We envision a future in which globally-minded leaders embrace diversity, pursue equity, and build inclusive cultures
CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
Learn why CI is the key to unlocking DEIB solutions
OUR CULTURALLY INTELLIGENT APPROACH
Cultivating Cultural Intelligence (or CI) in individuals and across organizations is critical for achieving outcomes related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).
CITC's CI model is an original, research-based and data-driven framework. CI is the ability to understand how we feel, think, and act when engaging across cultural settings, in multicultural situations, and with people of diverse ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Culture, broadly defined, incorporates not just race, ethnic heritage, and nationality, but also gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, and background.
CI captures capabilities contained within emotional intelligence (EI) for behavioral adaptation across cultures. Because EI is culturally bound, CI becomes essential in helping diverse teams succeed.
CITC facilitators guide participants in increasing Cultural Openness, Awareness, and Responsiveness, or The Three Cultural Capabilities. Through our multifaceted offerings, individuals receive a holistic approach to understanding themselves so they can respond insightfully to people from new and diverse cultures with socio-emotional intelligence. These capabilities are guided by our values of curiosity, empathy, and compassion.
Most importantly, we embed a trauma-informed approach in every facilitation—from CI trainings to community-specific workshops, and Enneagram facilitation to Design Conversations—to ensure all aspects of our work are based in culturally responsive, human-centered design.
TRAUMA-INFORMED CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
A trauma-informed approach to Cultural Intelligence (CI) within business settings reminds us to humanize every interaction and remember the 4 Rs: realization and recognition of trauma in others; responsiveness toward applying CI when interacting with others; and resisting re-traumatization by centering these core principles (from SAMHSA.gov):
Safety
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Create spaces in which all people feel physically and psychologically safe
Peer Support
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Integrate individuals from diverse backgrounds and with shared experiences into the organization and view them as integral to creating cultures of belonging
Empowerment
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Acknowledge, build upon, and validate individuals’ strengths and experiences through safe and interpersonal interactions
Transparency & Trust
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Make decisions through open communication and consent, with the goal of building and maintaining trust
Collaboration
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Ascertain and mitigate power differences — between contributors and clients and among organizational contributors — to support shared decision-making
Awareness
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Recognize and address maladapted biases based on ability, age, ethnicity, gender, geography, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomics, and historical trauma
