Elke Geising - Diversity Creates Opportunity

“Our history lives in us and affects the choices we each make. We need to talk – being in conversation with each other about our difficult history can be freeing and healing”.

Buy the book - Can we Talk… Will you Listen?

Elke Geising's book “Can we Talk… Will you Listen”? – is a non-fiction narrative. It describes the author's personal journey towards the healing power of dialogue, both as descendent of Nazi Germany and today, as benefiting whites in South Africa. Read more...

Elke's personal experiences as a decendant of parents swept up in Nazi ideology bring a unique perspective to such dialogue dealing with the trans-generational impacts of Apartheid still experienced today

Acting as facilitator, mentor, convenor and leader of groups engaging in dialogue with South Africans of diverse backgrounds wishing to confront conflicting feelings and challenges about their families and communities, Elke is available to organisations or individuals to lead or facilitate intercultural dialogue groups, workshops and group discussions.

As descendants of monochrome, dominance focused, or exclusionary cultures young people today need to re-focus and formulate a new vision for their future.

Diversity as Opportunity – to learn, live and build collectively: intersecting racial, inter-faith, gender and lifestyle identities.

In dialogue meetings or workshops we can together develop new leadership models, replacing hierarchical with communal – dominating charismatic white male with culturally intelligent models which embrace gender equality, our shared humanness, inter-faith relationships and globalization of resistance.

My approach consists of process modules which first assess the current state of our outlook on life and then together develop an inclusive future vision in a safe space using dialogue, personal story telling and empathetic entrepreneurship to address:

Transforming our white mono-cultural identity from what we inherited to a new inclusive vision for the future and a ‘New Ethics of Care’ (Prof Pumla Gobodo – Madikizela in quote Sunday Times article)

Recalibrating our value system and cultural norms to arrive at acceptance of our conditional interconnectedness (a new paradigm developed by Prof Penelope Andrews, Dean of UCT Law Faculty)

Seeking dialogue with peers of diverse heritage to talk, listen and create together.

Students, teachers, parents, social workers, HR and OD practioners as well as spiritual leaders are the core constituency which I seek to reach.

The 5 step process:

History lives in us and affects the choices we make – examining our identity together

My values, believes and norms – examine ours, other cultures, and re-calibrate

My comfort zone – when and where do I feel safe – when and where do anxiety, anger, fear shift into defensive and negative, isolating energy

Spirituality – – what it means to me – others I know – models in our communities

Creating a vision for my own approach to diversity as opportunity here and for my future path and global inter-connectedness

To discuss requirements please contact Elke by clicking HERE