[3] Goon, Caroline, et al. “Examining the Asian American Leadership Gap and Inclusion Issues with Federal Employee Data: Recommendations for Inclusive Workforce Analytic Practices.” Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, vol. 7, no. 958750, Sept. 2022, https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2022.958750.

[4] The Diversity Institute. “Skills for Inclusive Workplaces and the Advancement of Indigenous Peoples”. May 2024, www.torontomu.ca/content/dam/diversity/reports/DI-FS%20CCAB%20Indigenous%20Leadership%20and%20Skills%20-%20May2024_FINAL.pdf.

[5] McKinsey & Company. Women in the Workplace. 5 Oct. 2023, www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace.

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid gets juiced by figuring out what makes people and systems tick, and how to move them from survive to thrive. Over the last two decades she has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour who uses her voice to illuminate our common journey to belonging. Her new book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is available for pre-order now. Alongside her bestselling books —Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (2019)— she has written for numerous other publications and sits on the boards of both the Writer’s Trust and the Writer’s Union of Canada. 

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities (Process work, Somatic Experiencing trauma training, mindfulness and Chinese medicine) to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. Besides consulting, educating, coaching and writing on JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) issues for over two decades across both public and private sectors, she has carefully cultivated her love of reading, usually on the couch with a glass of wine in hand trying to tune out the voices of her little ones. Check out her wiki page or website for more.

• Indigenous Erasure: Past and Present
• Canadian Allyship: How to Stay Engaged
• Indigenous Resistance: Present and Future
• Indigenous Voices to Check Out
• Frequently Asked Questions

Indigenous Erasure: Past and Present

Racism is not always about obvious exclusion or unfair treatment. Sometimes it means invisibility—failing to see people at all. In Canada, erasure of Indigenous peoples demands that we ignore their histories, cultures, and ongoing presence. Truth and reconciliation demand that we refuse to forget.

Colonial powers erased Indigenous place by remapping territories, renaming lands, and declaring them “unoccupied” upon arrival. By rewriting geography, colonial systems helped manufacture a narrative of terra nullius—a land without peoples.

Over generations, Indigenous cultures were suppressed by laws, policies, and informal norms. Suppression persists today: mainstream media too often fails to represent Indigenous people in full humanity. Educational curricula may gloss over or minimize the impacts of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, in which children were removed from communities and placed in non-Indigenous homes with little link to their roots.

The aftershocks of these interventions are deeply felt: high rates of foster care involvement, incarceration, and community trauma. Meanwhile, the legal system continues to avoid full recognition of Indigenous self-determination, making it harder for communities to restore authority, dignity, and healing.

Yet erasure has never been total. Indigenous communities resist, even against overwhelming odds.

Truth and Reconciliation invites us to imagine a future where Indigenous individuals and nations are respected, seen, and able to thrive—not as relics, but as living, evolving presences. That responsibility lies with each of us.

Canadian Allyship: How to Stay Engaged

Education is the starting point. Many Canadians remain distant from Indigenous realities because our culture rarely foregrounds them. And when discourse names settlers or implicates us in systems of unjust power, defensiveness or shame can shut us down.

To learn deeply, we must name colonial policies still shaping life today: genocide, residential schools, the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people, denial of safe water access, and ongoing land dispossession. These are not relics of history—they are active forces.

Acknowledging such truths can stir discomfort or guilt. That is expected. But discomfort does not mean we step aside, but rather it means we stay committed. Vulnerability is not weakness, but a doorway to deeper awareness and accountability.

Allyship is not a badge to collect. It is ongoing work. It means listening carefully, showing up for Indigenous-led initiatives, accepting critique, and shifting our own habits and systems.

Remind yourself that it’s okay to feel vulnerable. Take time to process and unpack big feelings and engage in practices that allow you to care for yourself so you feel empowered to continue to care for others.

Indigenous Resistance: Present and Future

When dominant narratives silence Indigenous resistance, they erase the full story. But resistance lives. It seeks to reclaim land, language, and culture suppressed by colonial systems.

The Land Back movement is one expression. It frames the return of Crown lands to Indigenous control as one way to honour treaties and Indigenous sovereignty. The movement urges a reimagining of power beyond colonial structures.

Resistance also emerges in mapwork. The Indigenous Mapping Collective reclaims mapping tools to restore Indigenous spatial knowledge and confront environmental risk (for instance, to guard against flooding in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley).

