The National Training Institute on Race & Equity (NTIRE) is a national training entity that assists individuals and organizations with understanding, identifying and managing the content, skills, and behavior needed to create diverse social and professional communities that are inclusive and equitable. Built on a unique combination of social science, the tenets of Martin Luther King Jr.’s version of the Beloved Community, and engaging and interactive training, NTIRE uses non-judgmental, yet evidence-based approaches to shed light on difficult and sensitive topics to enhance interpersonal and intergroup relations.
Given the long and significant role that race has played in the history of intergroup relations in the United States, NTIRE includes race as a baseline social category for our work. We understand, however, that race and other social identities often combine in a manner that is worthy of deeper, more specific discussion and analysis. Our approach to equity—the appropriate distribution of resources relative to a group’s specific needs—recognizes race as a key factor when examining various group-based disparities (e.g., age, gender, weight, and socio-economic status). There are general differences between groups, but there are sometimes additional, significant differences within groups that are often race-based. For example, while research demonstrates that men and women may differ in how they experience the world, Black men may also differ from White men, and Asian women may differ from Hispanic women.
The NTIRE team has provided training and professional development for police officers, educators, attorneys, healthcare providers, corporations, and philanthropic organizations, as well as local, state, and federal personnel. A key aspect of our approach is to push participants to view information and events from a variety of perspectives, including from others very different than themselves. We believe that our CUE model of communication, understanding, and empathy is the foundation of improved intergroup relations. We believe that if people can talk to each other, understand each other, and feel what someone else is feeling, then the result will be one of respect and inclusion, even if there is not full agreement of perspectives.
Our work and approach has received national attention in various forms of media, including the Washington Post, CNN, and many local outlets. Dr. Marks was the official implicit bias trainer for a series of White House gatherings with law enforcement command staff and has trained the entire Los Angeles Police Department (approximately 10,000). We provide training in every region of the contiguous United States and keynote and plenary presentations at many national conferences. Further, the NTIRE team has been called in by several entities to provide training following controversial events related to personal or institutional bias.