Promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Chicago is a global economic center with the third-largest labor pool in the United States. With a highly-diverse population and one of the world’s most diversified and balanced economies, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce, Chicago can and should lead the way in being an inclusive marketplace providing everyone an opportunity to thrive.

Inclusion Chicago advances diversity, equity, and inclusion by partnering with organizations looking for improved experience and results. Through a set of customized solutions including consultation and facilitated workshops, we provide support in developing data-oriented action plans and driving organizational changes.

As one of the largest human services organizations in the region, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago has been at the forefront of advancing social equity for more than 146 years. Through a range of services, Inclusion Chicago helps organizations create the necessary cultural shift that will support inclusive policies and practices. Click here to download a digital brochure on Inclusion Chicago services.

Our Services

Inclusion Chicago offers a variety of services that help advance diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations:

►Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Racial Justice (DEIRJ) Assessments and Strategy Design

Policy, protocol, procedure review, and assessment
Organizational culture and lived experiences assessment
External engagement and relationship building assessment
Consultation on creating an infrastructure to effectively prevent and address sexual harassment

►Workshops and Trainings

Facilitated Introspection Workshops

Identity Exploration Sessions

- Cultural Humility
- Identity & Values
- Bias Awareness and Management
- Power & Privilege
- Communication: Micro-Aggressions
- The Spectrum of Whiteness

Inclusive Workplaces Sessions

- Inclusion Beyond Compliance
- Building Human-Centered Workplaces
- Active Inclusion: De-biased and Equitable Employment Processes
- Equity & Racial Justice
- RESPECT AT WORK: Preventing and Identifying Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
- Using WOMN and NACP ETF Criteria as Roadmaps to Women’s/Minority Empowerment
Guidance for self-led cohort conversations
Board of Directors/Leadership coaching, support, and forums

►Employee Engagement & Leadership Development Opportunities

Business resource group engagement
Internal women’s leadership or inclusion forums
Group volunteer opportunities

Connect with us

Carla Kupe, Vice President of Racial Equity and Inclusion

Carla is Chief Strategic Officer and one of the Managing Partners for Ebony Law. Before she transitioned into that role, she was the founder and CEO of The Impact Alliance LLC, a diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism/colonialism consulting enterprise through which she provided advising, consulting, education, and leadership coaching services to organizations in both sectors and across industries. Additionally, she currently serves as the Vice President of Racial Equity and Inclusion for the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago.

In 20218, Carla was one of the architects of the Professional Identity Formation program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and acted as the program’s director until the end of 2021. Carla created Speak Truth Summit, a platform giving voice and visibility to the particular and unique experiences of women of color in 2018. Carla served as the first Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Compliance Director at the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. Before that, Carla was an Associate General Counsel and the Title IX Coordinator for Chicago State University. Prior to that, Carla was an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago Law Department in its Federal Civil Rights Litigation Division. She also held the position of Victim Witness Advocate for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, Massachusetts. Additionally, Carla was the former Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Metropolitan Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

Carla is a member of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Diversity Mentoring Program and the law school's Dean’s Diversity Council. Additionally, Carla is a member and contributing author of the editorial board for the Illinois Diversity Council. Carla serves as a mentor at the University of Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Carla speaks eight languages and has roots in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, and Luxembourg. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Psychology from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois.

Laura McCoy, Inclusion Chicago Coordinator

Dr. Laura McCoy comes to the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago from higher education, where she spent eight years researching and teaching the histories of gender and work, and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academic workplace. As the coordinator for Inclusion Chicago, she supports the development, implementation, and impact evaluation of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago’s gender and racial equity-related consultation and education services. Laura has a BA in History and Francophone Studies from Vassar College, and an MA and PhD in American History from Northwestern University. She is also on the editorial board of Insurrect!, an online publication that investigates the historical legacies of colonialism in the Americas in order to confront present-day racial capitalism and white supremacy.

Follow @ywcachicago for updates about upcoming Inclusion Chicago events.

For more information on Inclusion Chicago, contact Carla Kupe at carla.kupe@ywcachicago.org or 312.572.7028.

Clients