Defenders of land protect ecosystems and assert that the land is not for sale. For example, the 1492 Land Back Lane site on Six Nations territory asserts a refusal to relinquish stolen land. Projects like the Settler Colonial City Project reinterpret settler cities through Indigenous histories of Turtle Island.

Resistance is also healing. Cultural revival shows up in language reclamation, dance, music, storytelling, ceremony, and art. Joy and creation are not escapes—they are acts of defense and resurgence.

New economic and governance models are also emerging. In British Columbia, the Haisla First Nation recently became majority owners in a liquefied natural gas project—claiming agency in resource development in an industry often dominated by non-Indigenous actors.

At the federal level, Canada’s fourth annual progress report reviews how the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act is being implemented—tracking the 181 measures set out in the Action Plan. Yet Indigenous organizations stress that progress must be meaningful and grounded, not symbolic. If you want to learn more about Indigenous resistance but aren’t sure where to start, here are some resources to guide your research:

1. Reports from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
2. What is Land Back?
3. The Settler Colonial City Project
4. The Indigenous Mapping Collective
5. How the Canadian Justice System Works Against Indigenous Peoples
6. How Singing, Drumming and Dancing Help Bolster Resistance Movements

Indigenous Voices to Check Out

Frequently Asked Questions about the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Anima Leadership

Anima Leadership believes in a compassionate approach to racial justice where everyone can feel like they matter and belong.

Since 2007, we have worked with thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations teaching, consulting and coaching transformative change. Our award-winning training programs and innovative measurement tools will help us journey with you from diversity basics to advanced belonging.

Facilitation is one of the most underrated leadership skills, although it is one of the most important.  Most leaders never get training in how to include their team in ways that encourage new thinking, reinforce relationships or surface doubts before they can start to sabotage planning.  They should, because team meetings are where many organizational values get tested, setting the tone for how much people experience feeling included, validated and respected.  If meetings are not facilitated to meet the needs of all people, they become performative at best, and a passive-aggressive minefield at worst.

Part of the problem is how people understand facilitation.  Good facilitation is not what most people think it is:

• it is not about being the best content expert;
• it is not about how well you keep track of time;
• it is not how well you speak.

Fundamentally, being a good facilitator has little to do with YOU.  Good facilitators use their knowledge, skills and selves in service of moving the group forward.  The word facilitate comes from the latin verb facere which means “to make” or “to do”, leading to today’s definition of making something less difficult.

Good facilitation means being able to bend and flex rather than lock in and break.  When someone levels a critical comment at you or someone else in the group, rather than doubling down to put that person in their place, a good facilitator with tao-chi the energy to say instead, “It surprises me to hear you say that. Can you explain more?”  Or “do other people agree with this?” Or “what do you think needs to happen differently?” Good facilitators lean in, rather than check out.

Good facilitation is about reading power dynamics and doing what you can to create equitable participation.  Who is in the room, and who should be in the room?  Who is speaking the most and who isn’t? Whose voices are getting heard, and whose are not?  Good facilitators know how to track and interrupt invisible patterns of dominance and oppression, holding back the group as a whole.

Good facilitation is about assessing the group’s comfort for conflict.  Where is this group at in terms of their cohesion? Are there issues lurking, what are people not comfortable saying?  Is this group ready to have a brave conversation?  Good facilitators know what to do to challenge people’s comfort for the sake of learning, without pushing too far.

Good facilitators fundamentally have to develop a high level of self-trust through an ongoing practice of self-inquiry.  During any group process, I make the best choices I can in the moment, but during the breaks I run my mental tapes: What went well? What did I miss?  Do I need to course correct? Is there anyone I need to follow up with?  But more deeply, “am I getting triggered or caught up in their dynamic?  Am I taking care of myself so I’m not getting hooked on the group’s emotional needs? Is there something I need to do to reset?

A mentor once said to me “a good facilitator has to be willing to die in front of the room if needed”.  What he meant was that a good facilitator needs to be able to sacrifice their ego—their own need for recognition, status or comfort—to be able to do or say the hardest thing if it will free up some blocked energy to move the group forward. 

