What is Allyship Training?

Aug 16

In this article, you will find:

What is Allyship?

An ally is an individual who leverages their personal and positional privilege to construct positive paths for people who may lack the same societal benefits. The role of an ally goes beyond sympathy or understanding; it demands active involvement, empathetic engagement, and a willingness to step into the unfamiliar.

It is important to note that allies are not directly part of the marginalized communities they support.

For example, an ally might be a white person speaking up about the challenges of indigenous peoples. Allies actively engage in the fight against systemic discrimination and prejudice, even when these issues don't affect them personally.

What is Allyship Training?

Allyship Training is a conscious and intentional journey of actively standing in solidarity with individuals from under represented groups. It involves consistently striving to understand the unique experiences of marginalized communities and then putting that knowledge into practice by challenging bias and discrimination.

Allies recognize that their advocacy can serve as a powerful tool to challenge societal norms, shift collective thinking, and contribute to creating a more just and equitable environment. They strive to echo the voices of those they advocate for, amplifying their concerns and promoting their rights, while never attempting to overshadow or speak on their behalf.

Allyship training fills the gap between the good intentions of an individual and the learned skills of putting allyship into practice.

This training comes in many forms including workshops, training or e-learning, each of which is discussed in detail below.

Allyship Training Framework

Allies use all six senses when they support others through the Anatomy of an Ally:

This framework sets the structure of the session and provide the building blocks for the training outcomes.

Goals of Allyship Training

The ultimate goal of allyship training is to provide a concrete set of skills for people that want to take steps to support others in less privileged places. It is able to do this by delivering the following outcomes:

Learn How to be an Ally in the Workplace

Allyship training helps individuals learn how to stand up for their colleagues from marginalized communities. This can involve intervening in situations where discriminatory behavior is taking place and providing support to colleagues who are experiencing discrimination or harassment.

Understand Authentic vs. Performative Allyship

Authentic allyship means genuinely advocating for marginalized groups and taking actions that support equality and inclusivity, even when it's difficult or uncomfortable.

Performative allyship involves showing support for marginalized groups in ways that are more about appearing progressive or earning approval than about making a genuine difference.

Allyship training emphasizes the importance of being an authentic ally and provides strategies for avoiding performative allyship.

Learn How to Speak Up for Marginalized Groups

This can involve learning how to advocate for colleagues in meetings or discussions where their voices might be underrepresented or dismissed. It can also involve learning to address microaggressions, biases or discriminatory behavior when you see it.

Understand Inclusive vs Exclusionary Language

Allyship training can provide guidance on how to use language that respects and acknowledges people's identities and experiences.

Inclusive Language includes preferred pronouns, avoiding stereotypes or harmful phrases and using terms that individuals from marginalized communities prefer.

Exclusionary Language ignores the diverse lived experiences of each individual and assumes that other people will accept and agree with the speaker’s terminology.

Learn How to Create Safe Spaces at Work

Allyship training can provide strategies for creating environments where everyone feels safe, respected and valued.

This can involve advocating for policies that promote inclusivity, ensuring that workplace facilities accommodate everyone's needs, and creating opportunities for colleagues from different backgrounds to connect and learn from each other.

Understand Intersectionality

Intersectionality involves recognizing that people's identities and experiences of discrimination are shaped by multiple, overlapping social categories such as race, gender, class, and disability. Allyship training can help individuals understand these complexities and take them into account when advocating for equity and inclusivity.

Learn How to Challenge Bias

Everyone has unconscious biases that can influence their behavior without them realizing it. Allyship training helps individuals become aware of these biases and learn strategies to challenge and overcome them.

Understand Active Listening

Allyship involves continually educating oneself about the experiences and perspectives of marginalized groups. Allyship training can provide guidance on how to be an active listener and a lifelong learner in the quest for social justice.

Example of Allyship Training at Work

Sam is an openly gay employee in a medium-sized organization. While Sam feels mostly comfortable within his immediate team, there are moments when he encounters inappropriate comments about his sexual orientation from others in the company. This creates an uncomfortable and less-than-inclusive environment for Sam.

Enter Paula, a senior executive at the same company who identifies as a straight woman. Through company-wide trainings and open discussions about allyship and inclusion, Paula recognizes an opportunity for allyship. Paula leverages her position of power within the organization to take proactive steps.

In meetings, she respectfully corrects any misused pronouns or inappropriate remarks, showing others that such behavior is unacceptable. Paula makes it a point to include Sam and other LGBTQ+ employees in critical projects and discussions, ensuring their voices are heard and valued. Moreover, she encourages her team and other employees to attend pride events, LGBTQ+ conferences, and allyship workshops.

From Sam's perspective, Paula's allyship has a significant positive impact. It validates his experiences, makes him feel safer and more accepted in the workplace, and encourages other coworkers to become more understanding and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.

Paula's actions demonstrate a key principle of what she learned in allyship training. She used her privilege to support and advocate for those who don't have the same advantages.

How Allyship Training Affects Change

The importance of allyship training is seen in the data of how it positively affects the workplace. According to the State of Allyship Report:

People with 1+ Ally at work are 2x more likely to be satisfied with their job.
Women with one Ally at work are 2x more likely to feel safe in their workplace.
LGBTQ+ folks that have experienced discrimination at work but still have an ally are 4.4x more likely to feel safe.
People said the #1 challenge to being an ally at work is due to lack of skills & knowledge.
Only 56% of people have 1+ Allies in their workplace but that rises to 93% when allyship training was offered.

Who is the Target Audience for Allyship Training?

Allyship Training is considered ADVANCED TRAINING because it is:

Built on previous foundational training about the importance of DEI at work
Targeted towards HR professionals, Employee Resource Groups, DEI practitioners and other leaders
Provides core skills on how to actively speak up in the workplace
Leads to further training that dives further into activism, even outside of the workplace