If a leader isn’t ready or willing to look at themselves, they will not be able to serve the individuals they are responsible for.  Good facilitation requires skills that take courage and commitment to keep developing, but gosh darn, do our organizations and the world need more of us in these times.  Good facilitators are the glue holding groups together.

To develop your own facilitation skills, join us for Authentic Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Polarizing Times. As a last participant shared, “I’ve applied something I learned in the course in every meeting, customer conversation or training I’ve led since.”   

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid gets juiced by figuring out what makes people and systems tick, and how to move them from survive to thrive. Over the last two decades she has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour who uses her voice to illuminate our common journey to belonging. Her new book Fire and Silence: A Roadmap for BIPOC Leaders is available for pre-order now. Alongside her bestselling books —Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (2019)— she has written for numerous other publications and sits on the boards of both the Writer’s Trust and the Writer’s Union of Canada. 

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities (Process work, Somatic Experiencing trauma training, mindfulness and Chinese medicine) to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. Besides consulting, educating, coaching and writing on JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) issues for over two decades across both public and private sectors, she has carefully cultivated her love of reading, usually on the couch with a glass of wine in hand trying to tune out the voices of her little ones. Check out her wiki page or website for more.

In January 2025 at our Virtual Compassion and Justice Leadership in Polarizing Times conference, we had a Community of Practice Grief Circle session. It wasn’t a panel, a talk or a strategy session – instead, people were divided into groups of ten with two volunteer facilitators who had been trained by us. For over an hour, people were invited to share one by one while others listened without judgment or response. We had offered grief circles before. But something about this moment – in our organizations, in our movements, in the world – made it clear:

This space is needed.

What began as an offering at our conference became something more. We continued hosting these circles monthly through Winter and Spring 2025. What came out of these sessions was insightful.

Grieving in Polarizing Times

Participants spoke of grieving personal losses as well as a collective grief at the ongoing unraveling of the world around us. Many people came with the aches of burnout, injustice, and the weakening of democracy. Others came holding quieter, less visible losses: isolation, disconnection, or compassion fatigue. One participant named it simply: “A shared space of people who are all trying to deal with the rapid decay in the world around us.”

Listening as Healing

What came up more than anything else was the power of listening. Not listening to respond, fix, or advise, but listening to understand.  Over and over, participants named how powerful it was to just be heard without judgment and how impactful it was to watch what came up for them as they listened to others:

“So impactful, being listened to AND listening.”

“My listening became deeper and stronger.”

“I learned the power of listening without judging or trying to respond. It is powerful to simply hear and honor what someone is saying and have the same done for you.”

It’s Not Just Another Meeting

This practice isn’t like most virtual gatherings we attend at work. There was no real agenda to move forward, no deliverables to produce. Yet many participants said it was one of the most meaningful professional spaces they’ve been a part of in a long time. Why? Because it made room for the full human experience, laying the foundation for brave conversations training at work. In workplace environments, people tend to be asked to compartmentalize or put aside their feelings to show up– only for feelings to then come out in unproductive and even destructive ways, damaging workplace relationships. Listening circles are a way to bring heart and humanity into virtual spaces that are usually used for strategy and planning.

The structure and facilitation were key in making the circles feel psychologically safe for diverse groups of strangers. We leaned on practices like:

• Clear opening and closing
• “Stretch but don’t tear” principle
• Clear group guidelines for participation
• Facilitator preparation and debriefs after each session

Many people left not only desiring to return, but wanting to learn how to replicate the practice within their own workplaces:  “I want to do this more, and learn to facilitate it well” and “My intention is to take the tenets of the grief circles into my day-to-day.”

Join Us

Our Community of Practice Grief Circles are returning this fall (Sept 24th, Oct 30th, Nov 26th, from 3pm – 5pm).  You can join to feel supported as a participant, or you can volunteer to be a circle facilitator (after going through the process at least once), where you will be supported by Anima Co-founders in offering this practice. All participants receive a Listening Circle Guide on how this can be replicated within the workplace context.  

In a world where polarization and divisions are becoming more rampant, practices to listen and understand one another become ever more important for team cohesion.

Annahid Dashtgard

CEO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

As a seasoned change-maker and non-fiction author, Annahid has worked with hundreds of organizations and leaders to create more just and equitable futures. She’s a first generation immigrant woman of colour whose inaugural book—Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation documents her journey identifying and healing from racial trauma. Her latest book Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World is a set of poignant, humorous and timely stories translating everyday racism to ordinary life.

Annahid has a Masters in Adult Education and has trained in various psychological modalities to understand the root of systems change in human consciousness. She has spend more than two decades consulting, educating, coaching and writing on EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) issues across both public and private sectors.

Shakil Choudhury

CVO and Co-Founder, Anima Leadership

Shakil is  an award-winning educator, consultant and author with more than 25-years experience in the field of racial justice, diversity, equity and inclusion. He’s the author of Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Racial Justice Deep Diversity. Written in an accessible, storytelling manner, many have called it a “breakthrough” book on issues of systemic racial discrimination due to its non-judgmental approach that integrates human psychology with critical race perspectives.

He coaches executive teams and has worked with thousands of leaders across sectors in Canada and the United States to help improve their diversity, inclusion and equity outcomes. He also specializes in designing and facilitating dialogue processes to resolve inter-group conflict, having led projects internationally as well as with organizations locally. As a South Asian-Canadian who immigrated from Pakistan as a young child, much of his passion for justice and overcoming polarization stems from his family’s civil war history. Shakil is also father to two high-spirited children, and regularly runs the trails near his home in Toronto as a way of clearing his head.

Just Compassion (JC) is a way of achieving human rights and justice goals using an ethos of love, fairness and forgiveness to get us there. In our last Anima Cafe in April, there was a great deal of excitement generated by the need for the JC framework as well as its 10 principles. Click here if you missed this fabulous gathering!]  

JC is a response to how progressive can build mass movements required to challenge this moment of democratic destruction by the forces underlying Trump and other authoritarians—hyper-capitalism, white supremacy, misogyny, climate denial and other interlinking social injustices. It also provides an honest look at the self-created roadblocks by the Left that have pushed many people away,  limiting our ability to “expand the tent” including cultures of callouts, cancelling, purity politics and perfectionism.  

In this follow-up cafe, both co-hosts of the Just Compassion project, Anima’s Shakil Choudhury and Dr. Loretta Ross, author of Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel, go deeper into this unique framework for social change-makers. We explore a design and assessment tool based on JC principles as well as related behaviours and practices.   

Join Anima Leadership co-founder Shakil Choudhury in a discussion on challenging authoritarianism and the erosion of democratic institutuons.

How do we build the mass movements required to challenge this moment of democratic destruction by the forces represented by underlying Trump and other authoritarians—hyper-capitalism, white supremacy, misogyny, climate denial and other interlinking social injustices?  

While there is no single solution to such enormous, multi-generational problems, a collaboration of North American activists co-led by Anima CVO Shakil Choudhury and author and elder Dr. Loretta Ross, have been reflecting honestly on our experiences of social activism over the last year, identifying both our strengths and weaknesses—of what has worked well to engage people as well as roadblocks that have limited our ability to “expand the tent” including cultures of callouts, cancelling, purity politics and perfectionism. Our belief is that pro-democracy forces cannot be marshalled into movements with real power unless progressives learn to “call in” the “persuadables”, that large mass of people who are open to justice ideals but feel silenced or repelled by some harsh, shame-and-blame practices that are too commonly practiced within activism.  

The result is Just Compassion, a framework and set of practices to achieve social justice and human rights goals, using an ethos of love, fairness and forgiveness to get us there.  

This special Anima Cafe shares our work to date, introducing the 8 principles of Just Compassion as well as a related practices social change makers can utilize whether they work in progressive organizations, justice initiatives or movement spaces. Please listen to this important session that provides a long-term strategy on achieving justice goals! 

Join Anima Leadership co-founder Shakil Choudhury in a discussion on managing work teams in divisive times.

In an era unlike any other in the last half-century, organizational leaders are having to navigate incredible challenges brought about by the politically polarized climate. The onslaught of constant, unpredictable change—whether the targeting of immigration, the LGBTQ community, etc.— is causing sky-rocketing anxiety, confusion and fear across workplaces, eroding both capacity and trust on teams.  This session will equip leaders with key skills and knowledge to care for employees and address their concerns in order for the work of your organization to continue. Combining principles of resilience and inclusion, this cafe supports leaders by helping them: 

• Enhance their tolerance for uncertainty.
• Understand how psychological safety and resilience are linked;
• Develop polarity management skills to deal with divisive issues.